In a world with so much suffering, how can I believe in God? Reframing our mindset to deal with why so many bad things happen to good people. Finally, is our current state of Divine recession part of a larger plan?

A FAITH GARDEN:

God in Times of Crisis

This isn’t going to be easy…

I had reached an inflection point in the God idea. Initially, when the bottom fell out on my faith, I felt so lost; a relationship with God in modern times seemed impossibly far away. But slowly, a more nuanced belief in God presented itself. With time and work, I found an inspirational understanding of our creator, which led me to the unique human sense of purpose called Empowered Immanence.

Even with a faith in Empowered Immanence, I faced the toughest question of all – an issue of fundamental fairness. Most of us can agree that there is simply too much tragedy and suffering in this world. This may pose the greatest challenge in the search for God, leading so many to conclude, “I cannot believe in God… if this is the world God created.”

We live in a world corrupted by evil. I realized that completing my own Faith Garden required that I address a critical question: how can God exist in all this suffering? It’s fair to say that most of us believe traditional religion is about reward and punishment – essentially, religious faith means that if I do good I should be protected and rewarded; and if I harm others and behave really badly, I will suffer the consequences. Well, if God is supposed to be so perfect and just, why do I witness so much suffering everywhere I turn? Why do such bad things happen to the best people in my life? What kind of God would sit by and watch that happen?

These are among the heaviest questions I ever asked myself. And if we’ve learned nothing else by now in these podcasts, attempting to answer these questions runs straight into the Certainty of Uncertainty. What I mean is that the answers will inevitably be matters of belief, matters of faith. I wanted answers that make sense but understood that these questions stretch beyond anything we can know for certain. In the spirit of a humble faith, I will never suggest I know the answers to these tough questions – I will never tell myself I understand the mind of God; but maybe, by sharing the way I believe Judaism reframes the personal Divine/human relationship, we can find inspiration and meaning as we move forward in life.

For starters, Judaism finds meaning and purpose within the realities of the human condition; earlier podcasts noted the Bible’s focus on finding fulfillment in this world without mentioning salvation in an afterlife. In other words, Judaism insists on a framework of meaning within what we see and feel here on earth. That’s why it doesn’t sugarcoat or deny that bad things do happen to good, even really good people. The lives of overachieving immanence-generators, the Tzadikim or righteous individuals in this world, are often tragic, painful, and bruising. But at the same time, those lives will be filled with blessings, spiritual intimacy, nourishing relationships, and remarkable Tikun Olam. Given this complicated reality, the search for God should never become license to claim that what’s bad is really good, to turn our earthly experiences inside-out. Please don’t tell me night is really day. We must resist interpreting every event in history with a happy-ending bias so that all suffering is for a good purpose. No person can be a pawn to be sacrificed on the chessboard of life. Of course, great outcomes should be celebrated and I marvel at how the arc of history miraculously bends towards the unique resilience of the tiny Jewish nation, but not by turning Jewish history into a Disney movie – or pretending that all pain was necessary and constructive. As one example, consider the Exodus story from Egypt. This gripping narrative continues to inspire millions in the human march towards freedom and social justice; it rightly represents a paradigm – an outcome - of emancipation from oppression; but we forget that same story was built on the unmarked graves of so many thousands of Jewish slaves, beaten and murdered by their Egyptian masters. We shouldn’t sweep that suffering under the rug. Judaism’s framework of meaning must account for pain and fit it into its spiritual worldview, without recasting it as something positive. For example, in Israel today, Memorial Day (known as Yom Ha Zikaron, the day of remembering) is as profoundly sad throughout the country as the nation’s Independence Day is happy and celebrated. In fact, Memorial Day is immediately followed by Independence Day in Israel to emphasize nature’s synergy of pain and joy. That balance is how it should be.

So let me summarize: reality is a complicated mix of ups and downs, highs and lows, that inevitably make up the human experience. It’s not that bad things happen to good people; it’s that bad things happen to all people. No one is immune. I cannot explain why this is so. Perhaps its embedded and natural within a physical universe. Perhaps it’s the price we pay in exchange for our unique freedom to do evil as well as good. Most likely, it’s some combination of both. How do I synthesize this imperfect reality with my God relationship? How do I incorporate my spirituality into this messy existence? Isn’t the God idea supposed to reassure me that I have a bodyguard in my corner – ready to reward and protect me from all harm if I do good?

To answer these critical questions, I begin with a sports analogy – one that reflects the very essence of Judaism’s God Mindset. Many of the greatest coaches preach that winning should never be the primary goal. These coaches believe that you achieve full potential by focusing on playing your best when your best is called for. The legendary coach John Wooden called it Competitive Greatness; I call it Full Achievement. Wait… don’t focus on winning when you enter a competition? That sounds more like some anti-competition cop-out than a mantra for thriving. And yet Wooden’s Full Achievement method led his UCLA Bruins basketball teams to an unmatched 10 national championships in 12 years. Phil Jackson, another Hall of Fame coach who preached Full Achievement over “winning is the only thing,” led his teams to a record 11 NBA championships. By focusing primarily on their input and not on winning, these teams greatly increased their odds of success. Why?

They found a formula that allows me to maximize both my performance and my mental satisfaction – and that each in turn feeds off the other – all without denying the reality around me. That reality is that even if you play your very best, at any moment, other factors outside your control may determine the outcome. In other words, the outcome is beyond your control. The opponent may be stronger or faster; you may feel sick that day; a referee may make a mistake; or a fan may reach over and interfere with a catchable foul ball that destroys the Cubs’ season! Let’s use some basic and common-sense statistics to illuminate this stark reality: 99% of people who compete and play will never win a championship. Never. If winning is all that matters, if that is the sole goal, almost every competitor will end up bitterly disappointed. So why play? Through experience, these coaches learned that an outcome-orientation is not only unrealistic; it can be self-defeating. There must be something else to be gained, some other goal that provides the reason we play the game. Something about the journey itself must be worthwhile. As Phil Jackson once said: "the most we can hope for is to create the best possible conditions for success… then let go of the outcome." I need to repeat that, because it reflects the most profound explanation of the human condition: "the most we can hope for is to create the best possible conditions for success… then let go of the outcome." The insight from these coaches is that the best way to thrive in life, to reach your full potential, is to adopt an input-orientation. Focus on your actions and reactions. And this is the key: find satisfaction in the quality and consistency of your input, the nature of your effort, and create the best possible conditions for success – because the outcome is often beyond your control.

I believe the exact same insight animates Judaism’s God Mindset. Judaism believes in a coach – a God who created all of us, gave us the ability to fix our imperfect world, and who wants us to realize our potential – to attain our Full Achievement. That’s Empowered Immanence. Now, life’s outcomes and our personal journeys are often far more unpredictable than any sporting competition. Sometimes we look back and see a pattern, a purpose; but very often life feels chaotic and random, leaving us with nothing more than a whisper of “why me?” The God Mindset turns my focus away from this outcome-orientation. The reality is that I will encounter blessings and curses, pain and joy, a series of mixed outcomes to confront over the course of my life. That much is certain and inevitable. Instead, the God Mindset is input-oriented, asking: what does God want me to do with those experiences – both painful and joyous? How does my creator want me to react? This is where the God Mindset parallels the coaching insights just described. God wants me to focus on being the best I can be in the moment and not base my sense of meaning and self-worth on outcomes I cannot control. God wants me to find a way to grow and improve from every situation I encounter in life. With a God Mindset… obstacles become opportunities. Live joyfully and find joy, in your relationships and in your work – that’s the life advice in the Biblical book of Kohelet, also known as Ecclesiastes. Now that’s not to say that this God Mindset diminishes empathy or pain; it doesn’t whitewash life’s rough moments. And it doesn’t mean we cannot feel anger about tragic outcomes. But it provides vital resilience and hope by asking, “what now?” “Where do I go from here?” The God Mindset reminds me that even a glass that is half-empty is simultaneously half-full. Don’t lose focus on life’s blessings. And fight like hell to increase the fullness in life. My best chance to lead a happy and resilient life in the face of hardships and challenges comes from channeling the image of God within me, taking control of my input, and tackling whatever is thrown at me with caring, resolve, and dignity. The God Mindset provides a formula for thriving, despite the ups and downs that even the best of us will inevitably encounter.

An input-orientation produced some of the greatest coaches and performers in the sports world. But does the God Mindset really work in the game of life? Social scientists and psychologists are now applying sophisticated tools of research to this question. Using MRIs and EEG scans, researchers can literally see the God Mindset’s positive chemical effects on the functioning human brain. As mentioned in an earlier podcast, Dr. Lisa Miller of Columbia University discovered that a developed sense of personal relationship with God is highly protective against addiction to alcohol and drugs. In fact, adolescents with a strong sense of personal relationship to a higher power are 70 to 80% less likely to engage in heavy substance abuse. For teenage girls, that sense of a personal relationship with a higher power cuts the odds of depression in half. Research at Bowling Green State University found that the feeling of a collaborative relationship with God creates the resilience necessary to overcome life’s challenges. Other research studies show that people who regularly attend religious services give far more charity, volunteer more to help others, have lower blood pressure, less anxiety, less depression, and live at least 7 years longer than those who do not regularly attend services! Hundreds of rigorous and objective studies have reached similar conclusions. Apparently, Abraham and Sarah were really on to something 4,000 years ago. Let’s be clear: the God Mindset does not guaranty mental or physical health, but the research shows it goes a long way in enhancing it. And it’s more necessary today than ever before.

As if trying to explain God in the context of human suffering wasn’t heavy enough, let me dive into even deeper waters – and discuss the challenge of finding meaning and purpose in the most unfair of human developmental situations. Empowered Immanence creates the most inclusive perspective in addressing developmentally and physically disabled children and adults among us. Judaism stands for the idea that our purpose in life is to generate God’s immanence in this world. In prior podcasts, we’ve discussed the ways we generate Divine immanence in our flawed and finite world. Within that framework of meaning, we each have the potential to bring Godliness into this world by acts of kindness and caring. But I would argue that the greatest immanence-generators are not those who perform acts of kindness; instead it is those who inspire acts of kindness in others; those who bring out the very best humanity has to offer. No one inspires acts of kindness more than people with substantial mental and physical challenges. We shouldn’t take that for granted; it wasn’t always and it doesn’t have to be that way. Ancient Greek and other cultures reacted with unspeakable cruelty towards those they deemed developmentally undesirable. But the prophets and members of traditional religions, grounded in the egalitarian “image of God” idea, have shined a beacon of light by showering disadvantaged individuals with love and kindness. We have dear friends with a severely autistic child – a beautiful young man who continues to inspire remarkable acts of grace and caring from so many. He brings out the best in family, friends, and especially his dedicated caregivers. His mere presence in our lives continues to make us all far better people. Now that is obviously not to say anyone would choose this outcome – but it is to say that his presence simply makes this world a better place. No one leads a more meaningful life than this young man, who draws immanence energy and Tikkun Olam out of everyone he encounters.

Let me end this podcast by suggesting an image for the God-human relationship – and why our world of Divine recession – of Hester Panim – may be part of a natural progression after all.

A survey of Jewish history – from the Bible to today, strongly resembles the evolution of a maturing parent-child relationship. The healthiest parent-child relationships are developmental, meaning:

• they evolve over time, with empowerment as the goal;

• there is strong early guidance that transitions into greater independence;

• the essence of this unique relationship is based on the love of a creator for its creations; and

• the influence of the parent continues even after direct contact ceases.

It’s crazy how closely the arc of the God/human relationship parallels that of a healthy parent/child. Our relationship with God has evolved over time, with biblical narratives that testify to early hands-on guidance – such as prophecy and miracles, followed by a gradual transition towards increased human independence. History paints the picture of a continuing religious journey towards Empowered Immanence, climaxing in our ability to introduce Godliness into this world without resorting to supernatural events and heavenly voices. Rabbi JB Soloveitchik has referred to God today as the “Passive Sufferer” – an image which will immediately resonate with any parent who refuses to helicopter children and instead stands back as a child learns by falling… grows by failing. That passive suffering is the key formula for developing independent and self-sufficient kids. And perhaps it perfectly explains God’s recession as history marches forward. Empowered Immanence fits like a puzzle piece into the void created by God’s Hester Panim – the hiding of God’s face. You and I have the ability to force Godliness into our world, into this world – today – to not only make God relevant in this world of high-tech, Artificial Intelligence and virtual reality, but to actually make God impactful on our lives and those of our families, communities and nations.

In the natural order of things, my parents cannot provide hands-on advice and influence forever – at some point I will survive them, with the opportunity to continue or reject their legacy. But even after the direct influence ends, parents can still remain present and influential in life. This reminds me of a remarkable interpretation for the complicated idea of resurrection of the dead, or Tchiat HaMetim in Hebrew. How does anyone live on after death? What does resurrection even mean? Maybe it means that parents and mentors live on through their children and disciples; through those who speak out and teach in their name; who live their values; through those they inspire to live life as it should be lived. That is real immortality. Nietzsche declared “God is dead.” But he underestimated the parent-child relationship, and the power of God’s children to make God immanent in this world. The result? Long after Friedrich Nietzsche has left this world, that “dead” God’s values and teachings continue to inspire and dramatically impact life on earth. Judaism’s God Mindset generates God’s immanence; answering a call that echoes deep in our souls.