This is a #Philosophy of #Life post, heads up.
Recently I've had some friends who've been through some tough stuff. Having gone through some tough stuff myself throughout my life, I found myself #reflecting on the question "Why do bad things happen to good people?".
Not having the answer to "Why did this happen to me" can be debilitating. I think we're framing the #question of "Why" is wrong.
I started to think about my own life experiences... Here are some #questions I asked myself:
"HOW was I able to bounce back after #homelessness?"
"HOW have I been able to #forgive people in my life for their negative behaviors?"
"WHAT are the circumstances that led me to where I'm at now- and WHAT is the process of #growing into someone who #transcends their environmental contingencies?"
"WHO are the #people in my life that I've looked up to in order to model and frame my own thoughts, feeling and actions?"
"WHEN did I move from being a #helpless #victim of circumstance to being in charge of my own #reality?"
There are many other questions- but to sum them all up would be the question:
"#WHY am I WHO I am?"
I believe that asking the question "WHY" is a trap.
Sometimes there are no logical answers to 'Why did this happen to me- or why is this happening to someone I love?". Sometimes things just 'are'. When we find that we're in circumstances that we cannot control, how are we supposed to respond?
I've had a lot of 'Western Evangelical Christian' types in my life (I was even a missionary, bible study leader, youth-group aficionado, worship-team leader, camp counselor... you name it- I was 'the' model of a good Christian member of the 'body of Christ'. One of the things that I always heard from leaders in the Christian community, when asking the question "Why did God let this happen?" is a very uninspired and downright deflating answer; "God works in mysterious ways."
I don't believe that God works in mysterious ways. I believe that there are mysteries- and they're mysteries because we're not supposed to know the answer until we're ready, because if we did, we wouldn't be able to handle the responsibility of the greater mysteries without negatively affecting the world around us.
I digress. "WHY" is not the question. "WHY" is the answer.
We have been given an opportunity to frame our circumstance. No other living creature (that we are aware of) has the ability to do this through language. Language is 'WHO we are'. Humans have the privilege to tell stories about our past, our present, and our future. From villages in the jungle to marketing firms that work with governments; framing our existence is quite literally the foundation for purpose.
I don't like to quote religious texts often- because there are a lot of people who don't have the spiritual digestive systems to take in ideas without bias- so I will appeal to the masses by quoting the bible, in hopes that I'll reach the largest Western-thought audience.
On the word 'Word':
λόγος
John 1:1New International Version (NIV)
The Word Became Flesh
1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+1%3A1
Lexicon
lex·i·con
ˈleksiˌkän,ˈleksiˌkən
noun
the vocabulary of a person, language, or branch of knowledge.
"the size of the English lexicon"
a dictionary, especially of Greek, Hebrew, Syriac, or Arabic.
"a Greek–Latin lexicon"
synonyms: dictionary, wordbook, vocabulary list, glossary, thesaurus
"an illustrated lexicon"
http://biblehub.com/lexicon/john/1-1.htm
Etymology
noun, plural etymologies.
the derivation of a word.
Synonyms: word origin, word source, derivation, origin.a chronological account of the birth and development of a particular word or element of a word, often delineating its spread from one language to another and its evolving changes in form and meaning.
Synonyms: word history, word lore, historical development.the study of historical linguistic change, especially as manifested in individual words.
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/etymology
LOGOS:
What makes Heraclitus' λόγος different?
Is λόγος a technical term in Heraclitus?
To what other ideas does Heraclitus connect the λόγος?
"There is great difficulty in trying to understand what Heraclitus and meant by λόγος. Christian theologians and Stoics had their own conception of λόγος, and thus it is often hard to peel off the Stoic or Christian readings of Heraclitus. The word λόγος can have many meanings, and Guthrie gives an excellent historical survey."
http://www.heraclitusfragments.com/categories/logos.html
So- back to the "Why" core question. We're doing it wrong.
Our WHY is the answer.
Q. "WHY did all these bad things happen to me?"
A. Because I wanted to learn what I was made of.
Life is not the school- it is the test. You are not here to ask the question 'WHY'- you are here to create the 'WHY'. The only people who ever changed the world ALWAYS go through the most hard experiences. Here's a list of people who've changed the world. It's also a list of people who didn't ever ask the question 'WHY ME'- they already KNEW 'WHY ME'.
https://www.biographyonline.net/people/people-who-changed-world.html
If you're asking the question; "Why me", you're doing it wrong.
Do you know "Why you?".
Now go change the world.