Theodicy?

by Jared Cook

Some ask,

if God is all-knowing and all-powerful,

then why does he let bad things happen to good people?

But that is not what troubles me most

about an all-knowing God.

What troubles me is this: Can an all-knowing God be surprised?

Can he be caught off guard

by the unanticipated beauty of a sparrow’s feathers

in death?

Can he wonder

at the sudden vibrance of sugar maples’ leaves

through silver mist on the mountains?

Can he delight

in an unexpected crocus bloom

piercing through mud and snow?

Can he rejoice

in the unlooked-for return of an old friend

whose voice had almost been forgotten?

Can his breath catch

at an unheralded hope that appears suddenly as a small circle of light

resisting the space-filling darkness of despair?

If we are begotten of God and destined to be as he is,

must our eternities be empty of surprise?