A Great Response

[Ryuuko]

Namasté everyone,

I received this by e-mail yesterday, and thought I would share it with you. My apologies if you've already received this.

Subject: A great response

The university professor challenged his students with this question.

"Did God create everything that exists?"

A student bravely replied, "Yes, he did!"

"God created everything?" The professor asked.

"Yes sir", the student replied.

The professor answered, "If God created everything, then God created evil,
since evil exists, and according to the principal that our works define
who we are, then God is evil".

The student became quiet before such an answer. The professor, quite
pleased with himself, boasted to the students that he had proven once more
that the Christian faith was a myth.

Another student raised his hand and said, "Can I ask you a question
professor?"

"Of course", replied the professor.

The student stood up and asked, "Professor, does cold exist?"

"What kind of question is this? Of course it exists. Have you never been
cold?" The students snickered at the young man's question.

The young man replied, "In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the
laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of heat.
Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits
energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy.
Absolute zero (-460° F) is the total absence of heat; all matter becomes
inert and incapable of reaction at that temperature. Cold does not exist.
We have created this word to describe how we feel if we have no heat."

The student continued, "Professor, does darkness exist?"

The professor responded, "Of course it does."

The student replied, "Once again you are wrong sir, darkness does not
exist either. Darkness is in reality the absence of light. Light we can
study, but not darkness. In fact we can use Newton's prism to break white
light into many colors and study the various wavelengths of each color.
You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world
of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space
is? You measure the amount of light present. Isn't this correct? Darkness
is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light
present."

Finally the young man asked the professor, "Sir, does evil exist?"

Now uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course as I have already said.
We see it every day. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to
man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world.
These manifestations are nothing else but evil."

To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does
not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like
darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of
God. God did not create evil. Evil is not like faith, or love that exist
just as does light and heat. Evil is the result of what happens when man
does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that
comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no
light."

The professor sat down.

The young man's name --- Albert Einstein

[BluejayWay]

That's a wonderful anecdote, but I'm afraid I did have some doubts about it's authenticity. According to Snopes.com, it is a recent example of a familiar theme in urban legends passed on via the 'Net. But it is an interesting theme--how we use parables to strengthen our faith in the face of a disbelieving world.

[Ryuuko]

Dear BluejayWay,

I agree that Einstein wasn't really the student, but the message still stands. Thanks for pointing that out though!

[BluejayWay]

You're welcome, Ryuuko--I hesitated to post that, but yes, a truth is a truth, no matter who did or did not speak it!

[PersonaNonGrata]

thats completely nonsense, if you may excuse my words.
Evil does exist, regardless of god.
lol at your mumblings

[mirrorinthefog]

I've heard this story and this statements so many times it seems like people automatically respond this way to the question of evil. It has fossilized and become cliched already.
I don't agree with it, but that's just my opinion...of course anything is possible and everyone is entitled to interpret things as they believe is best.

[BluejayWay]

thats completely nonsense, if you may excuse my words.

Well--a Very Merry "Bah, humbug!" to you too!

[brucegdc]

Thanks for the chuckle, BlueJayWay.... love the picture of Scrooge McDuck as, well, Scrooge.

Merry Christmas to those choosing to celebrate it, and a merry Saturday to those who don't choose to celebrate a holiday today.

[I, Brian]

C'mon, PNG - lighten up, please - we're not here to take potshots at other members.

[Sacredstar]

Dear Ryuuko

I love this one thank you for sharing.

It makes one wonder whether it is stories like these that manifested some of the world religions today.....interpreting, understanding and conveying the essence of the man!

Beauty surely is in the eye of the beholder and through GOD's eyes in the highest supreme energy of love and light everything is indeed perfect, because we choose whatever that may be.

Love beyond measure

Sacredstar

[Ryuuko]

Dear PNG,

Thank you for your post. I completely respect your opinion in this, and understand why you're saying that. When evil affects us in a personal way, the pain we suffer is very real, and this is why it makes it so hard to say, subsequently, "it does not exist".

I believe that things are not always as they seem in our lives. We are in a "schoolroom" on this Earth, if you will, and sometimes some lessons can be quite painful, and from our perspective, it's very hard to sometimes see the big picture--and I'm no exception to this! Let me give an example. A few years ago, a friend went out for a couple of hours because she had a few errands to do. Every time she'd go shopping, she'd always think that she was being taken advantaged of from all the stores, that people were always stealing from her, i.e. "I could have these apples for ten cents cheaper at that other store!". When it came to relationships, she always felt victimized--the other person always "taking" everything and giving nothing in return. Because she felt she had to work so hard to acquire in her life, she also became very possessive of anything and anyone.

That day, when she came back after running her errands, she found that unfortunately, her apartment had been broken into, and all her possessions had been taken away from her. Everything she had was now gone. Who could do such a thing? Having someone break into your apartment, steal your things, and trash your apartment is very real, and really hits hard. It's a violation of your personal environment, and feels awful. The evil is very real at this point. She cried and was very angry at what happened, which is a completely human reaction. After facing her emotions, one day a thought came into her head: what was the purpose of this event in her life? She began seeing the relationship between the burglar breaking into her apartment as a manifestation of the destructive thought pattern she had been believing for years about other people--about she always felt like being "robbed" by other people, and was not really receiving anything in return, or so it seemed! After facing this destructive behaviour in herself, she was able to change her perspective completely. She was no longer a victim within her relationships, and gradually took charge of her life. The event that had caused her great pain had now become a tool for self-empowerment, and suddenly, the burglar that had come into her life was now one of her teachers to help her break through the illusions she had created for herself with the people in her life.

Nothing good can come from "evil", but when our perspective changes, we can see the absence of love for what it truly is. A difficult feat to perform, yes, but this is one of the challenges that we face as humans. This is what the message above means to me.

[Sacredstar]

Dear Ryuuko

That is a wonderful story thank you for sharing.

I have another one, a lady with a very successful marketing company, while on honeymoon her colleagues conspired against her and took business worth £250,000. Within three months her husband left her and she was in a terrible emotional state, so she did not make the right business decisions at the crucial time when the recession was taking a big bite!

She was devastated, she had to move out of her offices and let go of her staff. She managed to keep the business going by the skin of her teeth and she could not afford to pay freelance writers £250 a day to write copy for brochures and ads.

She had started to use positive affirmations to empower herself that she could take over the writing. Once she began writing the company made more money in net profits that it had ever made and her clients became more successful creating brand and market leading products.

The icing on the cake was that being a professional copywriter was the perfect training ground for her to become an author.

Out of darkness comes the light!

Maybe one day we will replace the words good and evil with justice and injustice and when everyone views the justice in injustice, humanity will make incredible breakthroughs and when they do so, real injustice will naturally cease.

I am sure that you agree, that all is for our highest good when we view human beings as immortal, and this one life being just a tiny speck in the whole scheme of things and the divine plan.

being love

Sacredstar

[Ryuuko]

Dear SacredStar,

Thanks for that great story!

[Blue]

Ryuuko says:

Nothing good can come from "evil",

but think about it, rationally and clearly.

Are not many acts described and agreed upon as 'evil' followed or even accompanied by acts of 'good'?

Is it not the case that periods typified in human history as 'evil' (e.g., dehumanising regimes) are not only accompanied by great good in the form of personal heroism and love, but themselves give rise to, 'seed' the overthrow of 'evil' and the establishment of at least 'better' times, working for 'good'?

Is not the true situation that without concepts of both 'good' and 'evil' there would be no necessity for any discussion - all would be either 'good', or 'evil', and that is not the case? In fact we would never KNOW the difference without a comparison to be made.

I think - personally - that evil often gives rise to 'good' and that the piece I have quoted is nonsense, because it does not make reasoned sense to me.

[Sacredstar]

Dear Blue

Well i would be happy to just live in a Kingdom of Love and total peace forevermore, I do not need to be shown darkness, or evil to know what is unjust and wrongdoing.

being love

Sacredstar