A cartoon in a magazine...
Illustration
A cartoon in a magazine a few years ago pictured an insurance man calling up Dr. Frankenstein saying, "Dr. Frankenstein, your monster is suing you for malpractice!" Without Frankenstein the monster would not exist at all, but the monster can't see that -- he only sees his misshapen form, the warped bones, the ill-fitting skin, the ragged seams where he is sewn together. But life is not a cartoon, nor is it some practical joke. The Frankenstein cartoon goes with an article about doctors who are incompetent, who ruin people's bodies. And about people who have skillful doctors, but don't see that even though their doctor couldn't give them whole new bodies he did enough just to keep them alive. Life is real, and there is suffering and sickness and evil in the world. No one knew that better than Job. Quite understandably he gets on the phone and says, "God, your creature is suing you for malpractice!" What an ugly picture to find in the Bible. But how real it is -- true to life: There is evil and suffering in the world. Believing in God, believing God loves us, believing God is good is hard to do when you lose home and family and your body burns all over with sores. How can we put these two facts together? The world is harsh, cruel, concrete and clay. God is good, just, all powerful, loving. -- Mosley
