New York Times Online's quote of the day:
"I have no idea why we got saved and others didn’t."
JOHN BECKER, whose house was undamaged in the California wildfires.
http://www.nytimes. com/2007/ 10/24/us/ 24scene.html? th&emc=th
No attempt to spiritualize it, no thanking any God (which I think is very tacky when neighbors have been hurt), etc. I don't know whether Becker is spiritual or not, but I was still impressed that he honestly admitted he didn't know why.
That said, I'm still praying to the Rain Gods to send some over to SoCal and the Wind Gods to please calm down!
2007-10-24 06:17:45 · 15 answers · asked by GreenEyedLilo 7 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
yes, that's very refreshing.
yes, it is tacky for someone to be thanking god for sparing them, while their neighbour apparently wasn't good enough in god's eyes to be spared
you might be interested in the question i posed earlier today http://ca.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ag22zOrigxwlr6BUvPVGPtHAFQx.;_ylv=3?qid=20071024064854AAwbjsG
2007-10-24 06:20:55 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 1⤋
I live in a threatened community in San Diego County, so thank you for thinking of Southern Cal. The winds are backing off, but there's no rain in sight. We might get some fog on the coast in a few days, but that's it as far as moisture goes. I don't think it's tacky to thank God for being spared, but it would be tacky to say that God is directing these fires, causing it to burn certain homes but not others. It's nice to know that somebody said otherwise in public.
2007-10-24 06:34:44 · answer #2 · answered by alikij 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
In reality, none of us really knows why some SoCal houses are being burned while others are spared. We do know that the rain falls on the just and the unjust alike. But it is never tacky to thank God when you're spared from a tragedy, unless you're also thanking Him that someone else wasn't spared.
2007-10-24 06:23:02 · answer #3 · answered by sdb deacon 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The human mind has an amazing capacity to focus on one thing and ignore a million others. People in that situation will often thank God for saving them, but they don't do all the math. They ignore the fact that he didn't save a hundred other houses or that he didn't stop the dry winds from fanning the fires in the first place.
It reminds me of one of those subtly subversive moments on the Simpsons when Lisa was baby sitting for the Flanders boys and saves them from a moth which is terrifying them. Later when they are saying their prays, they say, "Thank you God for sending Lisa to us to get rid of the moth you sent to us."
2007-10-24 09:13:46 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Honesty...gasp.
When it's not something like an awards ceremony, where a person has time to prepare a speech, I usually assume folks are speaking spur of the moment and can be forgiven for saying their neighbors must be hated by god.
2007-10-24 06:22:37 · answer #5 · answered by LabGrrl 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
It's tacky not to thank god? Maybe if you're a christian! He doesn't know! I think that more truthful then some Christians saying, well god must have something in store for me, to save me. Ignoring the fact that what they are saying is that god just killed hundreds of others because he didn't have use for them apparently.
2007-10-24 06:23:27 · answer #6 · answered by punch 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
whilst she became in college her fiance became murdered. She has defined it in her e book "Objection!" in spite of if, she has been accused of embellishing a number of the data of the homicide to sell extra books. "Her fiancé, Keith Griffin, became shot no longer at random via a stranger, yet via a former coworker, Tommy McCoy. McCoy did no longer have a previous offender checklist and, somewhat than denying the crime, McCoy confessed the night of the homicide. The jury deliberated for some hours, no longer days. there became no ongoing string of appeals (McCoy's kin did no longer pick any). McCoy has purely as quickly as filed a habeas petition, which became rejected".
2016-12-30 04:19:47 · answer #7 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
"The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all" Ecc 9:11.
Even the Bible admits that life is simply a catalogue of random happenings.
2007-10-24 06:27:13 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
in 1994 a tornado ripped through oklahoma, it left destruction for over 12 miles
nearly every house was levelled except one, houses on both sides of it were gone, but it was still standing
the family were satanists
2007-10-24 06:22:48 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
Most Christians I know don't even thank GOD before eating. Praise the LORD.
2007-10-24 06:25:39 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋