Where are You God? --- An Open letter

Dear God,

In my newspaper there are reports of death and destruction in some form or other every day. At the moment for example, the reports about the murder trial in the case of the shooting of 11-year old Rhys Jones in Liverpool last August. The defendants in the case are all children. In fact it seems that somewhere in the UK every day children are killing or horribly maiming children.

Other reports from the world's Media tell us about wars that are going on in different countries, often Civil War where people are killing sectors of their own population simply because they disagree with something that they are saying, or doing, or believing in. In some countries the people are systematically being destroyed by tyrannical despots who bleed the country of its wealth to such a degree that ordinary citizens struggle to find scraps that are left. I have read recently of people who survive --- just --- on a diet of wild berries, drinking water that is almost guaranteed to make them ill enough to die. Mind you, for many of those people death may well be the better alternative, so awful are their lives.

Then there are the natural disasters around the world. I know that these are Your fault God, because the Insurance Companies make a point of telling us that they are. They say that damage and devastation caused by earthquakes, floods, tidal waves, lightning strikes and so on, are all 'Acts of God'.

All of these dreadful things make me wonder where You are. After all, it is to be argued, if You really are a God of love who really cares about us then where are you? If You really do have the power to bring about a world of peace and plenty for all then why don't You do it?

I know that we all do things wrong but then, nobody is perfect are they? Sure, You've given us a set of rules to live by, but even You must have realised when You gave them that they would be far to difficult for us to follow.

Hold on! I've just had a thought! I'm assuming that all the blame is Yours for the state of the world, when really pretty well everything that is wrong is man's fault. Man invented the guns and knives, and man concocted the poisons, and man killed and maimed and then man looked for someone to blame for all of his failings.

I know that Your rules are not easy to live up to, but I guess that we can at least try.

I still wonder where You are though. Is it possible that finding You is so difficult in our world because man has systematically shut You out of it? For years we've been telling You to get out of our schools and our children's lives, to stay out of our government and to get out of our lives. Why, even in some churches it seems that You have been shut out in order that the congregations can feel more self-satisfied at how much better they are than those people who don't belong.

How can we expect You to bless us and give us Your protection when we demand that You leave us alone? After all, the choice is ours as to whether or not we let You into our lives, isn't it God? And if we choose to shut You out almost all of the time how can we expect You to come running whenever we feel that we need You to solve our latest crisis?

I guess that it's time to take stock of the situation before it's too late. Time to apportion the blame where it really belongs, with ourselves. Oh, I know that I haven't killed anyone, or starved them out of existence, or made them homeless, or anything like that, but I still stand as guilty as anyone else who chooses to accept the status quo and stand by and do nothing.

So, God, here and now I'm saying 'Sorry' for my part in doing nothing.

• Sorry that I haven't complained about the things that offend, not only against your laws but also against me.
• Sorry that even small children, learning by the example of their elders, often use gutter-language to express themselves.
• Sorry that nobody in authority in the world of supposed entertainment is prepared to stand up and be counted when it comes to banning the use of blasphemous expression and the foul language that is used on television, even on programmes to demonstrate cookery.
• Sorry for not fighting the authorities harder when they try out experiments in schools that risk damaging young minds.
• Sorry for not standing up for the Christian heritage of this land in the face of imported opposition.
• Sorry for allowing our nation to be reduced to a land of greed and selfishness without fighting harder against it.

Here, today, God, I REPENT of everything that is wrong in my life. I acknowledge that I NEED YOU in my life in order to live it the way that it should be lived, and indeed the way that You deserve it should be lived. I want everyone I love to be IN my life in a full and meaningful way. I love You, God, and so that means that I want You in my life every step of the way.

Your servant, Rev Colin