CAPT. WALTER F. HENRY
Commanding Officer
CDR. WESLEY E. SKILL
Executive Officer
ft DM DC
sum
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Contained herein are not to be construed
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EDITING STAFF
H.T, DAVIS, YN1
055J or 365
GEORGE MILLS,J03
125
-CHAPLAINS CORNER
WHY DID THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN TO ME?
How many times in the course of our
lives do we ask ourselves this question
Reeling under the impact of some unfore
seen occurrence,the words spring read
ily ho our lips. Perhaps -some accident
has befallen a loved one, or, worse
still, §ome sudden illness has come,
unannounced. Perhaps the ’doctor has
rendered a verdict which, holds no hope
It is triggered -•by , many things,\4his
question "Why did this have to happen,
to ... ‘"A ,, *.
We:*do not know that it ”hadM to
happen. Each of us is aware that suf
fering of one kind or another is the
common lot. No one gets through this
world without a certain amount of it,
less for some, more for others* Some
times, if we were wise enough, we
might see that some of our suffering
is due to something left undone. At
other times, try as we may, we cannot
see that anything we have done has
brought the suffering about. An auto
mobile accident, in which the person
most grievously injured was not at
fault, is one of these. We are told
in the Old Testament that the sins of
the fathers are vested upon the child
(continued next column)
ron, to the third & fourth generation
It is difficult to know.
But Christianity has a message for
things of this kind that no other rel
igion in the world has. There are cults
which say that there is no such things
as pain, that illness, evil and such,
are delusions of an unhealthy mind. If
we purify our minds, they continue,
these things would disturb us no long -
er, ^ny of the Far Eastern religions
hold that pain and suffering are only
illusions, which appear to be real but
are not. If we ignore them, they will
disappear, Christianity, of all the
great religions of the world, l@oks
these things straight in the face, sees
them for what they are, and sets its
face to do something about them,
A Christian looks at suffering in
this manner: Here, he says to himself,
is a condition. It is present, it is
real. Since it exists, then God has
permitted it to exist. And, since God
has permitted it, He has a purpose *' in
it, Mfcr task is to find out, if I car
what purpose God has in mind for me*
what final goal He hopes to; bring about
Obviously, what He, wants me -to become
is still possible for -me with this
pain, this disease,, this suffering.
What does God waht me to do with it,
so that, through it, I can become the
kind of person God wants me to become?
To do this' is to take pain and suf*
fering and’ put- it into -its proper;,
place. No longer can one sit and be
moan one*s lot, as though it were much,
much worse that that of anyone else,.
One must, to bring onefs ailment, what
ever it may be, out in^the open, loo k
at it steadily and the/ '/with the best
that we can understand df what God
wants us to do.with .it, proceed to
that end.
The uhrlstian accepts the situation
whether he is aware of anything he has
done to bring -it about or: not, as a
matter about which he must do. some
thing, He cannot let it go to waste.
(This is the 1st installment
of an article from a pamphlet
by John D. Lee)
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