Waves are less appealing today.

"God's choices in inflicting suffering are not satisfactory to us, nor are they understandable, unless innocence offends Him. Clearly, he needs some help in directing the blind fury with which He flogs the earth."

Thomas Harris in “Hannibal”.

These lines strike a chord with me, particularly that first sentence which resonates powerfully through me and leaves me feeling like a well struck tuning fork.  As a younger man I was troubled by the injustice of a wrathful old testament god. (Young people do tend to have a deep or perhaps overdeveloped sense of injustice). These days I have come to an arrangement with Him. I don’t believe in Him and He can believe in me if He feels like it.

The world makes more sense to me when viewed from a rational and evidence based standpoint. I see no need for a god and I don’t require the carrot and stick of the after-life to encourage me to act ethically and morally in the here and now. This planet can be our Heaven and our Garden of Eden if we choose to make it so. Sadly, from time to time, bad things happen, there is no need to go looking for any form of malevolent or wrathful will directing them. Are these Acts of God ? No just the massive and impersonal forces of nature. The important thing is how we respond to these events to minimize the loss of life and support those in immediate need.

Around the Pacific, the people of Japan and New Zealand have been hit by devastating geological events which are hard for the rest of us to even contemplate. The toll in human suffering is vast and my heart goes out to all those who have lost their homes or worse, members of their family and friends.

It’s a little hard to think about going paddling just at present.