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Why Bad Things Happen to Good People

Posted by Roberta Grimes • April 19, 2014 • 0 Comment
Afterlife Research, Human Nature, The Source, Understanding Reality

One of the questions that the afterlife evidence answers for us has long been a stumper. Why do bad things happen to good people? Atheists sometimes use the question as large_2280556593proof that there can be no loving God, while even those who are very religious will sometimes fret and question their beliefs as they try to answer it. But when we answer the question from the point of view of the afterlife evidence, we find that it all makes perfect sense. A lifetime on earth is just a hard day in school.

As is true whenever you research any real phenomenon, studying nearly 200 years of abundant and consistent communications from the dead shows us more than the fact that our minds are eternal and death is an easy, joyous passage. It gives us a lot of information about what the afterlife is like, and also – wonderfully – it tells us a lot about the meaning and purpose of human life.

Here is what we now know to be true:

1)    Human life is eternal, and an earth-lifetime is brief. If your life were not eternal, then for you to suffer a disabling injury or for your two-year-old to die would be an epic tragedy. As it is, even the most horrendous lifetime is only an eye-blink in the glorious eternity that is where you live.

2)    Our lifetimes on earth are opportunities for intensive spiritual growth. Spiritual growth is the core impulse of every human mind, but life in the Summerland levels is so easy that making spiritual progress there is difficult. Here, though, we can plan into our lifetimes lots of exercises in love and forgiveness that vastly improve our opportunities for spiritual advancement.

3)    Before we are born, nearly all of us write what amounts to a lesson plan. Few lifetimes are random! Together with those who will be significant in this lifetime and all our spiritual guides, we intensively plan the ways in which we will help one another with our spiritual growth.

            Your awful first husband? You and he probably planned both the marriage and the way it turned out. The auto accident that cost you your foot? Ditto. All your job issues? The way your child struggles in school? The swindler who took most of your money? The afterlife evidence tells us that very few accidents happen and few big events in our lives are random. We and our large_2967604762guides and those significant to us might make adjustments as our lives go on, but the afterlife evidence overwhelmingly tells us that you planned all the bad things that happen to you, and you eagerly planned them as spiritual lessons.

As A Course in Miracles tells us, everything that happens in our lives is either love or a call for love. Whatever the question, love is the answer. There are no real tragedies when every human mind is eternal, although our unwillingness to take every opportunity to better learn to love and forgive can indeed be tragic. As Jesus says,

“Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.”  (MT 5:39-41)

“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.” (MT 5:21)

“A new command I give you:  Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” – Jesus (JN 13:34)

No one said that spiritual growth would be easy! But it is the whole reason why bad things happen. When you love and forgive, no matter what happens, you can find yourself joyously learning and growing and you can much improve your own eternal life.

 photo credit: <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/bernatcg/2280556593/”>bernat…</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a> <a href=”http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/”>cc</a>

photo credit: <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/dhilung/2967604762/”>dhilung</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a> <a href=”http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/”>cc</a>

Roberta Grimes
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