Monday, 23 June 2008

  • Should Christians be happy when God taketh away?

    oakleaf by mr. oak

    I remember the day when my first dog passed away.  I was understandably bummed and was pretty saddened by the whole thing.  I remember confiding in a friend of mine about my loss and he said "What He gives, he taketh away." 

    First of all, I can tell he had no idea how to comfort me and blurted whatever he could think of at the top of his head.  And to this day I never understood why he bothered to add a "th" at the end of "take" as if it's a direct quote from the Bible.  Nevertheless, I admired how he was trying. 

    Any event, we talked some more and he had an impression that since I was a Christian I should be optimistic.  That having the dog in the first place was a gift in itself and that I should be happy.  He talked about how I had heaven and something to live for and that I would be reunited with my dog, etc etc etc... In essence, Christians shouldn't be sad. 

    I was troubled by this because intellectually I understood the point.  Christians live for a different purpose - we have an idea of a greater good in this world and that God has a wonderful plan mapped out for all of us.  In the end, there's eternal life - heaven, and the promise of completeness upon our passing.  But I can't help but to feel that there are moments in life that are just tough and it's ok to be sad. 

    It's a tough balance in my mind - Christians are typically portrayed as a happy go lucky care free bunch of people.  Think the Ned Flanders of the world or all the praise songs we sing even - they're always portrayed to have no worries at all....but I feel this is far from....we too hurt, we too have our share of pains, and we too are flawed like no other...

    and in that - what do you guys think....should Christians always try to be happy or is it ok to be sad time to time?

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