I have struggled and will continue to struggle with the existence of illness, disease, and genetic mutation that fill a child’s life with torture and sadness. It is a powerful stumbling block to the critical thinker, and a strong barrier to belief when no reasonable perspective is found to hold God harmless.
So what can we make of the case that the Christian God would allow these little ones to suffer, when it is clear that Jesus so loved the children that a person caught corrupting one should be tossed into the sea pulled down by a neck-roped millstone?
Childhood is a critical time, and the fulcrum between spiritual life and spiritual death. Along with formal education in morals, manners, and other matters of upbringing, these are irreplaceable wonder years filled with wholesome fantasies that are conjured into existence by a bubbling imagination and supported by loving, nurturing parents who show interest and give credence to wondrous, mythical tales and toys imbibed with magic powers. An experience we all believe none should have stolen by the robbery of dialysis, chemo, CF, MD, and the like.
What follows is a literary device to express the feelings of frustration, condemnation, and outrage that someone might have felt about God due to child sickness. (Don't take it literally!)
…I have a problem with notion of sick children. I can’t stand seeing the innocence of life trampled upon by afflictions of mind or health causing fear, pain, suffering, trauma, and death. But God has created life…It’s a spit-in-the-face of justice and a chorus of endless contradiction to moral governance, so called. But God sustains his creation…It’s a perversion of creation, a callous indifference to duty by a Creator to produce horrendous mutilation of contingent, necessary physical structure, in other words corrupting (or letting corrupt) the genetic code that must have proper sequence to support life. But God loves humanity…Little vessels of God’s pinnacle masterpiece who are supposed to glide immeasurably high above the animal kingdom carried aloft by the breath of life, yet that breath has become foul and bearing a heavy stink, pulling down the precious, innocent, and hapless life-potential into the shit that carries down carcasses to be consumed by maggots that even the birds are able to fly over. How dare God allow lower orders of creation to rise above the buried children under His purported Godly care and providence?!
When adults suffer it is possible to crutch the anguish by resting it upon various constructs of reason, philosophy, and religious teaching. Depending on the grace imparted by God to a person, he or she can develop a certain peace with the sickness and project the pain outwardly instead of inwardly or passively. Use the anguish; use the misery; don’t let it happen at you, but discover a meaning for it; a solution that gives you figurative control; a productive use of seeming non-productive existence.
There is one Catholic saint called Therese of Lisieux who called herself the “little flower of Jesus” who suffered long bouts of lung congestion and died of tuberculosis without the relief of morphine. She was quoted as saying, “I value sacrifice more than ecstasy. I find my happiness in suffering, as I find it nowhere else”. Without getting into the how or why she would have thought this way, I interpret this to mean that St. Therese found purpose and meaning in her suffering. This is what a mature person with an enlightened outlook might contemplate, but for a child? That 4-year-old girl who sees her sisters playing, jumping, and running has no such capacity to abstractly rationalize the meaning of her dying heart, slowly killing her as she waits in quiet agony for a heart transplant. How do you tell an 8-year-old boy who is about to receive Jesus at first communion that Jesus loves him, when he suffers from an inoperable brain tumor; he will be dead in a year, but not before the crippling seizures and vomit-inducing headaches retch his pathetic frame.
I’m not a biologist, but from what I understand, human life draws a critical part of its being from flesh, and that flesh is a hugely complex biomechanical and bioelectric machine based on its genetic code. From conception to development of a fertilized egg there are chances for disease. I think fundamental to a healthy child are the genes received from the parents. A genetic disorder where two parents unknowingly carry a mutant gene can pass on a disorder to the offspring—this is a most insidious case (otherwise healthy parents sharing a damaged copy of a gene). There is also the chance for contamination during the fetal stage that that disrupts the development of critical organs and systems (like alcohol and mercury). Once a person reaches childhood there are many environmental triggers that can suddenly cause sickness, like those whose fragile genes are prone to error leading to alterations that contribute to cancer. Then there are others who have generally weak constitutions that react to substances in their environment; stuff like peanuts and bee venom turn into toxins producing violent reactions causing isolation and fear. The point is I believe (again: I’m not an expert!) that various forms of childhood sickness are a result of physical/chemical processes in the body and not the chaotic whims of a capricious god.
The question is why have mutant genes (causing childhood disease and suffering) crept into the human genetic system in the first place? I have no idea! But I can speculate the reasons from a Christian philosophical and theological point of view on behalf of the children (I’m looking for more explanations if you know of any, please).
1. We live in a fallen world and God imposes pressure on life because of the deeds of our original parents. Genesis records that death has been introduced into the system of life, and perhaps genetic illness is an unavoidable side effect?
2. The sickness of children forces us to act with compassion. Contrast this with the opportunistic hunters of the animal kingdom that deal harshly with victims of genetic mutation (a disadvantage to say the least!). Humans are different and we recognize that we are a higher order of being, and the sick child is a person that deserves care. Although we are inconvenienced by the extra overhead of managing a sick child, we are duly granted divine grace to rise up to the occasion.
3. All of human life is interdependent, and each person contributes in a small way to the larger community. Neighbors provide assistance (not necessarily next door, but someone in the community). Without the support of others with similar experience, the situation would indeed be hopeless. Fortunately this is not the case and the community offers help to the suffering parents and indirectly the suffering children.
4. Human beings make visible the beautiful attributes of the invisible God. And God reveals himself (revelation) through his creation; God’s love is given corporeal existence through human beings by the hands and feet of community members who offer loving assistance, support, time and money in an effort to help the parents and comfort the children.
5. The seeds of the solution are found in the problem. Humans have discovered the design of life and gleaned the mechanisms that affect its physical conception. Symptoms of illness have been correlated with certain genetic markers leading to a rational understanding of genetic illness. Life is a logical truth—we are meant to learn and understand the physical reality of life. With the science of genetics as a sustained enterprise the causes of many genetic maladies have been identified and cures discovered that have prevented disorders from developing or a regimen provided to manage chronic conditions.
So what can we make of the case that the Christian God would allow these little ones to suffer, when it is clear that Jesus so loved the children that a person caught corrupting one should be tossed into the sea pulled down by a neck-roped millstone?
Childhood is a critical time, and the fulcrum between spiritual life and spiritual death. Along with formal education in morals, manners, and other matters of upbringing, these are irreplaceable wonder years filled with wholesome fantasies that are conjured into existence by a bubbling imagination and supported by loving, nurturing parents who show interest and give credence to wondrous, mythical tales and toys imbibed with magic powers. An experience we all believe none should have stolen by the robbery of dialysis, chemo, CF, MD, and the like.
What follows is a literary device to express the feelings of frustration, condemnation, and outrage that someone might have felt about God due to child sickness. (Don't take it literally!)
…I have a problem with notion of sick children. I can’t stand seeing the innocence of life trampled upon by afflictions of mind or health causing fear, pain, suffering, trauma, and death. But God has created life…It’s a spit-in-the-face of justice and a chorus of endless contradiction to moral governance, so called. But God sustains his creation…It’s a perversion of creation, a callous indifference to duty by a Creator to produce horrendous mutilation of contingent, necessary physical structure, in other words corrupting (or letting corrupt) the genetic code that must have proper sequence to support life. But God loves humanity…Little vessels of God’s pinnacle masterpiece who are supposed to glide immeasurably high above the animal kingdom carried aloft by the breath of life, yet that breath has become foul and bearing a heavy stink, pulling down the precious, innocent, and hapless life-potential into the shit that carries down carcasses to be consumed by maggots that even the birds are able to fly over. How dare God allow lower orders of creation to rise above the buried children under His purported Godly care and providence?!
When adults suffer it is possible to crutch the anguish by resting it upon various constructs of reason, philosophy, and religious teaching. Depending on the grace imparted by God to a person, he or she can develop a certain peace with the sickness and project the pain outwardly instead of inwardly or passively. Use the anguish; use the misery; don’t let it happen at you, but discover a meaning for it; a solution that gives you figurative control; a productive use of seeming non-productive existence.
There is one Catholic saint called Therese of Lisieux who called herself the “little flower of Jesus” who suffered long bouts of lung congestion and died of tuberculosis without the relief of morphine. She was quoted as saying, “I value sacrifice more than ecstasy. I find my happiness in suffering, as I find it nowhere else”. Without getting into the how or why she would have thought this way, I interpret this to mean that St. Therese found purpose and meaning in her suffering. This is what a mature person with an enlightened outlook might contemplate, but for a child? That 4-year-old girl who sees her sisters playing, jumping, and running has no such capacity to abstractly rationalize the meaning of her dying heart, slowly killing her as she waits in quiet agony for a heart transplant. How do you tell an 8-year-old boy who is about to receive Jesus at first communion that Jesus loves him, when he suffers from an inoperable brain tumor; he will be dead in a year, but not before the crippling seizures and vomit-inducing headaches retch his pathetic frame.
I’m not a biologist, but from what I understand, human life draws a critical part of its being from flesh, and that flesh is a hugely complex biomechanical and bioelectric machine based on its genetic code. From conception to development of a fertilized egg there are chances for disease. I think fundamental to a healthy child are the genes received from the parents. A genetic disorder where two parents unknowingly carry a mutant gene can pass on a disorder to the offspring—this is a most insidious case (otherwise healthy parents sharing a damaged copy of a gene). There is also the chance for contamination during the fetal stage that that disrupts the development of critical organs and systems (like alcohol and mercury). Once a person reaches childhood there are many environmental triggers that can suddenly cause sickness, like those whose fragile genes are prone to error leading to alterations that contribute to cancer. Then there are others who have generally weak constitutions that react to substances in their environment; stuff like peanuts and bee venom turn into toxins producing violent reactions causing isolation and fear. The point is I believe (again: I’m not an expert!) that various forms of childhood sickness are a result of physical/chemical processes in the body and not the chaotic whims of a capricious god.
The question is why have mutant genes (causing childhood disease and suffering) crept into the human genetic system in the first place? I have no idea! But I can speculate the reasons from a Christian philosophical and theological point of view on behalf of the children (I’m looking for more explanations if you know of any, please).
1. We live in a fallen world and God imposes pressure on life because of the deeds of our original parents. Genesis records that death has been introduced into the system of life, and perhaps genetic illness is an unavoidable side effect?
2. The sickness of children forces us to act with compassion. Contrast this with the opportunistic hunters of the animal kingdom that deal harshly with victims of genetic mutation (a disadvantage to say the least!). Humans are different and we recognize that we are a higher order of being, and the sick child is a person that deserves care. Although we are inconvenienced by the extra overhead of managing a sick child, we are duly granted divine grace to rise up to the occasion.
3. All of human life is interdependent, and each person contributes in a small way to the larger community. Neighbors provide assistance (not necessarily next door, but someone in the community). Without the support of others with similar experience, the situation would indeed be hopeless. Fortunately this is not the case and the community offers help to the suffering parents and indirectly the suffering children.
4. Human beings make visible the beautiful attributes of the invisible God. And God reveals himself (revelation) through his creation; God’s love is given corporeal existence through human beings by the hands and feet of community members who offer loving assistance, support, time and money in an effort to help the parents and comfort the children.
5. The seeds of the solution are found in the problem. Humans have discovered the design of life and gleaned the mechanisms that affect its physical conception. Symptoms of illness have been correlated with certain genetic markers leading to a rational understanding of genetic illness. Life is a logical truth—we are meant to learn and understand the physical reality of life. With the science of genetics as a sustained enterprise the causes of many genetic maladies have been identified and cures discovered that have prevented disorders from developing or a regimen provided to manage chronic conditions.
