that question

The other day Nick asked me,"Why do people do bad things, Mommy? Why didn't God just make everyone good so no one would do bad things?"

This was not a rhetorical question.

I can't remember the context now, but he's up on the war in Iraq. We had the radio on in the car that day and he was fascinated by the story of the Israeli release of Palestinian prisoners. He couldn't figure out why they were prisoners, and I wasn't much help.

So when he asked the question, I cringed. I know the answer, of course, the answer that was given to me when I asked the question, the answer that a lot of us, I think, heard when we were kids. The answer is not "Satan" (cue Church Lady voice), though now that I think of it that would simplify an awful lot. What an easy answer! There's a bad guy running around messing up what God did.

I wish I thought so.

Instead I gave him the answer I learned in Sunday school, or at my father's knee, or somewhere like that. "God did make everything good," I told Nick. "God made everything good but God gave us choices. And that means we're free--everyone's free--to do bad things if that's what they choose."

Oddly, this seemed to satisfy Nick. Or maybe Scooby-Doo was on and he didn't care any more. But I wasn't satisfied. Free will doesn't explain crib death, or stillbirth, or tornadoes or earthquakes.

Then there's the argument from aesthetics--that contrast is aesthetically enriching, that pain, or evil, or wrongdoing, allows us to appreciate goodness or joy or beauty even more. Maybe.

Mostly, of course, I don't ask why there's evil. There is, and I know it, and I try to work around it as best I can. I try to do good in the small ways that I can see, and I try to teach my children to do the same. If you stop asking why you can focus on what's next, and that's useful in adult life. But I'm glad Nick asked. It's good to be reminded that the presence of evil is not normal, cannot be taken for granted, doesn't make sense. As long as kids keep asking why I feel better about the future.