Yes, Virginia, There is a God

Recently I read a column in a newspaper with a comment from an atheist on the protective nature of God.  He questioned the faith of churchgoers who felt compelled for the need of professional security in school or church settings.  He inquired why they, the people of faith, didn’t believe God would protect them from violence…..implying IF there was a God, surely He would protect them from all harm.  Implying IF there was a God, and the people of faith truly believed in Him, there would be no need for professional security.

In 1897, an editorial appeared in the New York Sun paper.  The origins of “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Clause” can be traced back to that now-famous article.  And so, today, I too borrow from that editorial:

Yes, Virginia, there is a God.  And yes, He loves us dearly and protects us.  But God is not like a lucky charm or amulet.

You see, Virginia, God wants us to do good.  He has given us rules to follow.  They are called the Ten Commandments.

Jesus reinforced these when he told His disciples: “and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

So God wants us to be good.  God wants us to love Him, to obey Him and to love our neighbor as much as we love ourselves.

BUT…..

God loves so much that he gave us something called FREE WILL.  Forcing us to believe, to follow, to love accomplishes nothing.  He wants us to do all of that from our will.  We know in our daily relationships that we can’t force someone to like us.  In the same way, God can’t force us to love Him or to be nice to each other.

Along with FREE WILL we have the freedom to make good choices or bad choices.  If we do good, we are following God our creator.  If we do bad, we are following satan the fallen angel.

God’s love for us is a lot like a parent/child relationship.  In any healthy parent/child relationship the parent wants what is only best for their child.  But they know eventually the child will determine it’s own way through life.  Sometimes these actions and events are not what the parent would want but they know the child has free will to make their own choices.

And this is why there is violence in the world, Virginia.  God’s love for us is so great that we have the free will to do good or to do bad.

Virginia, always remember:  God is not a lucky charm or an amulet.  He loves us all very much.  He wants what is best for us and He wants a relationship with us.  We offer Him prayers of thanks, sharing our joys and our sorrows.  And we ask Him to protect us in body, mind and soul.  But dear child, always remember, that God loves you so much that He will never take away your free will or the free will of others.  When we mess up we may make our parents sad, but they never stop loving us.  Likewise, we also make God sad when we sin, but He never stops loving us.

Talk about ultimate CHOICE.  A creator that loves His beings so much that He gives us free will!  Sadly, not everyone will use their free will to do good.  But as you can see, dear little Virginia, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a God.