WHY DO GOOD PEOPLE SUFFER?

[Guest guest]

Very happy to read this e-letter.

Jai Sai Ram.

Meera

--- Swamy Mahadevan <mahadevanvnswamy

wrote:

 

> WHY DO GOOD PEOPLE SUFFER?

>

> The topic for this evening's talk is, " Why do good

> people suffer? "

> The very fact, so many people have gathered here

> today, is sufficient

> proof of our interest in the subject. Almost at

> every place, where I

> go, in India or abroad, people put to me the

> question: " Why do good

> people suffer? " By Sai's Grace & blessings now this

> is the

> right time for me to give an answer thro this divine

> sssd group

>

> The story is almost the same everywhere. The people

> say: " We have

> been honest and hard working: we have not hurt or

> exploited anyone:

> we have done as much good as we could: and yet we

> have had to suffer.

> What is the reason? "

>

> I am reminded of a young man. He built up a

> flourishing business in

> Mumbai. Then he turned his attention to spiritual

> things. He, as it

> were, handed over his business to his assistants,

> whom he trusted

> implicitly. They proved to be dishonest. Very soon,

> this young man

> found himself in a difficult situation. He was on

> the verge of

> bankruptcy. Winding up his business, he went to

> America, where he

> opened a shop. Misfortune dogged his footsteps. One

> afternoon, two

> black men entered his shop with pistol in their

> hands. One of them

> caught hold of him and said: " If you stir or utter a

> word, you will

> not be alive! " The other ransacked the shop and

> filled the booty in a

> waiting van and, before any action could be taken,

> the two quickly

> vanished.

>

> In the course of a letter this young man wrote to

> me: " Why did this

> happen to me? I pray many times everyday. I seek

> God's help and

> protection. Every morning, as I get up, I offer a

> prayer: I spend

> some time in quiet meditation. Before I open the

> shop, I pray.

> Throughout the day I keep thinking of God and offer

> small prayers to

> Him. I pray again in night, before I go to sleep. I

> have hurt no one:

> I have cheated no one. I have never been dishonest.

> Why, of all

> people, did this happen to me? "

>

> I think of a young woman. She stays in Singapore.

> She is God fearing.

> She is an active member of a Yoga Society. Some

> months ago, she came

> to India, along with her family members. They

> visited a number of

> sacred shrines. They met holy men and sought their

> blessings. Then

> they returned to Singapore. A few days thereafter,

> their office

> premises were gutted by fire, and precious documents

> were destroyed.

> The girl, with tear filled eyes exclaimed: " Why is

> it that this

> happened to us? We visited India in a spirit of

> reverence, sought the

> blessings of a number of holy men and women. Why did

> this happen to

> us! "

>

> I read concerning a woman. She went round the world

> collecting rare

> and precious antiques. After six laborious years,

> she returned to her

> country where she planned to start business in

> antiques. A week

> before the inaugural function, a fire broke out, and

> a number of

> shops including her own were destroyed. Her hard

> work of six long

> years proved futile. Her priceless collections, her

> irreplaceable

> curios, were reduced to ashes! No insurance claim

> could compensate

> her adequately. She put the same question: " Why did

> the All-Merciful

> God permit this to happen to me? "

>

> Let me tell you of another woman. She devoted the

> best part of her

> life to social service. She was by nature affable,

> amiable,

> energetic, and vivacious. She went out of her way to

> bring joy and

> comfort into the lives of many. Suddenly, one day,

> she found herself

> losing balance as she walked. A few days later, as

> she returned home,

> one night, she stumbled and fell across the

> threshold of her house.

> The next day she was examined by a doctor, who,

> after a thorough

> check up, diagnosed the disease as multiple

> sclerosis. She was told

> that it was a degenerative nerve-disease which, with

> passage of time,

> would gather momentum and restrict her mobility.

> Ultimately, she

> would not be able to walk without support and she

> would be confined

> to a wheel-chair. She might even lose bowel and

> bladder control and

> be dependent on others for her routine chores. This

> lady too, could

> not understand why this had happened to her, when

> many of her friends

> lived normal, healthy lives. " Why did God permit

> this to happen to

> me? " she asked.

>

> Some people believe that there are certain

> obligations they owe to

> God, and if they fail to fulfill them, they or their

> dear ones are

> punished. One such woman met me when I visited

> Ottawa, Canada. She

> told me that she recited the second, twelfth and

> eighteenth chapters

> of the Bhagavad Gita every day, before taking her

> lunch. She

> observed, also, the Satyanarayan fast, every month.

> But during a

> whole month, she missed out on the recitation and

> the fast. The day

> after Satyanarayan her husband, who was perfectly

> healthy and normal,

> suffered a stroke, and has remained paralysed since

> then. The woman

> put me the question that was uppermost in her mind:

> " Has this

> anything to do with my failure to read from the

> scriptures and

> observe the fast? Is there any cause and effect

> relationship between

> the two? "

>

> I think of a young man. He was the only son of his

> parents, who are

> good and kind, and obliging by nature. With his

> pleasant manners, the

> young man easily won over the hearts of many who

> knew him. One night,

> the car in which he was returning home, collided

> against a truck,

> killing him and three of his other friends. When the

> news was

> conveyed to his parents, they cried: " Why did the

> Merciful Lord allow

> this happen to us? Why was our only son snatched

> away from us? "

>

> A learned Rabbi has written a book titled, When Bad

> Things Happen to

> Good People. In this book the Rabbi narrates how his

> three year old

> son was afflicted with an incurable disease called

> Progeria. The

> effect of this disease, he was told, would be that

> the boy would not

> grow taller than three feet, would remain bald, and

> would age

> rapidly. Even as a child, he would have the

> appearance of an old man!

> Naturally, the father was grief-stricken. " Why has

> God permitted an

> innocent child to become the victim of such a

> disease? He asked. " He

> has hurt or harmed no one. Why has he been exposed

> to physical and

> psychological torture? " The author considers several

> similar cases

> and concludes that God is not omnipotent, as we

> believe Him to be.

> God has limited power. Within those limitations God

> can exercise His

> discretion. But there are forces over which He has

> no control. If

> those forces operate, God has no way of helping you

> out.

>

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