The third poem of ‘Sanctuary’ is an acknowledgement of the challenge of finding peace in God while unfathomable pain rears its head in and around our lives. However, it also offers a seed of hope that can give us strength as we find ourselves in these confusing and challenging times.
Here are some thoughts from the Poet on ‘The Epicurean Trilemma’:
“The Epicurean Trilemma presents a threefold question presented by the Greek philosopher Epicurus as an opposition to the idea of an all-powerful and all-loving God’s existence in the face of evil in the world:
- If God is unable to prevent evil, then he is not all-powerful?
- If God is not willing to prevent evil, then he is not all-good?
- If God is both willing and able to prevent evil, then why does evil exist?
“It is a dilemma I myself have struggled with in the past few years, as circumstances in my personal life, with work, my own identity and global issues have shaken my faith deeply. It was even so much that, for a time, I rejected the idea of God entirely. I was reminded again of this seemingly impossible question during one of Dave’s Easter sermons on Jesus’s final words on the cross, particularly when he cried out “Father, Father, why have you forsaken me?”
“The loneliness of these dark times is what I aimed to capture in this poem, and because of that, it was one of the more difficult poems for me to write. With how often it feels like we are screaming into the void when we need God to show up most, many challenging experiences I have been through came back to me, and facing the weight of them again in this piece was heavy to bear. But in my contemplation over writing this poem, and an ending that echoes with finding ‘Sanctuary’ within this, I was reminded of God’s promise and the hope that promise brings us through these moments.
“God’s promise is: “I will never leave you, nor forsake you.”
“Even though we can’t understand why such evil happens, God is still with us. The hope that remains when all else is constantly stripped away by the world and some uncompassionate people in it, comes from God’s direct understanding of our pain, God’s empathy as we express and process and hopefully heal from these weighty emotions in our own time, and God’s love that will remain to hold the pieces of ourselves that seems to be all that is left.
“It may not answer all our questions immediately, it may not make the pain go away immediately either, but knowing we are not and never were alone in that pain can be a form of peace in itself.”
Have you faced an overwhelmingly challenging struggle that left you wondering how this could happen at all? What helped you feel grounded again?