God and Human Action

It appears that one reason Noel F. Ambery does not believe in God is that God allows tragedies to happen [The Epitome of All Mysteries, October 19]. He wonders, if God were actually in existence, why he "never prevented the disasters of September 11." Well, God does not cause airplanes to crash into buildings. God did not build the airplanes. He did not build the towers. And he did not plan the loss of life and property. The disasters were caused by human beings, however misguided.

One reason Mr. Ambery does not believe in God might be that he does not really understand that God gave human beings free will, the ability to do both good and evil. God can act only through people. Unfortunately, people do not always do good. But that does not mean that God does not exist. Disasters happen, both naturally and through human action. It is up to us to deal with them. We pray, but the purpose of prayer is not so much to change God as to change us. Look at what happened after September 11. Many people returned to their faith. It brought the country together. It brought much of the world together. One touching event was when Queen Elizabeth II ordered the band of the Coldstream Guards to play "The Star Spangled Banner" at Buckingham Palace, Britons watching with tears in their eyes.

About two thousand years ago, the real-life Son of what Mr. Ambery calls the "mythical god" taught us many lessons, which I hope Mr. Ambery has taken to heart. He may be closer to God than he thinks.