The Mystery of Unfair Wounds

The puzzle is familiar and relevant. People may get wounded by unfair consequences. Like many among you, I pick up the paper or watch TV news and I see this reality of life assaulting my eyes. Rabbi Harold Kushner describes it his way through his bestselling book - "When Bad Things Happen To Good People." Yes, misfortunes do happen to good or innocent people.

Think of that loving young girl who was abandoned by both father and mother, and sold to another family. Why is it that courageous, godly Christians are killed and martyred rather than their ISIS brutal murderers? Why is it that the corrupt politicians or drug lords get rich on porn, drug abuse, prostitution, illegal gambling, mind-twisting, etc while you can barely make ends meet even though you walk uprightly?

In my own practice, I've seen kind, noble people crack under the strain of unbearable trauma. I've witnessed and tried to help people whose marriages break up or facing cancers or functionally suicidal, who appear unable to be normal again.  They got hurt by unfair circumstances and events in their lives. They were victimized by injustice. Isn't it amazing how some individuals can get away with cheating, infidelity, deception, abandonment, and dishonor, virtually untouched by justice (on this temporal earth only, I mean!)?

I'm reminded of this woman who loved her husband a lot and took care of him well in their 40 years of marriage. One day, she discovered that her husband has been secretly unfaithful to her and having multiple affairs during half of the number of years they're married. In one final instant, her husband left her for a younger woman, ousted her in their home, and left no support for her in old age. To be honest, a lot of us can be riddled by where that's coming from. It's a psychological enigma, wrapped in mystery.

Now I say that it's a mystery that defies explanation - the mystery of unfair wounds.