Many might suggest I avoid addressing the existence of God directly. But one cannot write about "why I believe" without facing the question of God's reality head on. If there is no God, we're all wasting our time on Sunday, as St. Paul himself affirms. Furthermore, I'm not interested in non-profits or clubs masquerading as places of worship. Churches are ships full of stricken passengers, bearing their souls towards the healing shores of heaven with Godspeed.
Who or what is God? While the Almighty is usually defined by negation, there are at least two positive statements that can be made: in the cause and effect sense of physics, God is the unmoved mover and in the metaphysical sense, He is all-powerful, all-knowing and all-loving.
When I survey the wondrous world, I gain a sense of the first premise. The artist's brush is revealed everywhere: our genetic structure, the laws of physics, perfect symmetry, beauty in each environment, complementary traits. With no exhaustive materialistic answer for "why is there something rather than nothing," as well as issues of entropy or the statistical improbability of our universe creating itself, the sciences bolster, rather than harm, my faith in the Creator.
However, it is God's metaphysical definitions that give reason for doubt, even rage, when placed alongside the problem of pain, the two greatest retorts being: "what about when evil acts are done in the name of a religion?" and "why does God let bad things happen to good people?"
The former should not be excused and I will be dwelling on the issue of corruption, in light of the recent scandals, at a later date in this series. But it is certainly the weaker of the two arguments, as evil things are done in the name of supposedly upright institutions everyday. We ought to expect the highest from God's representatives on earth but they are made of the same stuff as our civil authorities and are just as susceptible to the hubris that paves the way to Hell.
But if there is a God who is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-loving, why do innocent people suffer? Why are children born with painful, debilitating diseases? Why are people trapped in abusive relationships? Why do the unjust thrive and the powerless remain oppressed? The tragedies of life and the incalculable pain humans intentionally visit on each other is enough to make one cry out towards the blackened sky, "my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
Of course, those words were said by Jesus Christ, who with the Father and Holy Spirit, make up the triune God of Christianity. In a classic paradox, the Almighty managed to enter into the human experience of abandonment at the crucifixion - and that terrified even the omnipotent.
At the heart of the Christian message, reenacted on Good Friday, is the truth that God is not some distant supreme being. The Almighty understands our suffering because through the incarnation, He became man, and even after acting with perfect love and justice towards all, the God-man was betrayed by a friend for money to enemies who wanted Him dead. After an unfair trial, Jesus was sentenced to torture and death on a cross, Rome's cruelest form of execution.
In short, the God I worship gets unjust pain and suffering - even death itself - because He has experienced more of it than I will ever know. Throughout His teachings, both before and after the crucifixion, God the Son states unequivocally that all who follow Him will indeed suffer - but He will share their burdens and at the end of all things, there will be rest from every strife. To those with difficult questions about evil and injustice, I can only answer, "Christ suffers with you."
Catholicism displays the cost of eternal life over the altar - a naked man, with a crown of thorns, hanging from two pieces of rough wood by hands and feet. Thus I am reminded that evil and suffering are so ubiquitous, even God faced them.
Put bluntly, what more proof do I need?
