Where is God?

Faith as small as a mustard seed

It's my second Sunday at San Agustin Church. I like the mass here because it's much more solemnly done compared to most churches. So this atheist still observes the mass from the perspective of the atheist.

It's 27th Sunday in Ordinary time (Year C) and the topic is about faith in the light of the harshness of human life especially suffering.

Here are the readings for this Sunday and I heed you to read them for you to understand the context of what I will be talking about later:

1st Reading: Habakkuk 1:2-3, 2:2-4
Psalm 95
2nd Reading: 2 Timothy 1:6-8, 13-14
Gospel: Luke 17:5-10

The sermon of the priest started with his own version of the barber paradox. He said the barber is an atheist and doesn't believe in God. He shares his disbelief in God to a customer who were unable to explain the much suffering in the world. If indeed there is a God there would be a problem since God is all good. The customer goes out done with his hair and sees a person with a long hair. The customer goes back to the barber and tells the barber that barbers don't exist. And the barber was shocked and asked how that is possible. The customer said that the person with the long hair should have cut his hair but he chose that on his own as if barbers doesn't exist. The same goes with the idea of God man is just too stubborn to go to God.



My initial reaction to this is that if God really exists then we would have gone to him since day one but the fact remains that for many atheists that the existence of God is something that must be dealt first before going to him. It (the story) also assumes that by default God is something that is there and just needs to be found.

But the greater threat to the problem here is the challenge on whether the existence of suffering impede on the reality and existence of God. And indeed there have had been centuries of responses to this problem. We can view it many contexts.

Some people say that suffering is temporary and there would soon be a reward and punishment system. The punishment for those who pervert justice could either be immediate or even to some extent delayed. And the Bible has taken heavily on the idea since the people have been exiled and suffered a lot in the hands of captors.

I think the mass today tells people to have more faith to endure the sufferings they have and to wait for the reward that might due to them for trying their best to keep the laws and statutes of the LORD.

Still delayed punishment is something that most people find hard to understand especially in a culture and lifestyle that is used to fastfood, disposable stuff and click this and that for satisfaction. We have unlearned to be patient to some extent. But even then delayed justice has loomed over the heads of people once in a while. Most of the people have struggled with this dilemma and have come up with two results.

Either one becomes cemented in faith and more trusting while the rest like I end up with more questions and a real longing for what must be done.

So where is God? Since I don't believe in God my answer is .... syntax error.... %^@&$THGFDJFDKOFJDFDFEFMFLEKMCF R$*FHN%DLWNF