The Issue of Suffering and the Meaning of God-Given Free Will – “One Love that Has Possessed Me”

​The issue of suffering comes up a lot with whether God exists. The question that resounds with every atheist is the human cry: “How could a loving God allow so much suffering? If he loves, why? There is no point in this empty pain! Does he not care? Has he forgotten me? There must be no hope for this incurable wound of life. No meaning.”

But would there be any meaning to life if we didn’t have the possibility of not choosing God?

Catholics understand that suffering exists because of free will decisions by humans that are contrary to God’s love.

His relationship with us is contingent upon us wanting it and freely choosing it. 

His love, however, is not. It will never be retracted.

We can liken this most easily to romance. A forced relationship is not romantic. And so goes it with doing good. Being forced to do good has no beauty, no goodness, and no truth. It gains no respect nor admiration and for good reason – it is a pretense. 

It is freely choosing to do good that has beauty, goodness, and truth. The virtue and integrity that thrills our hearts IS when we see someone choose a heroic act, not because they have to do so but because they want to do so.

The play of life, The Battlefield for Good is one big will-they, won’t-they love story. Will the protagonist choose to love God or not? 

The value and epic of the story lie in the possibility that he or she will not. Will the hero choose to surrender to the desire of one love and be possessed by one love? And one love alone – that of God? Will the princess choose the prince?

The first part of the love story has already been initiated by Jesus. He is the prince in Snow White and the Seven Dwarves who has found one love, the human race, that “has possessed” him, and he will never change his mind about his love.

He is so determined in his resolve that he will even risk the possibility of losing Snow White by not forcing her to love him, instead wooing her with a song at which she blushes and considers from a distance. 

Later, when she awakes from her sleep to his kiss, she whole-heartedly stretches her arms out for him to take her away to his kingdom. 

And so we have free will and the possibility of great joy and great suffering. 

Would it be better not to have free will?​

It would be easier. 
​
But would it be meaningful? 

Would it even be delightful?