Every true Christian, but especially Catholics, should understand that in God’s field of view there are no such things as accidents. That is why the often used term “accidental pregnancy” is a laughable concept when considered from the Divine perspective. The same reasoning can be applied to suffering and evil, which God allows all of us to experience, not out of any sadistic motive but rather so that He can elicit some greater good from it ~ assuming that we are willing to cooperate. God sees the “big picture,” we only get to observe a few pixels, and so it is only through faith and trust in His providential plan that we can ultimately share in whatever good He has in mind. The extreme example of this transforming a horrific evil into the greatest possible good is the crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus, an event which destroyed the power of sin and death while reconciling mankind to its Father and Creator. But it was anything but painless.

Each one of us is here for a reason, we didn’t just accidentally materialize. Rather, God foresaw and prepared well for our existence, including the particular circumstances of our lives, from the very beginning of time. And in virtually every case this plan required a great deal of suffering on the part of those who came before us in order for it to be effected. Here I am not simply referring to a mother’s labor pains but to the whole historic gamut of trials, sufferings, and yes, manifest evils endured by others, all orchestrated like clockwork over centuries, yet without which I would not now be sitting here composing this particular post. In my case this means that if the American Civil War, which cost some 600,000 lives, had never been waged there would be no Fran Pierson today relating this story. Neither would my siblings, father, grandfather, uncles, aunts, and countless first and second cousins have ever existed if our great grandfather, Aaron E. Pierson, had not signed up in the 44th Indiana volunteer infantry regiment in that pivotal fall of 1861.