This is a question that is asked so often, and there are already many, many answers to it from philosophers and theologians. I think the misunderstanding is not so much about who "God" is, but about who we are.

Because firstly, it must be understood: In a world on the level of duality, there cannot be good without evil, warm without cold, light without dark. Everything is always present in equal measure. We carry countless viruses, bacteria and even cancer cells in our bodies. If everything is in the right balance, the organism remains healthy. It is the same in the world as it is in our bodies.

Secondly, ask yourself this question: what if this God had actually given us the power to prevent all evil ourselves?
In other words, if we were not only in his (supposed) image, but in his image in terms of our abilities? So often we shift responsibility away from ourselves: children's education to the teachers, health to the doctor, and so-called "managers" (!) outsource responsibility to consultancy firms. Who really has the power and who uses it and how? Who then allows the evil in the world to happen if not us? Couldn't we all take more responsibility and shape the world differently? Yes, we alone. To say that "he" allows the evil may be ignorance, but perhaps more of a welcome excuse.

As long as we make ourselves victims, we cannot make the world a better place, because with this victim attitude we allow a few people to shape the game on earth. "There's nothing you can do" is a phrase we often hear. Who is "one?" Who elects the powerful? The Dalai Lama says, "If you think you are too small to make a difference, think of a mosquito in your bedroom when you want to sleep." What if we step out of our comfort zone and empower ourselves? Embrace the power that God has given us and use it responsibly?

I remember the cartoon with Jesus and an earthling. They are both sitting on a park bench, and the earthling says to Jesus: "Why do you allow this evil in the world?" Jesus says "Child, that's exactly what I was about to ask you!" Gandhi said: "Be the change you want to see in the world."

Thirdly, perhaps God loves us so much that he allows us to suffer pain and does not avoid it! I have experienced a particular example of this myself. I used to have a business partner who could be described as a real "hard bone". After only a few years at school, he worked his way through and became very, very successful and very, very, very tough. One evening, he invited me over to his house. I saw that his child, five years old at the time, was disabled. He had splints on his legs and couldn't walk on his own.

We went for a walk in his garden, there was a pebble path, and after a few steps I saw the boy scrambling after us - with his bare, bleeding knees on the pebble path. I was horrified! How could this father let that happen? Couldn't he have taken him in his arms? But just as I was about to scold him, I saw that the tough man had tears running down his cheeks. He looked at me and said, "It's hard to bear. But it's the only way for him to learn to move freely on his own." And indeed, yes, it was the boy's choice to crawl there and get his knees bloody. I later learned that the boy was becoming independent. He moved around the world on his own, became independent at an early age, and at the age of seven was already doing his first own business.

What had really happened that evening in the garden? I hadn't really loved either the man or the child. Really really I only wanted my own pain. I didn't think about what was best for the child. And this hard-nosed guy I had pre-judged could only be hard on the child with my default setting ... but he had more love for his child than I could bear. Ask yourself: Where are you demanding behavior from others because you want your pain removed, where it's about you and not about love for others at all?

Sometimes it is said that those whom God loves, he punishes with greater hurdles because we can grow through them. I am not saying that every misery in the world is wanted by him. I even mean that he doesn't want anything from us in this sense. Except for one thing: that we can grow from it. That we can learn to avoid conflict. To learn to understand better ... if we want to! If we don't shift the responsibility onto God, teachers, doctors or anyone else, but instead ask them to help us to do better ourselves.

Christmas can be another revolutionary holiday for us ... a holiday for self-empowerment! So ask yourself: what beliefs can I throw overboard now? And what really good resolutions can I bring into the world in 2018?

I wish you all sensual and contemplative days!

Sincerely

Wolfgang
winning for life