21 Nov 23
Sean Mc
God does help
Yesterday I stopped by the military cemetery at St George’s and was not surprised to see that so many of the graves were of young men, however I was very shocked that such a large number were of very young children. Mostly they had succumbed to yellow fever and other diseases that were prevalent in past centuries.
It makes you ask the question, why does our Lord allow the young and innocent to suffer?
On further reflection I realised that those were the trials that people faced in the past. Was God’s answer to provide us with special people that would care and help us through research and medicine, so that fewer of us have to suffer in the future?
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I hear what you're saying. I remember looking through the old parish church records from the 1800s and the births, baptisms, and deaths and the number of children who died within their first few years was harrowing. I remember one wall plaque where a family lost five children all under the age of ten. The pain and suffering they experienced is beyond anything I can imagine.
Yellow fever was just awful. They isolated people, not realising it was the mosquitoes that carried the disease. So many suffered and died.
Like you, I don't know why God allows suffering (although I did write about it here: https://fab.church/insights/if-there-is-a-god-why-does-he-allow-suffering/) but I do know that he calls us to be part of the solution. What could be more godly work than alleviating the suffering of others?
I suppose, visiting such cemeteries, is sobering and gives us cause to give thanks for the privileges we experience today. x