About Me

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I serve as pastor of Trinity United Methodist Church in Annapolis, MD. I'm married to beautiful Paula, mother of my 4 sons and one daughter. I was a systems engineer before entering ministry 29 years ago.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

"Why?" Is the Wrong Question

The prayers and thoughts of people all over the world are with the people of Haiti, and those trying to help them. The last estimate I read said they expect 200,000 deaths from the earthquake, with countless more injured and homeless, without medical care, shelter, food or even water.

When terrible disasters happen - and it seems like we've had a lot of them lately - it's only natural to ask, "Why?" If God is real and God is good, why do things like this happen?

It's amazing how much time and effort people put into trying to find an answer to that question, and the number of different answers they come up with.

"Why?" is a natural question. But I think it's the wrong one.

I'll be talking about that tomorrow morning in my sermon. I won't ignore the "why," but I will be trying to shift us to something I believe is more relevant: what God expects of us in the face of such things. If you can't make it, it should be available in the form of a podcast on the church website by Tuesday.

In the meantime, the two great needs for Haiti right now are prayers and cash. You can pray by just talking to God, wherever you are, in whatever language feels right to you, right now. You can donate at church, or through a number of online sites. I recommend www.umc.org. The United Methodist Church has an excellent emergency/disaster relief program, and 100% of your gift goes straight to the need, because the denomination covers the overhead.