Reflection from “Creating a Life That Matters” by Manis Friedman (vol.11)

Why do bad things happen to good people?

The bad things may be painful, tragic, or frightening. For example, we are bitter and angry when a young person dies or all pain and suffering. So, we might have a question like, where is justice? Who is the true judge? But suffering could be beneficial. Victor Frankl, who is the author of Man’s Search for Meaning, realized that the people who saw some purpose to what was going on. Suffering is not painful if you can find purpose in bad things, while we cannot handle pointless pain or suffering. We assume that life has a purpose and that the world is not an untamed jungle. Sages asked Why do bad things happen to good people? Because they knew that nothing wrong ever happened. Noting happens unless there’s a reason for it. There is no mover and shaker other than God. Nothing moves unless there’s a Mover. Suffering, by definition, is not necessarily bad. Therefore, we are not complaining about bad things because we know nothing bad is happening.