Why do bad things happen to good people? The cry rings out again and again. It’s not fair! They have suffered enough!

This week the cry was picked up by a Journalist whose father-in-law was burned out of his home on Christmas Day. As fate would have it the poor man was in the shower when the building went up so he literally lost everything in the ensuing flight! To compound the problem he had not renewed his fire insurance and the policy had lapsed!

Another tragedy this week struck a distant relative of ours. She, along with her daughters, had nursed her husband for seven years after he had suffered a brain haemorrhage. He had been unable to communicate with them but they faithfully kept up the vigil visiting daily throughout these years. He died two years ago. We now hear that she has contracted Motor Neuron disease – a progressive illness with no known cure. It’s not fair. You want to shout it!

If we were to stand back for a moment from the poignancy of these situations we could imagine our evolutionist friend saying that this is what you could expect from a world created by a series of random acts of chance. On the other hand an atheist friend might seize the opportunity to blame God – even though he doesn’t believe in him – and ask how a good God could allow this to happen. Either he is not good or he is not capable of preventing these things.

But whether we believe in evolution and or go down the popular path of the atheist these personal disasters shake our self centred way of life and make us look for answers.

When you reflect on bad things happening to good people it is hard to ignore the crucifixion of Jesus. By any standard he was a good person. His death was the cruellest the Roman soldiers could devise. This begs the question, “Why didn’t God stop the trouble?”

There is no doubt he could have stopped it but didn’t. Perhaps death is not the worst thing that can happen. Perhaps there was purpose in it that we only partially know but we believe love was at the centre of it – “This is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins” 1John Chapter 4 verse 10.

There are times when the trouble does not stop and we feel like the Psalmist “How long O Lord will you forget me forever?” Psalm 13 verse 1. But we are reminded that God’s love is transcendent and hear Jesus words, “I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” St John Chapter 14 verse 3. And that sort of love will sustain us through the darkest night.

Only a few mince pies left! But it was good while it lasted. The weather gave us a blast and now the blow-out is over. Inside the furniture has been returned to its former position and outside the branches, dislodged by the gale, have been gathered up. Normality has been restored!

The Christmas story has been enacted in a multitude of Churches with youngsters getting into the various roles extracting from them fresh meaning.

During one of these performances Mary got distracted and dropped the child. His head made an ominous noise as it bounced off the floor. Fortunately it was only a doll. However there he lay until the presentation was over, ignored, overlooked by the actors as they got on with their parts!

This year for me the shepherds were a revelation! Having a small acquaintance with sheep I always thought of the Shepherds as respectable characters with beautiful sheepdogs so it was disillusioning to learn that those on the Bethlehem hillside were a rough bunch. In truth living with sheep does contaminate one, as we can testify at lambing time! Had the birth been in the Inn they may not have gained admission! As it was the stable was entirely appropriate. Trust our God to have an eye for detail.

The shepherds did not come empty handed. What they brought was better than the sentimental suggestion often made that they brought a lamb. It was the message communicated by angel “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord” (St Luke chapter 2 verses 10-11). The three titles encapsulate the wonder of it all. They reveal the baby to be the Messiah (the Christ) who had come to save his people from their sins (St Matthew Chapter 1 verse 21). The title Lord means that this is the enfleshment of the Lord God (total God and total man) born to die for his own.

Do not be like the children in the play who were too busy getting on with reciting their lines to bother about Jesus. Instead emulate the shepherds who heard, investigated and saw for themselves that it was true. They went back to their work “glorifying and praising God for all that they had seen, as it had been told them.” (St Luke chapter 2 verse 20)

There had been hints and predictions but they were in the distant past and largely forgotten. The royal tribe of Judah had encountered bad times and been reduced to peasant stock. Not much could be expected from them. The myth of the Messiah! Country occupied by Romans. The Religious were squabbling over rights. Corrupt rulers only interested in retaining power. And not as much faith around as would cover a grain of mustard seed!

But then there was old Simeon. `Expect the unexpected with God` seemed to be his motto. The least likely the occurrence the more likely God was in it! So it was when the shepherds’ news broke, while others scoffed Simeon got ready. Nor was he disappointed. He was the first outside the family to recognise Jesus as God’s anointed.

You would have thought this would have brought the Priests running to meet Messiah but there was only old Anna the prophetess and she well over 80 years old. She differed from Simeon, who was now content that his life’s goal had been reached. She became the first active witness telling all who wanted to hear that the redeemer had come.

It was about six months later that some philosopher-priests, possibly Zoroastrians from Persia, arrived at Bethlehem. They were star-gazers and God had graciously used their craft to bring them to visit Jesus. On their way they visited King Herod and somewhat naively quoted to him from his own scriptures the prophesy: “But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel”

Now Herod believed the word and took the child’s arrival to be a threat to his throne. His slaughter of all children under the age of two has a contemporary feel to it as the stamping out of Christians continued today in various parts of the world.

Warned in a dream Joseph emigrated with his family to Egypt and stayed there until, with the death of Herod, the danger passed. Hosea’s prophesy “Out of Egypt I have called my son” has a fine ambiguity to it as Israel the nation was also referred to as “my son”. The redeeming of the nation from bondage in Egypt by the blood of a lamb was to find its ultimate fulfilment in the Son who is, as John the Baptist put it, “The lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world”.

So God continues to do the unexpected. As the hymn-writer has put it:

He left His Father’s throne above,

So free to infinite His grace;

Emptied Himself of all but love,

And bled for Adam’s helpless race;

‘Tis mercy all, immense and free;

For, O my God, it found out me.

And may this infinite grace of God continue the unexpected and find you this Christmas with his redeeming love.

The Central Remedial Clinic was founded in Dublin in 1951 and is a National centre for the care, treatment and development of children and adults with physical disabilities. It is funded by the State and philanthropic sources. It is the alleged misuse of the latter which has kept it in the news all week and led the entire Board to resign yesterday.

Apparently the salaries earned by some Board members had been topped up from monies received as donations for the care of disabled children.

The extent of this practice was uncovered when the Board was brought before the Public Accounts Committee. The largest top-up went to the former chief executive who received more than €135,000 in addition to his salary of €106,000. He also got a golden handshake of €200,000, paid out of charitable donations, when he retired this summer.

On examination the assets of the CRC were found to be considerable and there was a question mark over pension contributions which went into, what one member of the PAC described as, a “phantom fund”.

The immediate effect of these revelations has been a large reduction in giving which is doubly unfortunate as this would have normally been the time of year when donors give most generously. A secondary effect has been the disillusionment with charities in general as all have suffered a drop in income and, in one or two cases, are themselves under investigation.

Ireland is a relatively generous country having somewhere in the region of 8,000 registered charities. Some regulation is now planned to ensure that proper attention is given to the auditing of accounts and a version of these displayed on the charities website so as to inspire future donor confidence.

The giving of alms has a long and noble history. Giving to those in need by those who can meet the need is one of the pillars of piety mentioned by Jesus in St Matthew Chapter 6 verses 1-4. He commended giving in secret.

Now-a-days giving is seldom in secret as there is usually a gift or an opportunity for gain given as an inducement to the giver to be generous. What marks out the believer is secret giving where only God knows where it comes from. This way of giving where the worthiness of the cause justifies the gift gains the approval, Jesus said, of his father in heaven.

How the recipient spends the donation is outwith his control although it may influence future gifts!

The churches in Macedonia are given as a good example. They first gave themselves to the Lord then gave generously to the poor in Jerusalem. This is still the right way to do it. Read what happened in 2Corinthians 8 verses 1-5.

Since his death on Thursday the extraordinary life story of Nelson Mandela has dominated the media. Headings like “From Prisoner to President” struggle to encompass the magnitude of all he accomplished in turning South Africa, from almost certain racial civil war, to a democracy with a substantial degree of justice and equality.

Violence marked his early years and led to his arrest. At his trial he recognised the possibility of the death sentence and famously declared that he was prepared to die for his country. His sentence was commuted to life imprisonment and he served 27 years on the brutal location of Robben Island.

During that time his then wife Winnie carried the militant torch and was intermittently arrested and jailed herself. When Mandela was finally released from prison in 1990, he was firmly committed to peace, reconciliation, and forgiveness. But this is hard for Winnie to take. She was not ready to forgive and reconcile. Revenge and retribution are more attractive to her; she has suffered too much at the hands of hate. Eventually this leads to their separation.

Mandela’s strategy worked and the first free elections were held in 1994 when his ANC Party swept to power. His task as he saw it was almost complete. The question remained as to how to unite the people? He chose rugby, a white mans game, and in the final of the 1995 World Rugby Cup, where South Africa beat New Zealand, he donned the SA strip and identified with the national side in a magnanimous effort to unite the post-apartheid nation.

Unlike other Presidents he did not seek to cling to power and after the introduction of democracy with its framework for justice, freedom and equality he departed from politics to devote his remaining years to the altruistic works which he had founded.

Any reflection on his life must acknowledge the redemptive power of suffering. His 27 years internment could easily have left him bitter emulating his wife in her view of how apartheid could be broken. He went into prison a terrorist and came out a man of peace. He had come to realise that reconciliation could only come through forgiveness which in turn leads to true freedom.

Jesus’s prayer from the cross for forgiveness for sinners (St Luke Chapter 23 verse 34) was taken up immediately by one of the dying criminals (who would have been classed as a terrorist in his day) as he recognised the One who could meet his need. The cancelling of guilt, freeing the conscience, and the reconciling the man to God that followed with Jesus declaration, “ Today you will be with me in paradise” (verse 43) gave him his first taste of true freedom.

Mandela’s legacy gives tangible hope for freedom from bondage to racism but for freedom from all sin we need to listen to Jesus, “If the Son sets you free you will be free indeed” (St John Chapter 8 verse 34).

This year we have had a most glorious Autumn with the usual tinted leaves more splendid that ever.

Apparently there is an explanation for the multi coloured display. Following a warm summer the leaves have had an abundance of sugar. Instead of this being absorbed by the tree there has been a surfeit which has been retained by the leaf giving it a translucent effect.

The Horse Chestnut trees were particularly spectacular. They dropped their leaves overnight giving a yellow carpet so bright that it almost pained the eye!

The maples, so magnificent in the USA adding that vivid red to the forest’s palette did us proud with a golden shroud which covered the surrounding earth. We may not have the red leaf variety but this year there was a red tinge to many of our native species adding to the exuberance of the display.

Winter has finally arrived and the breeze has removed all but the last of the leaves producing a rich carpet of colour across the grass. The bare branches take on the appearance of a footballer’s tattooed arms reaching up into the sky to catch the low rays of the sun. The cattle are almost all in their sheds while the sheep are enjoying the residue of a good grass yield which should see them content into next year.

We have much to give thanks for.

In the US they do “thanksgiving” better. Starting on the last Thursday of November the celebration continues over the weekend.

It was first proclaimed in 1789; “WHEREAS; it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits…. a DAY OF PUBLIC THANKSGIVING and PRAYER”.

Our thanking God for the harvest is usually celebrated in a church service where, in rural areas, local produce is brought into the church. We praise God for the life force which makes the plants grow and the animals reproduce. These are but analogous to the new life Jesus brought to all who look away from themselves to him in faith.

Jesus called the Word the seed and where it takes root it produces new orientation in that life transforming it as the scripture says, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2Corinthians Chapter 5 verse 17).

Our thanksgiving may be muted due to the presence of sin but we can look through the prophet Habakkuk’s eyes and see a coming day when, “the nations exhaust themselves for nothing for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk Chapter 2 verse 14).

For the believer temporal thanksgiving is always gathered up in that greater thanksgiving for the New Jerusalem with the harvest complete, “On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face”.

(Revelation 22 verses 2-4).

It has become something of a mantra to pose the question, “Where were you the day they shot John F Kennedy”? I expect that for many of you reading this blog the answer is – a bright idea in your parent’s minds!

The reason his memory endures so well here in Ireland lies in his being the first Irish/Catholic to hold the Presidency. He was “our man”!

His short term at the White House commenced with the disastrous “Bay of Pigs” raid intended to free Cuba from communism. It completely misfired and with Castro gung-ho his island became available for Khrushchev’s missiles. In what became the tensest period of the “cold war” Kennedy received his baptism of fire in international relationships.

However on a personal level the pedigree of the Kennedy family, his good looks and those of his wife, ensured his popularity. There was also his way with words; “Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country” being perhaps the most quoted and least obeyed of them!

His assassination, 50 years ago by a sniper’s bullets, in the words of the Dallas mayor dawned a new era where hope and hatred collided. Sadly the collision runs on.

But JFK shares the day with C S Lewis who also died 50 years ago.

It would not have bothered Lewis one whit that the JFK ceremonies all but eradicated reference to his passing.

He had himself stepped through the “wardrobe door” and into Aslan’s (the lion who was the Christ figure) kingdom during a drive to Whipsnade one sunny morning. “When we set out I did not believe that Jesus was the Son of God, and when we reached the zoo I did.”

From his conversion he sustained a steady flow of Christian writings possibly unique in the richness of their figurative language and only ended, as he said some time before his death, “When the pictures stopped”.

Two great men who might well have reflected on the scripture, “Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.”

(1Corinthians chapter 1 verses 26-30).

Like saintly the Countess of Huntington who said she was always glad that the text read “not many” and not “not any”! And she, they along with all the other “greats”, and us need to rely on Jesus who is our wisdom, rectitude, purity and salvation.

The main news story this week has been the unfolding of the devastation created by typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. Coming only four weeks after a 7.2 earthquake hit the central region this typhoon has been described as one of the most powerful storms in history. It levelled the city of Tacloban and latest reports from the region reckon that 2 million are homeless.

The storm surge which accompanied the typhoon sent a wall of water 4 metres high across the islands. The power of this mini-tsunami was illustrated by pictures on our TV’s of a large ship thrown up onto the land.

There is a tendency to blame climate change for the increasing frequency and intensity of these storms but conclusive evidence has eluded the scientists.

One thing is certain and that is the poor suffer disproportionally. Their infrastructure is flimsy and cannot withstand the onslaught of strong winds or earthquakes.

This is the anniversary of hurricane Sandy which made landfall in New Jersey last year causing considerable damage along the Eastern seaboard of the US. On its way there it trashed the island of Haiti causing much worse damage per capita and handicapped by poverty, it is still suffering the consequences.

No disaster would be complete without its conspiracy theory. In this case it’s the US space command “weaponising the weather”! Allegedly they send micro wave pulses over an area and stir up a storm! Why they should bother when nature is perfectly capable of doing it on her own is hard to imagine.

Winds, waves and storms feature in Scripture. They are part of a fallen world. On specific occasions the elements have been seen to respond to God’s bidding and Jesus, as the creator, demonstrated power over his creation (St Matthew chapter 8 verses 26/7).

Indeed Jesus plainly forecast an increase in physical phenomena in the end times and St Paul wrote about creation groaning in birth pains waiting for the completion of the work of redemption (Romans chapter 8 verses 19/25).

Food, medicine and burying the dead may be the most urgent requirements in the Philippines right now and we should assist financially as the Lord enables us, but there is pressing necessity for each of us to get right with God before our personal typhoon strikes the frail body we live in. For that we need to take up this offer, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (St John chapter 3 verses 16/7)

And that salvation is best accepted by trusting Him when the weather is fine before the storms of life strike.

We have become accustomed to seeing adverts warning us to look out for those who make bogus insurance claims. They usually favour the whiplash injury which cannot be easily detected medically and can easily arise from a car crash. Settlement by the Insurer consists of a substantial cash payment for the alleged pain and suffering which usually affects a complete cure!

Not so common is the event this week where the top three officials of our largest Insurance Company were suspended following an internal audit.

Apparently there was a large increase in “bodily injury motor claims” over the last two years. It seems that these claims were met in a most generous fashion resulting in the Company’s profits being reduced by €84,000,000.

Just who were the alleged victims of these “accidents” will make interesting reading. Even allowing for the enormous awards regularly handed down by our courts (our awards are on a similar scale to the US) it would take much longer than two years to add up to this amount!

Interestingly it was not the Company Regulator but an internal auditor who brought the matter to light. The margin of solvency (the margin claims reserves exceed claims estimates) must have been breached otherwise the parent Company in the UK would not have been so ready to hand over €100,000,000 enabling them to proclaim that the margin of solvency is now well exceeded.

It is unfortunate that this inquiry has arisen in the same week as Ireland announced its exit from the “bailout”, necessitated by the banking crisis. It has spoiled the Government’s attempts to persuade the financial markets that everything has returned to normal. The sceptic might say that this is exactly what has happened and in Ireland this is the norm!

What does the Bible have to say to such matters?

Where money is involved the Bible recognises our natural desire to acquire it for the power it vests in the one who has it. Since we love to exercise power over others it is not hard to make the connection.

Writing to Timothy, St Paul puts it in his first letter chapter 6 verse 10 “the love of money is the root of all kinds of evils”.

Our challenge is to drive out the love of money with a greater love. This comes when on hearing the Good News, we acknowledge our sinful condition and are introduced to a greater love – the love of Jesus who died in our place and rose from the grave to oversee the fruition of his work in the changed lives of those who now put him before the love of money etc. It was put so clearly by St John in his first letter “We love because he first loved us” 1 John chapter 4 verse 19.

There has always been something risqué in overhearing a conversation which was not intended for our ears. It carries the potential of knowing another’s thoughts without, either you having to share yours with them or their knowing that you are aware of their thinking.

The possession of such information gives the recipient the edge in any negotiations that may follow. It is a bit like knowing what is in your opponent’s hand in a card game except it was a global tap on important peoples’ phones by the National Security Agency of the US that came to light over the past few days.

Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor has fed the information appropriately to the magazine Der Spiegel as the material contained details of the German Chancellor’s phone tap! It may be that the German government will seek an agreement with some of the same elements of the arrangement that the US has with Britain and other English-speaking allies to share data and refrain from spying on each other.

Overall there has been such a muted response to the disclosure of widespread recording of private phone conversations by the US that it makes one wonder if the practice is not more widespread than other countries would care to admit.

Of course if everything that was said was true and the actions which followed correctly interpreted the words spoken there would be no embarrassment at the phone taps – and no need for them either!

The truth is that diplomatic language has its own way of saying things and is far from straightforward.

Can the Bible comment on the use of words?

These are the means which God has revealed Himself to us. First He spoke through the mouths of the Prophets then in these days by Jesus (Hebrews Chapter 1 verses 1/2).

In the parable of the tree being known by its fruit Jesus likens the fruit to our words. He points out that we don’t get trees with some fruit bad and some good. If that happened we would conclude there was something far wrong with it. It is the same with us as our words come from the heart – (by which the Bible means the control tower of the person and not the organ which pumps the blood) and reveal what we are like.

Jesus concluded, “Every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the Day of Judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”(St Matthew Chapter 12 verses 36/7).

It makes about as much sense as Snowden thinking he would be welcome in Washington as it does for us to face the Judgement without our faith in Jesus. We need Him as our advocate. Put your trust in Him – 1 John chapter 2 verses 1/6.