The man in
the fishy hat
is talking
utter bollox.
March 25th 2020.
In a ITV interview following the Archbishop of Canterbury's announcement that the churches will be closed during the pandemic (Wednesday 25th March), Julie Etchingham asked – “where is God in all of this – this is a natural disaster, why is it happening?”
He said “God comes into the middle of it, he's alongside us, he's with us, he's suffering with us, he's weeping with us. And when we turn to him even in our darkest moments, we will find his presence. I know that from my own experience over long years particularly at times such as the loss of a child or other moments of trauma and terror.”
He went on
“Say to God what's on your heart. Say I'm frightened or I'm worried or I'm exhausted, I feel borne down, I don't think people are supporting me, or say thank you for keeping me and my family. Say what's on your heart.”
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Now a couple of questions must surely arise.
Leaving aside the enduring question of how this man - or indeed any other - could possibly know whether the immortal creator of the entire universe was in fact 'weeping and suffering in sympathy', why did this same God – and we're reliably informed by the AoC and his numerous colleagues that there is only one, so it must have been him – created the very virus he's so upset about?
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Pic: still from the ITV interview which can be seen here.
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John 1:3: Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
Isaiah 45:7: I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and I create calamity, for I am the Lord, who does all these things.
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All these things? Like Covid-19, Ebola, HIV, Hansa, the Black Death, Polio, Malaria, all the cancers and the countless other maladies that afflict us? Indeed – one can't help but conclude that he's been toying with cruel ways of bumping us off ever since He made us.
Job 42:2 says “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted” and Luke 1:37 states unambiguously “For nothing will be impossible with God”
That being the case, why is God suffering and weeping with us when he could simply undo his handiwork on a mere whim? Surely, with an entire universe to attend to, he has enough on his plate without wasting time on unnecessary suffering and weeping? Taking the AoC at his word leads to only one inescapable conclusion; He chooses not to.
Secondly, if we are to turn to God and tell him what's in our hearts, why close the churches?
As has often been observed about the lightning conductors on church steeples, surely this shows a certain lack of conviction? Turn to God in your darkest hour, but don't try to do it in the house of God. Those doors are locked. You are denied entry. Sacred ground is off limits until further notice.
Turn to God by all means, but do it somewhere else. Suffer the little children to keep well away from us.
As for thanking Him for having spared you and your family (thus far at least) from the very virus He made, this is directly analogous to a cowering, terrified dog licking the hand of a cruel master, having seen him stomping around cruelly beating other dogs, many to death.
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John 8:32: You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
Amen to that.