" Texas school shooting begs the question: ' Where is God ' ? "

[ We all pray too religiously. God is big enough to handle our laments, complaints, and questions.] [ "Are you dead, God? "This is how Habakkuk opens his prayer to God (Habakkuk 1:1-11). Pray as the Old Testament prophet Habakkuk prayed: Are you really who you say you are God? (Habakkuk 1:12-2:20). Pour out your heart to God in prayer for the families of Uvalde, and use raw words. Our religious clichés will not be of help. Bumper sticker theology or fortune cookie comments? Vacuous. We need the raw presence of God .... " ] I like the way Albert Camus handled this question in his philosophy of THE ABSURD . A character in his novel " The Plague " just tries to be " a saint without God " despairing of finding any absolute or mystical meaning in life. Perhaps the French philosopher Pascal was right about God and the ultimate goodness of CREATION. A strong religious instinct ( which I hear from credible sources is a " sanity saver " ) compels many to make that Pascalian " LEAP OF FAITH " . Surviving a Nazi death camp Viktor Frankl wrote " Man's Search for Meaning " and -amazingly - still found that many Jewish death camp survivors -including himself - could still believe in God but in a less childish, more contemplative way. Saint Paul in his New Testament epistles clearly sees a CHRISTIAN virtue in BLIND FAITH in Jesus and HIS resurrection. Well this FAITH finally -in just a few centuries - triumphed over the Roman Empire. And still survives inspiring millions two thousand years later. NOTE : Roman Catholic theology has a lot to say about the mystery of human suffering on this side of paradise. I do think that the metaphysical argument for a CREATOR was only reinforced by that scientifically established MOMENT OF CREATION - called the BIG BANG . But the rest is mostly just a LEAP OF FAITH . The human soul prefers ultimate MEANING to ultimate MEANINGLESSNESS. [ 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”] 27 She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” #FoxNews Texas school shooting begs the question: Where is God? FOXNEWS.COM Texas school shooting begs the question: Where is God? After the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, we need the raw presence of God, and His