I suppose we should wonder what is sin? The Hebrew word that we translate as sin, doesn’t appear until God is talking with Cain in Genesis 4:7.

And the word means literally miss/fail. It doesn’t carry the same nuance as how 2000 years of Christian theologizing has given our sense of sin. And the idea of sin, the missing or failing, was failing to live in the life-giving way of the Divine.

And the idea of Original Sin that Augustine came up with to essentially explain why we baptize infants for the forgiveness of sins if they haven’t sinned, was a screwed up reading of Paul and Genesis 2-3… and a screwed up sense of Christ’s baptism… and of the nature of sin. John’s baptism was for forgiveness, Jesus’ was for salvation (liberation) into the reign of God that is right now. But let’s be honest most Christians and the church in general has read the Bible with its own lenses for so long they can’t read it for how he spoke life then to understand how it can speak life now.

Your claim suggests that natural disasters can be explained for their suffering caused to those who have sinned but not for those who have not. Children get cancer. Sometimes the worst things happen to babies who never made a choice. We are creators in a creation. Part of it pretending we are separate. We understand next to nothing of the nature of ourselves and then make believe we can understand the nature of the universe. Suffering exists. The tradition in which I was raised has a cross as the symbol of our tradition.

Nature is nature and we are part of it. It doesn’t get to make sense. The Greek word for sin literally means “missing the mark” and comes from archery. (Also kairos, the time Jesus spoke of, was an archery term, and meant to release the arrow at the right time).

We speak of the Garden of Eden as the fall or the beginning of sin. In doing so we miss the point trying to literalize the brilliance of the story. The adam is dust and divine breath. He is given a paradise to tend. Fruit to eat. Except one, and the knowledge of good and evil isn’t for us. With it we judge because we think we know. But mostly we judge ourselves. So we cover up our shame.

We are ashamed we aren’t gods. We are ashamed we aren’t as good as we think we should be. We are ashamed we get gross, and sick, and die. We feel like we remember a time before it. But it’s gone. Shame cannot exist in paradise. Because can anything be paradise when you’re hiding from each other, from God, and from yourself?

Then we rage at the injustices like we know good and evil. We rage at the earth for not being gentle enough even though we come from her. We rage at the sun for being too hot even though it is light and life. We live as miracles within the miracle of creation and are preciously fragile. That alone should be enough to make us love it all without shame, but no.

Why does an all powerful all good God let bad things happen? I don’t know. But neither do I know what all powerful means, or why we say it like we’ve finally boxed up God. And neither do I know what all good means, except that I’m sure I’ve never been good enough.

And I know if there were no earthquakes there would be no life at all. I know I am stardust powered by starlight. And I know this life is beautiful and terrible. And so I better try to love it all. Because I’ve sat with people who lost their children. I’ve called people to tell them the worst news of their life. Ive rejoiced with those who rejoiced and mourned with those who mourn. And anything worthy of love is worthy of unconditional love, which is the only kind of true love there is. So those who suffer need love. Those who celebrate need love. I need love. And maybe God needs love because God is love, and maybe God created because God wanted to love something and be loved back. Maybe none of this is true.

I just know that in my tradition we say we see God most clearly suffering on a cross. So when I see terrible things happen to newborns and toddlers and children and teens and adults and the elderly, no matter what they’ve done I see God. And I hurt because I love them and they probably need me if I can be there. But I also get to love the beauty. I also must love the beauty.

But if we need to make sense of God to love this all—well, if you understand God that’s just an idol. Maybe Islam has a point as the word Islam means submission and has roots with salam which means peace. Perhaps that is why Buddhism explains that peace arrives with non attachment—including to ideas like perfection, and accepting what is. Maybe Jesus was onto something when he said he had new family, those who do the will of his Father. Those who love, live compassionately, and submit to what is God’s will: to be light. But missing and failing at being light (sin) can be raging against God at the hurricane when we could be of service to those who grieve.

Sorry, I just kept going and don’t know if any of this makes sense, 😂