It's Not Fair

My oldest son and I watched the closing moments of the Iowa Hawkeyes’ NCAA basketball tournament game. After letting a large lead disappear, the Hawks lost on a last-second desperation three-point shot. The defeat came suddenly. My son, a big Hawkeye fan, said, with tears in his eyes and frustration in his voice, “We’re not supposed to lose like that!”

He along with other fans and the players will eventually recover from the disappointment of the loss. But we all find ourselves in life situations where we say, “Life’s not supposed to be like this for me.” It comes in many forms. A life of good health interrupted by a long-term or terminal illness. A once-promising marriage ending in divorce. A life of potential and hope changed by a drunken driver.

There are some in the world of religion who preach a message of prosperity. “Do these things,, and God will bless you financially.” There is not room for the downside of life. It’s about following God faithfully for self-good. I have many difficulties with this approach to faith, the greatest of which is its effect on those who run into the unfairness of life. Are they to be deemed “unfaithful?” Also, a “prosperity gospel” seems to go against the teachings of Christ in some significant ways: “Sell you possessions and follow Me.” “Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Me.” “Blessed are those who are meek, merciful, persecuted.” These words are not prosperity, but focus on a gospel that calls for service and humility. All who suffer from the unfairness – most of us – need a faith that undergirds us in those tough times, not one that abandons us because we fall.

And, we can feel support when we face those stumbling blocks because others have gone through them as well. I know persons who’ve battled and are battling cancer, have had children pass away much too soon who’ve had careers taken away due to office politics, who’ve been unjustly accused and tried in the court of friends’ opinions. These persons have felt the pain, cried the tears, suffered the shame. But in all cases, they’ve eventually kept going with life – bravely, purposefully.

ABC’s Wide World of Sports gave us the famous phrase, “The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat.” The Iowa players feel that agony today along with fans, like my son. That agony will fade in intensity but the scar will be there ten and twenty years down life’s road. It’s how we continue to live, scars and all, that tell something of our character. Life is both joyous and unfair. The sooner we can grasp that fact, the more we can enjoy the highs and accepts the lows.