Somber Reflection

On 19 September, 1985 Mexico City suffered what was perhaps the worst natural disaster in its history. Shortly after 7:00 in the morning a magnitude 8.1 earthquake occurred just off of Mexico’s pacific coast. Though the quake’s epicenter was located more than 200 miles to the east, it was Mexico City that suffered most from the quake’s devastation. The fact that the city is built upon the already unstable land mass of an old lake bed amplified the earthquake’s effects. It’s estimated that over 10,000 lives were lost in the quake and 3,536 structures were either completely destroyed or damaged to the point of non-use.

Ever since the time of the event Mexico City has held an annual memorial/earthquake preparation drill around the time of the quake’s anniversary. This year the memorial was held on the 9th of September (since 2009’s anniversary falls on a weekend). All over the city, on sidewalks and between buildings green location markings have been painted to indicate rallying points for those caught in the middle of a quake. The one pictured above is located equidistant between the two largest structures at our language school.

While the response to the drill seemed to be one of jovial ignorance by many of the students, a look of sobriety could be found on the faces of most of the faculty. The fact remains that there are many living in Mexico City whose lives have been forever altered by the events of September 1985.

Often, the occurrence of a natural disaster will cause many to ask questions of God, and the query of “Why would a good God allow suffering?” is chief among them. This question is one that skeptics of God cite for their unbelief and often those of us who believe in God pretend we don’t ask. If the God described in the Bible is really GOD, He must be: 1) all knowing, 2) all powerful and 3) completely loving. Often, there are those who want to attribute good happenings to God and lay the blame for misfortune at the feet of the Devil. However, in the Bible God Himself contradicts this sentiment. He tells us: “I create the light and make the darkness. I send good times and bad times. I, the LORD, am the one who does these things, (Isaiah 45:7).” Am I the only one who finds such words from the loving God hard to digest?

In the Bible much attention to the question of pain is covered in the book of Job. Job suffers incredible calamity at the hand of God and repeatedly questions God’s reasons. At the book’s end God responds to Job with His perspective. He asks Job: “Where were you when I created the world, the animals, the weather? Do you know how to make the dawn of a new day appear? Do you understand the miracle of life and how to create it?” In essence, God is reminding Job of who is God and who is not. While this may not seem like an acceptable answer to our minds, it evidently was to Job as his final words signify (Job 42:3-6). Author Phillip Yancey has an attractive way of framing God’s explanation to the problem of pain: “Maybe sometimes God keeps us in the dark about ‘why’ not so much because He wants to keep us in the dark, as because He knows we are incapable of absorbing so much light.”