viernes, 19 de febrero de 2010

Is it God, or isn't it?

This morning, I was with my girlfriend waiting for her bus to show up. As she doesn't like having to take the bus but instead, finding some friend with a car who picks her up, she let two buses pass.

The thing with this is that she started "praying". She did not closed her eyes nor knelt. She was there, standing and saying something like: "please, please lord, let someone pick me up". Naturally, I asked: "Do you really believe that if you ask God for that someone will just appear with his car and take you to your work?". Her first answer was quite realistic: "No". "So, why do you ask, then? wouldn't it be missuse of God's name?" I asked.

At that point she started frowning. "I don't know" she replied just to start praying again.

"So, will it work or not?" I asked and her second answer was rather nice although her face showed her discomfort with the topic. "I don't know, maybe" she said. "But how would you recognise it? how would you tell the difference between coincidence and God's help?".

That was the spark. "Because I believe!" she almost yelled. "But how?" I went on "How do you tell? If a brick falls on the head of an atheist and another one on the head of a christian, why is divine punishment the former and God's purpose the latter?"

I almost couldn't finish my sentence when indeed someone appeared in a red car and picked her up (No, I am not saying God listened to her prayers).

How does a Christian, a Jewish or a Muslim that God listened to them asking for his favor? How do they explain that? When something good happens to some siner, why is it labeled as luck (an even worse explanation) but when the same thing happens to a believer there is no doubt of that being a blessing from God that makes justice brings happiness to those who do well.