By Sarah Callahan
Gray Space Graces
Some of my grandma’s finals words to me before she passed were, “We’re going to be okay. Everything is going to be okay.” Through teary eyes, I nodded in agreement. Although, I believe she had a greater understanding of what that meant than I did in that moment. At the ripe age of 101, she had made peace with death and was ready to enter eternal life when her time came. She knew that what was to come would be much greater than even the best days here on earth. Easter reminds us that death does not get the last word. I think my grandma understood that as she made one of her final statements: all will be well.
Jesus’ power is greater than that of those with “power” and status in our world today. Jesus’ power is one of self-emptying, rather than power that rises out of greed and bullying. Instead of dripping in gold, Christ the King has thorns for a crown and a cross for a throne. It is a liberating truth to know that even when those on this side of heaven abuse their power, we can point to our God, who died for us and rose again and say, “that is my true King.”
Conceptually, we say that God is all-good, all-knowing and all-powerful. God’s power is a characteristic that I find harder to grasp than omniscience or complete love and goodness. It is especially difficult to understand God’s omnipotence when looking around at the world and seeing senseless suffering. When we see malnourished children or those with incurable diseases whose lives are taken too soon, when we see world leaders taking advantage of those already struggling in poverty, when we see wars tearing lands, peoples and families apart, it’s natural to ask what kind of God would allow all of this to happen.
This is the part of the article where I should explain why God doesn’t step in to our world to right these wrongs, but alas, I have not yet figured out the problem of theodicy. In fact, theodicy may not be as much of a problem to be solved as it is a mystery to be lived through. I wish I had an answer to these faith-challenging questions, but I do not. What I do know is that Jesus understands and has experienced suffering. Jesus cries with us in our own grief, hopelessness and anxiety and it is powerful to have a companion in the valleys. I also know that Jesus, through the resurrection, shows us that new life can come even after the most hopeless of situations.
Note: if you are not familiar with “The Screwtape Letters” by C.S. Lewis, it is a fictional work written in the form of letters to and from an uncle, Screwtape, and his nephew, Wormwood, both of whom are devils. Screwtape is mentoring Wormwood, a junior devil in the art of tempting.
There is a point in the story in which Screwtape is telling his nephew about their own power versus God’s power in the winning over of souls. Screwtape shares, “we want cattle who can finally become food; He [God] wants servants who can finally become sons. We want to suck in, He wants to give out. We are empty and would be filled; He is full and flows over. Our war aim is a world in which Our Father Below has drawn all other beings into himself: the Enemy [God] wants a world full of beings united to Him but still distinct.”
In this world, we are not used to power that is truly for the good of all, but God’s is. We may not be able to fully understand God’s power, but we do know that it is full of love and greater than even death. On Easter, we celebrate the death of death. That is why we can say, like my grandma did, “we’re going to be okay. Everything is going to be okay,” even in the face of injustice, even in the wake of death. Instead of seeking out our Savior in this world, we should look to the One with the actual strength. We know that resurrection is coming and who has the true power to bring it.
(Sarah Callahan is social media coordinator for the Diocese of Davenport.)
