Anyone who knows me knows that I have always loved wrestling. I have done it since I was 14, having competed in college, and then in open tournaments until I was 40. I have coached at the college level and as a volunteer at multiple high schools. This week I was able to attend the NCAA tournament in Philadelphia, and it was a fun and exciting experience. One wrestler, known for his exceptional bravado is sport filled with testosterone fueled hyper-masculinity, predicted that he would crush all of his opponents, which he did – until the semi-finals. He lost to the eventual champion and came in third, which is an amazing feat. In an interview afterwards, he said that he was crying and asking God why he lost. He told God that he did everything right. Then he did this: he sang a song so his opponent could hear that had words from 1 Samuel 17:46, which included a line about cutting his opponents head off! He said that God told him that God taught him a lesson for being “vain and prideful” and not giving God the glory.
Does God teach us lessons? This wrestler was saying that he lost because God made it happen, not because the other wrestler was better. This is one reason I can’t stand this theology – it takes responsibility off of us and blames God. This wrestler truly believes that it wasn’t his opponent’s skills that dictated the final score; it was God controlling who won and lost. Because he, like so many Christians, believes that God is controlling everything. Your child dies of cancer? God did it. Russia takes over Ukraine? God wants that. A politician wins an election? God chose that person. No free-will or personal responsibility or chaos or one person being better than another – God did it to teach me a lesson. Or humility. Or any number of things.
I believe we can learn lessons from the things that we experience; in fact, if we don’t, we stifle our ability to grow. And if this theology gets you through the day and motivates you to try harder, I guess it has some value. But please, keep it to yourself. Don’t teach your children and grandchildren that their lives are not their own. Please don’t tell others that God “took” their loved one away from them. We might be better off spiritually if we tried to live in the midst of the uncertainty of life, living each day with joy and generosity. Because we never know when we will draw our last breath, so we should make each one count. Let’s stop blaming God.
Prayer – Holy God, we ask for strength and courage in the midst of lives that are sometimes hard to take. Amen.
Today’s art is “Courage and Wisdom” by Amarajyoti.