The Injustice Of God OR Why You're Still Breathing

If you haven't read C.S. Lewis' Till We Have Faces, then you should immediately move that activity to the top of your "to-do" list. Right under making a to-do list.
It's got gospel-metaphor quotes that make you think (i.e. typical Jack). Quotes like so:

"Are the gods not just?"
"Oh no, child. What would become of us if they were?"

The question is uttered by a woman with a complaint against the gods. Her name is Orual, and she is Lewis' recreation of a minor character (a jealous sister) in a Greek myth. You can read the myth here. See, her sister, Psyche, was stolen by a god, but more importantly, Psyche's love and loyalty were taken as well. She consented to the kidnapping. And so Psyche's sister stewed in cold hatred of the gods, her jealousy slowly boiling within her until it became a possessive rage that demanded Psyche back, even if she was miserable. She no longer loved Psyche, because she would be happy as long as she could have Psyche, even though that meant sacrificing Psyche's happiness. She had loved too much an object that could not contain it, and so the love became something else.

And Orual gets her chance to scream and rail against the gods. She is brought to court and heard. And amidst the answer she is given, she asks this question, and receives that answer.

Disclaimer (tool of the wise and cowardly): I do believe God is just. Very. And I don't believe that's the point of this quote. I believe the point is the fallenness of man, the unknowable nature of God's plans, and the mercy of the Almighty.

I love this quote. It's tone sings of mercy, it's simple melody pierces the discordant tunes of self-deception that encircle the heart. You see, if the gods were just, then they would swiftly devastate all humanity with wrath and indignation. If God's justice were not tempered by patience and mercy, He would do the same. This quote reminds me that justice for me would mean my imprisonment. Life in Chino. Injustice means I go free. Serious injustice means I get a mansion when I walk out the court cleared as innocent.

See, the problem of evil is not the problem we should be focusing on. How could there not be evil in the world when so many of us are (read "every one of us is") so evil. In fact, there are plenty of answers on the question of a burdened, sin-laden, groaning, hoping world. Few satisfy the emotional turmoil of a heart in crisis. But the problem of pain is less of a problem than the problem of grace.

So when one sends a curse skyward with a clenched fist at the injustice of God, remember what kind of injustice He actually leans toward. He leans towards the kind that lets wicked walk free for a while if that means they will turn from their wickedness. His is the kind of injustice that lets you breathe and eat and laugh and have babies and play football and watch sunsets. His injustice is not injustice at all, but patience and mercy.