Central Africa

Today, our chapel speaker, Mr. Ed Kofi, told us a tragicomic Liberian idiom. Apparently, when someone is hungry, they mention that there is a problem in Central Africa (i.e. their empty belly). According to Mr. Kofi, the difference between Americans and Liberians is that Americans know when to eat by looking at their digital watches, Liberians hear the loud alarm of their grumbling stomachs.

He retold the story of the feeding of the five thousand, in a very interesting way. In his story Jesus was almost indifferent. He was preaching all day long to a "crusade" meeting, talking about "the kingdom" well into the night. When these folks alarms went off, the real crucial issue was no longer theology, parables, or religion. Rather, the main concern was eating dinner. Hmmm...

I have to say that I am blessed beyond my means to appreciate my blessings. I have a job that I enjoy, a warm and comfortable place to live in a city that I have grown to love. I have a wonderful, caring wife with whom my happiness has only increased. I have good friends who care about me, and a family that loves me.

In high school, my main frustration with the world was the rampant disparity between people. Driving down the Eisenhower expressway toward Chicago offered a simple tutorial in the difference between living in the Far Western Suburbs, the Near Western Suburbs, and the West Side.

I grew up in the richest county (per capita income) in the U.S. that never declared bankruptcy—take that, O.C. The United States is the richest country in the world, and I had every advantage of that blessing I could or would reasonably want. Therefore, my main philosophical question was not, "Why?" but, "Why me?"

My fate in life seemed like unreconstructed supralapsarian double-predestinating Calvinism. I mean, I have had the benefit of Christian teachers Pre-K through 16. I have the benefit of working in a Christian organization. Even negative and difficult things in my life have seemed to "work together for [my] good."

In answering the question, "Why me?" I have come up with several things that true justice is not

getting exactly what you want

getting what you think you want

getting what you think you deserve

getting what you think you need

getting the same that someone else has

Therefore, the question is, if the world is just, what makes it so? If this world is just, then why is so much mercy shown to the apparently unjust and such a lack of mercy shown to the vast majority of humanity?

I just have questions today.