The theodicy problem is a strange word for an even more complex puzzle: If God is good, how come there’s so much evil in the world? What is even more difficult to understand, is when malicious things are done in the name of God.
Take the story of Pastor Leo in the small congregation of The River in Borås. Pastor Leo managed to persuade one of the parishioners to donate their family farm to the Assembly. Inger envisioned how the estate would be used for youth activities and was promised that she would be able to live in a small, newly built house on the farm. But this isn’t how things worked out. Instead, she’s become a tenant in her own house, having to pay electricity and heat by herself and she was also persuaded to spend close to €15 000 on the purchase of a tractor. Now she regrets that she gave away the farm and is struggling to get it back. But Pastor Leo refuses. "If God tells me to give back the farm, I will, I do it," he said .
A look at the world is enough for us to see that waiting for God to do justice doesn’t always work. Sometimes, we need ordinary people to act. This is where you come in. Proceed as follows: Dig up some old postcards that you never sent from that vacation in 1997, or maybe a free postcard you picked up at a café. Write: "Dear Pastor Leo. I am telling you to return the farm to Inger Hasselgård. Sincerely, God." Put on a stamp and address it to Pastor Leo Hartikainen, The River, Guldbrandsgatan 1, 503 17 Borås, Sweden. If you want you can add a more personal greeting (perhaps one that matches the postcard), for example, "Sunny regards from Ibiza", "Here in Vaggeryd it is a bit gray and overcast" or "Thinking of you".
In addition to the pastor of Borås, there are an awful lot of other people around the world who probably also would need a postcard greeting from you. Leaders of both state and industry who fail to take responsibility for the world's environmental problems. Politicians, presidents and police chiefs who are responsible for having imprisoned activists without a trial, that have attacked journalists, failed to implement laws that protect minorities or authorized torture. Amnesty is an organization that sends a lot of postcards. Check out http://www.amnesty.se/aktivism/kortkampanjen/
Writing postcards isn’t as 20th century as it sounds - it can still be important and make a difference.
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Required time:
1 hour or less
Cons:
The world might not change at all despite your writing postcards till your hands bleed. Such is often the case. A lot of the time, nothing at all happens when we try to change the world. But don’t forget about the dripping that makes holes in stone. Don’t forget that one little postcard is what creates the difference between apathy and the belief that another world is possible.
Pros:
By protesting against something that is wrong, you’re making a small, but invaluable effort for creating a better world. In addition, you can finally use all those old unwritten postcards. Maybe Pastor Leo and the Chinese and Zimbabwean politicians have a young relative who collects postcards that might feel great joy from all the strange motives that arrive one by one in the mailbox.
