While forest fires are an annual challenge, this year seems to have brought a plague of biblical proportions to BC. Newscasters and other commentators sometimes draw on a religious metaphor, calling such devastating natural events an “Act of God”. The implication is that natural disasters that cause great loss of life or property damage and had no human agent involved, are beyond human control or agency. Somebody must be responsible so why not God? It’s hard to sue God for damages and this is the point where insurance companies and lawyers become interested in theology. Or not really.
In Western secular societies we don’t often include religious terminology in public discourse, but we still hear about an Act of God in relation to natural disasters. It may come as a surprise to you that insurance companies in Canada do not use “Act of God” when talking about insurance products, either as a legal term or in marketing materials. “Perils” refer to what types of losses are covered and “exclusions” state what is not covered. Exclusions are very specific, such as a flood or earthquake. Destruction of your home or property by fire is generally a peril (unless of course you set the fire yourself).
Insurance companies do not weigh in on why devastating natural disasters happen. But what is the spiritual significance of such events? Some Christians would understand that everything that happens is due to God’s will or providence. Even things that on the surface look evil or unjust, like massive wildfires or floods or earthquakes, have a hidden redemptive purpose that perhaps only God knows. In this understanding of the world, we are simply to trust that God is in control; otherwise, a random and chaotic world would be unacceptable to live in. In the Book of Job, one of Job’s friends offers this kind of explanation for why Job suffers so unjustly. The secular version of this view is simply called Fate, or the current phrase, “everything happens for a reason.”
Most people don’t find the Fate or Divine Providence argument very comforting when confronting the pain of a massive forest fire consuming everything in its path, including human and animal life. The trauma experienced by fire and disaster victims could hardly be considered redemptive, especially if you’re the one experiencing it. Still there is that nagging question that the spiritually minded have to ask, “Why does God allow suffering on such a massive scale, be it natural disasters or famine or war or disease?”
If we think of God as a Divine Person who is all loving, all powerful and everywhere present, then God is understood to be making a decision about everything that happens. This view of God (as Divine Person) is called theism. Prayer becomes our personal request to the Divine Person to make a decision on our behalf – to end the forest fire, cure the cancer, right the wrong. Prayer is “answered” if there has been a Divine intervention to grant our wish.
Generally traditional Christianity has embraced a God-language that is theistic in its doctrine and teaching. We might also consider that there are non-theistic understandings of God in which God is not a Divine Person responsible for everything, but imagined with metaphors such as Divine Energy, Higher Consciousness, Ground of Being, Love. Viewed with this kind of spiritual filter, the world is open ended and there need not be a Master Plan or Fate or Divine Person in charge. People who are “spiritual but not religious” may find this perspective helpful in confronting painful realities such as natural disasters or even human tragedies.
God is with us giving meaning and hope in the midst of whatever it is that we experiencing, without being the cause of what we experience. Sometimes the hour can be so dark that we can only rely on the faith of others to support us through their love, kindness, material support and encouragement. We see this in the response of BC people who have come to the aid of their neighbours who have lost much or who are still threatened by wildfires. Then we experience God with us because others have been moved by God to show us godly love. And that is the real Act of God that is our source of spiritual hope.
Larry Scott is a retired United Church minister living in Victoria.
You can readmore articles from our interfaith blog,The Spiritual View, HERE
