WHERE ART THOU LORD?

[Iudaes 1087]

ADDRESSED TO 
THE PRELATE OF THE CLERGY,
TO THE MOTHER CHURCH, 
AND TO ALL GOD’s FAITHFUL.

 

WHERE ART
THOU LORD?

 

THE THESIS OF AN ACOLYTE
FOR HIS EMINENCE’s REVIEW

 

☩

 

In every age and every era has and will the Lord exist, for He is the sole persisting force who is beyond time, One who has lived and shall always live, and by whom eternal life will be granted unto men, for His eternity is the only eternity (Virtue 7:5). It is through Him that our souls are nourished and through His own existence that we may live ourselves, for it is by Him that the world was created and through His ever eternal mercy that we are raised in goodness, not abandoned to languish. With that said, the joys of which we enjoy day in and day out assuredly owe their existence solely to Him. The fact is, all is of Him and thereby, all is proof of Him. Yet, since the days when men strayed from God, the faithful have known the whispers that God does not exist or that God does not care. They claim that surely a good God cannot exist when evil persists in that which He created. That surely as men die and suffer, or as murderers and adulterers alike commit their crimes, the Lord is certainly uncaring, for what benevolent force could ignore the ills of this world.

 

We, the faithful, know full well that these beliefs are false. However, this does not dismiss these persistent whispers, many of which certainly come from the mouths of nonbelievers or heretics, but others simply from those stricken by tragedies, like the loss of family, or a natural disaster, or war. These whispers cannot be ignored and must be addressed. 

 

Firstly, the question of the existence of God. While for many, the existence of the world and of us ourselves is enough proof, for certainly, where did we come from if not from God, many others believe the silence of God still reigns supreme, alike to the days after Exalted Owyn’s death (Gospel 5:28), and they, like the many who strayed from the path during these times (Gospel 5:30), accept this perceived silence as proof that God does not exist. As all other answers, the answer for this can be found in Scripture. The ills of these men and women are simply due to the fact that they know nothing of how God communicates. Scribed by Exalted Godfrey in the Scroll of Gospel, God communicates this, “In every era the Lord provides signs of His watchfulness: the miracles of holy men, as He provided to Owyn in the greatest city of Edel.” (Gospel 5:27). Perhaps the best proof of God lies in the communion of Saints, who, during their lives, and posthumously as well, perform miracles. An uneducated mind may see this as the work of a mage, however, the intercession of the Saints comes not from any skill they themselves possess or possessed, but purely from the Lord. 

 

Still, many might say that obscure miracles, like those of ages past, such as that of Saint Tylos, or those performed by Saint Lucien, are merely fables or purely coincidence. While they should be admonished for their lack of faith, more current and verified miracles can nevertheless be provided. Ones most recent and witnessed by thousands are the actions of Saint James II, a Pontiff whose deeds are from which the Basilica in Providentia, the Argentate Star, receives its namesake. To speak specifically, High Pontiff Saint James II, by the accounts of many witnesses, was present at the battlefield in Arcas at which the final stand against the Inferi took place. Upon petitioning the Archangel Michael, he and a host of Aenguls descended from the Skies to battle alongside the descendant’s forces. While this is attributed to the intercession of Archaengul Michael rather than High Pontiff Saint James II himself, it is nevertheless an action of God, and what many believe to be certain proof of his existence. 

 

Too, the Scrolls themselves are proof of God, which, while perhaps bearing lesser weight to the nonbeliever, are nevertheless the most strong evidence to any Canonist. Besides our beliefs that Scripture is absolute truth, of which contains certain proof that the Lord exists, if one wishes to view the Scrolls from a historical perspective, two among them were written by a pair of the Holy Orenian Empire’s greatest, and most well known Emperors, and the details in the Scroll of Gospel for instance, as written by Exalted Godfrey, are accepted as historical accounts among many experts, and have even been told to be verified by the longest lived members of our societies who were present at these times. Some can say that Exalted Godfrey was lying, however, with other evidence provided, that claim can mostly be disregarded, or at the very least, easily debated. Too, some may say that the Prophets and Emperors Godfrey and Sigismund were simply delusional. Besides this being quite the offensive and heretical claim, if they were delusional, you must too question the competence of the respective rules, of which are some of the longest and most acclaimed.  

 

Lastly, the issue of prayer. Many say that God does not answer and that God is silent because of the very fact that He fails to descend from the Seventh Sky and speak directly into their ears. This claim is preposterous and simply a failing of the individuals to recognize, as most Canonists can, the voice of God. Such an argument could even be compared to written letters, for most do not question that a letter from a ‘Goddard’ is a letter from ‘Goddard’, simply because he failed to hand deliver it to them. Certainly a stretch but just as preposterous, at least to Canonists, as that worry would be to all. The matter of fact is that God does speak, though simply not as we do. God acts through those miracles told of prior, or through the blessings that he bestows directly, or through signs which He provides to His faithful. Many have even felt his very presence after prayer as a miraculous statement from God that He is there. Too, many of those who claim that God does not answer may simply be praying for the wrong thing. Tales have been told of married men who beseech God earnestly for the certain attention of a woman not their wife, and who are then flabbergasted when they are ignored. You must simply “listen”, for God does answer.

 

Secondly, the question of the goodness of God. We Canonists know that God is Good. It is a fact drilled into us from our youth to the very day we die, not only during the liturgy or the reading of Scripture, but too, in the joys and blessings He provides us day in and day out. It is a truth we know, just as the fact that the sky is blue or that the grass is green. However, the accounts of men who are stricken by tragedy cannot be ignored. As said prior, there are men who are murdered, wives who are betrayed, and poverty which relegates millions to languish. There is much suffering in this world, and many souls who accept that, foolishly, though at many times, understandably, as proof, not that God does not exist, but that He is not good or does not act. Yet, GOD is GOOD. 

 

First, the matter of sin. As said prior, much of the suffering which afflicts our world and those who reside upon it is not due to natural disasters and over all, what has been dubbed “acts of God”, but due to many men and women who share it with them. The men who are murdered are killed by murderous men. The wives who are betrayed are betrayed by adulterous husbands. The poverty of many is caused by the greed of others. These men, these wives, these beggars, and many others are left to ask, how could God allow such a thing? Why does God not intervene? Why has God forsaken me so? He has not forsaken you. The answer to this lies in free will. We must ask ourselves firstly, would we like choice over no choice? Would we like to have agency over our actions, or would we like God to control us like marionettes? Many of you would likely pick the former to that question. The fact is that we do have free will and the majority enjoy that (besides for some possible, unaccounted for minority). However, with that naturally comes a choice, which is the choice between good and evil, and those various decisions therein. God has blessed us with free will, however some choose to misuse that which He has bestowed unto us. It is not like we have been left with no instruction though, for through His Prophets, God communicated the four Scrolls, which set out the rules of the faith, and too, provide lessons and accounts that exemplify the state of virtuousness for all. We simply need to use the blessings of which we have been given right, with the guidance of God to help us. Thereby, murder and adultery and poverty and all the tragedies which occur are ills of men and not of God. 

 

Second, the matter of those aforementioned acts of God. This is a more complicated question and one that has a more frustrating answer then the last. God does things for many reasons, and we cannot assume to know them, for we do not know them at all. He places many trials before us, and certainly, the storms that cause irreparable harm, the men taken not by men but by God, and all other such things are not of men themselves. Therefore, why does God allow this? We do not know. However, we do know undoubtedly that He is Good. Again, a most frustrating resolution alone, but even here, it is not without evidence. We know assuredly that God is not silent and, indeed, He does act. In fact, much of the good that happens can be attributed to Him directly. For instance, men who were blinded had their sight return through the intercession of the Saints. The healing of injured men, of which many a time are seemingly doomed for death, can be attributed to God. Even the relief of death after debilitating illness can be a good of God, for all the virtuous are promised the Skies upon their deaths. In fact, those Skies are a miracle themselves, for certainly do we stumble, and yet God is eternally forgiving, and despite our sins, if rightly absolved of course, we too can achieve eternal life. Thereby, even the deaths caused by storms and other such things, or even those of murder or of war, have their resolution, for we all who are virtuous await eternal life in the heavens. 

 

All this, however, does not discount the suffering of millions. It is true that God exists and that God is Good, but it is also true that the ills of this world are innumerable and they all affect the men and women, even the virtuous, who reside here. Nevertheless, we cannot be disheartened for we must know that God is always here and God’s benevolence relieves the suffering of all. This can be difficult, though, as in many other things, we must merely look to the example of the Saints, of the Blessed, and of the Venerable, many of whom experienced hardship countless times throughout their lives, yet all of whom deserve to be known as Saints. All of them knew that God is there and God is Good, for how could they have persisted in their faith, even when the challenges of the world were so overbearing? They believed wholly in God, and understood that, whether in life or in death, He would act to heal their scars and make them whole again. You must merely have the same faith. I must merely have the same faith. As the Saints did, we must all believe in those two truths, and each and every answer will be known. 

 

Faithful Always,
Faustus
 

Edited December 20, 2021 by GoldWolf

[KaiserJacobII 1048]

To the devout Brother Faustus, @GoldWolf

 

You've written the most thorough Thesis I have seen throughout my career as Prelate. It speaks measures to your love of GOD. I am glad to approve this Thesis. Please find myself or another Clergyperson of some authority to be ordained, and begin your journey in our Holy Mother Church.

 

GOD bless,

Francis Cardinal Albarosa