I used to think Clare Booth Luce (late US novelist, playwright, politician & diplomat) was a great cynic due to her famous quote: “No good deed goes unpunished.” I was a Christian at the time and I believed in the protection and blessing of God. I still do but I came to realize that not everything that happens in this world is God’s will. There have been too many disasters this year, especially in the USA. How many is it? Four hurricanes, massive floods, earthquake in Mexico, mass shooting in Las Vegas, and record fires in California. I’ve heard some preachers calling it the judgment of God for everything from abortion to electing Donald Trump. Crazy! Look, Jesus rebuked the storm, right? He also said, “The Father and I are one,” right? So, if the Father sent the storm and Jesus rebuked it, not only is Jesus a liar, He and the father are a “house divided.” There is a devil and he does bad stuff! He especially targets those who are squeezing him out of his worldly kingdom. Our lives are, through the church, to be Jesus on this earth. To paraphrase Jesus, “If he [the devil] did it to Me, he’ll do it to you!” So, why should we start whining every time we get smacked? “We just do what we gotta do, so we get to do what we wanna do!” One thing I do know is that the urgency of disasters drains giving to the reoccurring support of orphan care. We’ve got to fix that!