My theology

An acquaintance of mine recently posted her status on Facebook, blaming God for "taking away (her) happiness." Her happiness, apparently, was linked to a boy, whom she had dated a relatively short time, who had broken her heart, or so she claimed.

There are several things that bother me about this, least of which is that I cannot believe that a boyfriend of barely a month can break some one's heart. You can have your heart broken if you find your boyfriend making out with your best friend (been there), or worse, your mother. You can have your heart broken if your husband of 15 years is canoodling with the office secretary. But, a boyfriend of a few weeks? Please.

Second, to blame God for taking away one's happiness, seems so trite. It seems reasonable to blame God if your fiance dies in a horrible car wreck the night before your wedding or, after spending thousands of dollars on in Vitro and conceiving, you give birth to a stillborn. These are things that I can understandably see someone blaming God for. Boyfriend dumping you? Come on. Thousands of mothers lost their babies due to malnutrition today. Blame God for that (even though it's really the fault of shady politics and closed borders).

It all comes down to my own theology, I suppose. God doesn't hand out happiness in little yellow pills that melt like sugar under your tongue. He lets people make choices. And, whether those choices make you happy or sad isn't up to Him, it's up to free will. Free will allows boys to dump girls. Free will allows drunk drivers to jump behind the wheel, when they're seeing two, and drive 30 miles over the speed limit into the car of a pregnant woman. Free will gives the rapist the choice to continue his crime. How is that God's fault? Would you rather the world be full of puppets, who have no choice in their actions, no choice in who or what they love?

I've witnessed pain. I've had my share of breakups. I've experienced the death of people close to me. And more than once. But, never was it God's fault. People get cancer. People are plagued with depression and kill themselves. People get killed by drunk drivers. Every day. And, it's not God's fault. Blame the drunks; blame the toxins that have developed and create cancer within out bodies. Blame the dark thoughts. But don't, don't blame God.