The hardest question...

From Radio 4's website:

Swaziland has the highest rates of Aids in the world, with a staggering 4 in 10 pregnant women testing positive at antenatal clinics. The economic and social effects are incalculable - health and education services are collapsing and the country is facing the sixth consecutive year of severe drought and hunger.

I happened to hear part of "Living with Aids: Global Challenge" on the way to pick up Becky from preschool this morning. A wideheld belief in Swaziland is that if you have Aids and you have sex with a virgin you will be cured. My heart broke as I heard the timid voice of a ten year old boy who had been raped by a woman who believed just this. This little lad is now infected. He's just ten. I had tears in my eyes as I walked from the car to the school. God, oh God, oh God...

John Humphreys has been in conversation with three religious leaders, "Humphreys in Search of God", and in each case the question of suffering has been paramount. It is perhaps the question that prevents most from trusting God. There is no answer. There is a gap. The gap is bridged by faith. Faith requires a humility that says, "You are God. I am not."

Years ago it struck me: It's not so much non-belief in God that I see, it's more a dislike of God as he is understood.

"God may exist, but I don't like him. Look at what he allows. How can a loving God allow such things?"

I don't know. Neither do the three religious leaders, but Humphreys sees that this is not an impediment to their faiths. It's OK to say, "I don't know."

That little lad I've mentioned above, what's to become of him? I don't know, it breaks my heart but I don't.