OKAY, this will offend some: that is OK. It is exploration time, so —
Ponder NOT a GOD that demanded a horrible death for His Son to appease God, but rather a God who loved us so much that HE would allow such a horrible fate for his Only Son, because HE knows US so well … Knows us so well as to accommodate OUR warped (by sin) sense of Justice. Our God who knew what it would take to convince US that justice was met.
Tune your thoughts to an unbelievers viewpoint for a minute: Do you really want to trust a God whose followers teach that God’s only Son had to be murdered on a cross to satisfy God’s Judgment? Ponder that. Is that the Abba, the Father, the Daddy you want to “adopt” you … one in whom you place your trust for eternity? What am I talking about?
We often encounter those for whom the concept of a loving Father is foreign. Therefore, for them to embrace a “Father” God is a real problem. For those with absent fathers, no matter the reason, even those that are valid, or with abusive fathers, or just uninvolved fathers (face it some of us do not have a very functional “father chip”) – well, some of those folks just cannot “trust” a father figure, the fear of judgment is just too great, and their image of a father too tainted. Some of the biggest critics of our Christian faith point to a God that, based on the very words of Christian believers, appears cruel and unloving. So, let us explore God’s nature and see if He is cruel, judgmental, and unloving, OR is God simply perceived to have those attributes because of the way WE behave and characterize HIM.
Let us explore “how” … How this God of ours meets his people with love in the middle of all the mess they create … a God who’s spirit is grieved greatly by our misdeeds, but whose Love never falters or fails … a God that values Mercy over Justice: think about that, the last thing you really want from God is justice for your behavior – while there may be unavoidable consequences, trust me – you seek Gods Mercy not Justice. Consequences are much different than justice … just think about the words, if your actions had no consequences they would all be WHAT? Well, inconsequential, that is the word … do you really want an inconsequential existence? I think not, I have never heard anyone opine the need or desire to live an inconsequential existence. Consequences are not judgment, nor justice, a non-Christian term karma is more appropriate. So, let us start by not confusing judgment or justice with consequences …
Let us start with
New International Version
Deuteronomy 7:9
Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.
AND
1 John 4:8
He who doesn’t love doesn’t know God, for God is love.
World English Bible
The Greek word for love used in 1 John is agapé or a universal, unconditional love that transcends and persists regardless of circumstance; the highest form of love, charity, going beyond just the emotions to the extent of seeking the best for others; the love of God for mankind.
Let us look at Exodus 21, it has much to say about justice, we will confine ourselves now to the well know statement about “an eye for an eye”
Exodus 21:22-25
22 “If men fight and hurt a pregnant woman so that she gives birth prematurely, and yet no harm follows, he shall be surely fined as much as the woman’s husband demands and the judges allow. 23 But if any harm follows, then you must take life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burning for burning, wound for wound, and bruise for bruise.
World English Bible
Many critics of the Bible state this type of justice “proves” God is cruel and unloving. Such a conclusion suffers from a lack of historical perspective. At this time in history, man imposed “his” version of justice and revenge that was limited only by the power held by the “offended”. The penalties of mans’ version of justice cared little for intent, nor for punishment fitting the crime, but rather the ability for the “offended” to wield power and revenge.
So, conceptually an act might result in someone’s son losing an eye, and if the father was powerful enough, well, he might just kill the offender’s entire family. If the father was even more powerful, he might kill all the males in the offender’s village and sell the women and children into slavery. Likewise, relatives of those in the village might be powerful enough to raise an army and destroy everyone relate to the attack on the village. This is “mankind’s” justice. Notice the Old Testament instructions by God put limits and boundaries in place, and also inform the acts of justice based on intent and actual harm. For example, the men fighting and inadvertently injuring a pregnant woman, the punishment is based on the level of injury — and ultimately, the “retribution”, “revenge” and “justice” have an end point now: an eye for an eye, not the life of the whole village for an eye. God provides a way for mankind to feel justice has been met without providing a continued escalation path of revenge and retribution. This is an important concept: We were created by God, so he is fully familiar with mankind’s sense of “justice” and even our “NEED” to feel justice has been met. If left to us, every wrong could be a Hatfield and McCoy scenario for generations.
Ponder this for a minute … “God knows how we are wired to think, so he knows what it takes for us to convince ourselves that justice has been served”. Keep this thought in mind: Maybe, just maybe, part of God’s mercy and love involves acknowledging how, after we were created in His image, a consequence of us not being robots, but being able to say “no” as well as “yes” is that we have corrupted even the basic “in his image” things, like His sense of Justice … And HE knows just how to meet us in that confusion and help us to comprehend.
So, briefly we will look at another example, which we have discussed in detail before, about an example of Jesus “meeting people in their need, or where they are”:
Some of you may be groaning now, because, yet again we are going to look at John 11 and the story about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. I promise we will be brief to just set the stage of our minds.
We will skip past verses 1- 16 where Jesus makes it clear Lazarus was not just ill, but has died, and Jesus has intentionally delayed arrive to ensure the is no question that Lazarus is dead because he has been in the tomb 4 days and is starting to stink from decay. So, recall as we read this: the first sister, Martha does the “mankind thing” and accuses God (Jesus if you had been here, Lazarus would not have died … just like the garden of Eden, with “that woman you provided gave the fruit to me”, and “that serpent you created tempted me” — Mankind’s “go to” argument = It is God’s fault not mine …). Jesus ignores the accusation and meets Martha in her need, her need to know the resurrection of believers is real, and that Jesus is the Christ who overcomes death. Then he meets with Mary, who also does the same act of accusing God, which God in the flesh of this man Jesus just ignores, again, no reprimand, no lecture, for that is not what she NEEDED. Ultimately, Mary weeps, and Jesus meets her in that need – while there are some other aspects to Jesus weeping, clearly Mary would digest it as validating her grief. Jesus meets them in their need … something to be learned here by us macho guys who grew up being told “grown men don’t cry” …
John 11:17-35
17 So when Jesus came, he found that he had been in the tomb four days already. 18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about fifteen stadia away. 19 Many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to console them concerning their brother. 20 Then when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary stayed in the house. 21 Therefore Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you would have been here, my brother wouldn’t have died. 22 Even now I know that, whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will still live, even if he dies. 26 Whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, God’s Son, he who comes into the world.”28 When she had said this, she went away, and called Mary, her sister, secretly, saying, “The Teacher is here, and is calling you.” 29 When she heard this, she arose quickly, and went to him.
30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was in the place where Martha met him. 31 Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and were consoling her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, “She is going to the tomb to weep there.” 32 Therefore when Mary came to where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you would have been here, my brother wouldn’t have died.” 33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews weeping who came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, 34 and said, “Where have you laid him?” They told him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus wept.
World English Bible
So let us look at another Old Testament story that skeptics, and unbelievers use to show how “cruel” our God must be ….
We learn the story of Abraham and Isaac is one of profound faith and obedience to God. When Abraham was 99 years old, God promised him and his wife Sarah, then 89, a son. A year later God’s promise came true when Sarah bore their son Isaac.
When Issac grew to be a young boy, God told Abraham to take his son and offer him as a burnt sacrifice. We learn that, although filled with sadness and grief, Abraham obeyed God’s words without hesitation and took Isaac to the mountain, and that Abraham had complete faith that God would provide a way out and that he would not lose his son. I am going to postulate that, at least initially, Abraham may not have believed that there would be a substitute provided by God, because of his background —, but just maybe his walk with the True God has started to reveal to Abraham that the True God would surely provide an alternative …
At the moment that Abraham tied up Isaac, the angel of the Lord stopped him and said “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
God had provided a ram for Abraham and Isaac to sacrifice as a burnt offering. Abraham built an alter and named the place Yaweh-Jireh (or inaccurately Jehovah Jireh) which means “the Lord provides”.
But, let us ponder this as we read – The background for the story: We are looking at Abraham, formerly Abram. After the Tower of Babel event, we have the history of the generations of Shem that kinds of wraps up with the birth of Abram to Terah in the Chaldean city of Ur. In Genesis 12, we read that God tells Abram —
Genisis 12:1-3
1 Now Yahweh said to Abram, “Get out of your country, and from your relatives, and from your father’s house, to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. You will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you. All of the families of the earth will be blessed in you.”
World English Bible
Reading on in Genesis we find that Abram, later Abraham, was 75 years old when he left the city of this birth. So, it would probably be safe to say that he had a Chaldean outlook on things by the time he was 75 — now we are looking at him when he is somewhere over 100 years old, for it is the story of Isaac, born when Abraham was 100 years old. So, he has had some time maturing with his God, but remember there was no “priesthood” or “temple”, etc. at the time – this is a time of the head of the family being, essentially, the “priest” — so for Abraham’s clan, that was Abraham.
So, what about the Chaldee — Considered the little sister to Assyria and Babylonia, the Chaldeans, a Semitic-speaking tribe that lasted for around 230 years, known for astrology and witchcraft, were latecomers to Mesopotamia who were never strong enough to take on Babylonia or Assyria. Chaldeans were pagans, and similar to most ancient pagans, be it Babylonians or Aztecs, they appeased deities with blood sacrifices, and often the “most valued” sacrifice was a child. So, it is reasonable to assume, that after 75 years in a community that appeased such deities, and then another about 3 decades of dealing with other pagan beliefs, that Abraham would not be surprised that some deity demanded a child blood sacrifice … BUT, but just maybe his walk with the True God has started to reveal to Abraham that our God is much different.
So, now let us read this story of Abraham, Isaac and God with the thought that God is “meeting Abraham where, and how, his history has taught him to think and believe” in order to teach Abraham that his learned thinking about God is wrong; this sense of the need to sacrifice a child to appease God is coming from the sin tainted mind of men, NOT the demand of a loving God — God meets Abraham where he is mentally and spiritually to teach Abraham, and Isaac about “God the provider” to better prepare them for their role in God’s plan. A loving God, who inserts himself into the mindset of his creation to correct the incorrect belief that the TRUE GOD would expect the death of someone HE created in HIS Image as an act of appeasement. Ahh!, but it ends with “… not withholding your own son …” ←Hold onto that thought of mankind’s view of justice for later …
Genesis 22:1-19
1 It happened after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” He said, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Now take your son, your only son, whom you love, even Isaac, and go into the land of Moriah. Offer him there for a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you of.” 3 Abraham rose early in the morning, and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son. He split the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place far off. 5 Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go yonder. We will worship, and come back to you.” 6 Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. He took in his hand the fire and the knife. They both went together. 7 Isaac spoke to Abraham his father, and said, “My father?” He said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they both went together.
9 They came to the place which God had told him of. Abraham built the altar there, and laid the wood in order, bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, on the wood. 10 Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to kill his son.
11 The angel of Yahweh called to him out of the sky, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” He said, “Here I am.” 12 He said, “Don’t lay your hand on the boy, neither do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” 13 Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and saw that behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 Abraham called the name of that place Yahweh Will Provide. As it is said to this day, “On Yahweh’s mountain, it will be provided.”
15 The angel of Yahweh called to Abraham a second time out of the sky, 16 and said, “I have sworn by myself, says Yahweh, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son, 1 7that I will bless you greatly, and I will multiply your seed greatly like the stars of the heavens, and like the sand which is on the seashore. Your seed will possess the gate of his enemies. 18 In your seed will all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” 19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba. Abraham lived at Beersheba.
World English Bible
Now let us talk about crucifixion: Do you think it is something God created or dreamed up? Well, Genesis 1 pretty much says after each step of creation that the result was “good”, and as creation wrapped up God declared the result “very good”. I am thinking all that God created was “very good” probably did not include the clearly mankind created ultimate torture tool: crucifixion.
Crucifixion is an ancient method of torture of and capital punishment against a condemned person with the ultimate goal of sending the person to their death. It often involves nailing a person’s hands (through the wrist bones so that the weight does rip out the nails) and feet to a large wooden beams and leaving them to hang for several days until death by exhaustion and asphyxiation is achieved.
The first historical record of crucifixion was about 519 BC when “Darius I, king of Persia, crucified 3,000 political opponents in Babylon.”
According to Greek historian Herodotus, the Persians invented crucifixion, but the Romans perfected the practice.
It was later adapted by the Greeks when Alexander the Great made an example of one of his generals who opposed his war plan. It is said Alexander had his erring general nailed on the cross.
The Carthaginians followed suit with crucifixion, and from them the Romans learned about the practice and used it to torture and punish slaves, non-Romans, and sometimes Roman citizens who were found guilty of treason.
Ponder this — much of mankind views our God as vile and cruel because we leave the impression that God believes the crucifixion of his own son was necessary to satisfy God’s sense of justice.
Basically, in the Roman crucifixion of Christ, Jesus carried the cross member to the site of the crucifixion after he received a Roman scourging. This scourging basically flayed most of the skin off of one’s back, with death likely later from loss of blood and infection. In this condition, Jesus was affixed to the cross with the beams laying on the ground. When the cross was up-righted and dropped into the hole to support it, well, this act almost certainly dislocated the shoulder joints. That condition made it impossible to inhale without placing all of one’s weight on the nails through the feet in order to inhale.
Shortly, one could not maintain that stance, and the weight slumped, again making it impossible to breath, until the panic of asphyxiation resulted in again surging the body up to breath. For someone who had been scourged, the constant up and down motion of the back on the cross, necessary to breath, would ensure a constant seepage of blood from the wounded back. Absent the constant hemorrhage of blood from the back, a healthy person might survive for days in horrible pain before finally suffocating. This is why, if the Jewish request to get the men off the cross before sundown was to be met, the two criminals, without the injured backs, would have to have their legs broken so they could not continue to raise up to breath. The leg breaking was not necessary with Jesus because of the constant loss of blood promoted an early death.
Short detour —
Acts 2:29-33
29 “Brothers, I may tell you freely of the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, he would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, 31 he foreseeing this spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that neither was his soul left in Hades, nor did his flesh see decay. 32 This Jesus God raised up, to which we all are witnesses. 33 Being therefore exalted by the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this, which you now see and hear.
World English Bible
So, David, the believed author of Psalm 22 and a prophet knowing God would raise up Christ …
Psalm 22 (Psalm of the Cross)
(See Matthew 27:45-56; Mark 15:33-41; Luke 23:44-49; John 19:28-30)
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (COMMENT: This is what Jesus cried from the cross) Why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning?
2 My God, I cry in the daytime, but you don’t answer; in the night season, and am not silent.
3 But you are holy, you who inhabit the praises of Israel.
4 Our fathers trusted in you. They trusted, and you delivered them.
5 They cried to you, and were delivered. They trusted in you, and were not disappointed.
6 But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised by the people. (COMMENT: A reflection of how man may come to view himself before a righteous God …)7 All those who see me mock me. They insult me with their lips. They shake their heads, saying,
8 “He trusts in Yahweh; let him deliver him. Let him rescue him, since he delights in him.” (COMMENT: This is stated by those at the crucifixion of Jesus as a taunt …)
9 But you brought me out of the womb. You made me trust at my mother’s breasts.
10 I was thrown on you from my mother’s womb. You are my God since my mother bore me.
11 Don’t be far from me, for trouble is near. For there is none to help.
12 Many bulls have surrounded me. Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me.
13 They open their mouths wide against me, lions tearing prey and roaring.
14 I am poured out like water. All my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax; it is melted within me. (COMMENT: Water and blood flowed from Jesus’ side when he was pierce with a spear … most probably the crucifixion process dislocated the shoulder joints …)
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You have brought me into the dust of death. (COMMENT: From the cross, Jesus, “I thirst …”)16 For dogs have surrounded me. A company of evildoers have enclosed me. They have pierced my hands and feet. (COMMENT: Certainly, Jesus’ hands and feet were pierced to hang him on a cross.)
17 I can count all of my bones. They look and stare at me. (COMMENT: The cross position with the shoulders out of joint makes the rib cage prominently visible … and the crowd certainly was fixed upon the man on the cross…)
18 They divide my garments among them. They cast lots for my clothing. (COMMENT: This happened during Jesus’ crucifixion)
19 But don’t be far off, Yahweh. You are my help: hurry to help me.
20 Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog.
21 Save me from the lion’s mouth! Yes, from the horns of the wild oxen, you have answered me.
22 I will declare your name to my brothers. In the midst of the assembly, I will praise you.
23 You who fear Yahweh, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, glorify him! Stand in awe of him, all you descendants of Israel!24 For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, Neither has he hidden his face from him; but when he cried to him, he heard. (COMMENT: So … my God why have you forsaken me? Well I have not, for it is only how you FEEL, God has never hidden His face from you …)
25 Of you comes my praise in the great assembly. I will pay my vows before those who fear him.
26 The humble shall eat and be satisfied. They shall praise Yahweh who seek after him. Let your hearts live forever.
27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to Yahweh. All the relatives of the nations shall worship before you.
28 For the kingdom is Yahweh’s. He is the ruler over the nations.
29 All the rich ones of the earth shall eat and worship. All those who go down to the dust shall bow before him, even he who can’t keep his soul alive.30 Posterity shall serve him. Future generations shall be told about the Lord.
World English Bible
31 They shall come and shall declare his righteousness to a people that shall be born, for he has done it. (COMMENT: It is FINISHED!)
A Psalm by David.
Matthew 27:26, 32-54
26 Then he released to them Barabbas, but Jesus he flogged and delivered to be crucified.
32 As they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name, and they compelled him to go with them, that he might carry his cross.33 They came to a place called “Golgotha,” that is to say, “The place of a skull.” 34 They gave him sour wine to drink mixed with gall. When he had tasted it, he would not drink.
35 When they had crucified him, they divided his clothing among them, casting lots, 36 and they sat and watched him there. 37 They set up over his head the accusation against him written, “THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
38 Then there were two robbers crucified with him, one on his right hand and one on the left. 39 Those who passed by blasphemed him, wagging their heads, 40 and saying, “You who destroy the temple, and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!” 41 Likewise the chief priests also mocking, with the scribes, the Pharisees, and the elders, said, 42 “He saved others, but he can’t save himself. If he is the King of Israel, let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God. Let God deliver him now, if he wants him; for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.'” 44 The robbers also who were crucified with him cast on him the same reproach.
45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. 46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lima sabachthani?” That is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 47 Some of them who stood there, when they heard it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.” 48 Immediately one of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him a drink. 49 The rest said, “Let him be. Let’s see whether Elijah comes to save him.”50 Jesus cried again with a loud voice, and yielded up his spirit. 51 Behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom. The earth quaked and the rocks were split. 52 The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; 53 and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection, they entered into the holy city and appeared to many. 54 Now the centurion, and those who were with him watching Jesus, when they saw the earthquake, and the things that were done, feared exceedingly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God
World English Bible
John 19:28-30
World English Bible
28 After this, Jesus, seeing that all things were now finished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I am thirsty.” 29 Now a vessel full of vinegar was set there; so they put a sponge full of the vinegar on hyssop, and held it at his mouth. 30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, “It is finished.” He bowed his head, and gave up his spirit.
CONSIDER –
The Psalms are songs … So, from our day …
“Hey Jude” by the Beatles —
Hey, Jude, don’t make it bad
Take a sad song “??? what” ( well … and make it better)
Remember to let her into your heart
Then you can start to make it better
Hey, Jude, don’t be afraid
You were made to go out “??? and what” (well … and get her)
The minute you let her under your skin
Then you begin to “do what???” (well … make it better)
If Jesus sang the first line of a pop tune from the cross … how many contemporaries would have that tune in their head and be able to finish the important parts of the song ???????????????
AS in –
Psalm 22
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Thru
“…he has done it.” OR “It is finished.”
SO — Ponder Psalm 22 as a complete song. A complete song where David captured the utter wretchedness of mankind:
A mankind that pleads “My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?” NOT because God has truly forsaken us, but because we have become so estranged from Him that it is how we FEEL. But, captured in the middle of the song is what David knows is really true about God and mankind “24 For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, Neither has he hidden his face from him; but when he cried to him, he heard.” David captures the cry of all mankind “But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised by the people.” A cry that would demand a death most horrible, crucifixion, so that OUR sense of Justice could be satisfied that Jesus truly paid the price we owed …
Ponder that …, not a GOD that demanded such a horrible death for His Son, but rather a God who loved us so much that HE would allow such a horrible fate for his Only Son, because HE knows US so well … so well, that this is what it took to convince US that justice was met.
Meeting US where WE are, with Love, not with what HE needed – Meeting us with a LOVE that includes sweating blood in Gethsemane by the man Jesus at the thought of willingly going to a death on a cross … an event by which God the Son permanently defeats death, hell and the grave to rise in victory … a Victory for US that includes the resolution of OUR NEED for Justice.
From our Eastern Orthodox brethren, a summary thought —
“The wages of sin is death” is therefore an ontological reality (a reality of being) and not an externally imposed penalty. Christ died for us not because God had to kill us, but because sin’s natural end is corruption and death. Jesus absorbed all the affects of sin and death, including its psychological calamity of feeling God-forsaken.