Have I ever mentioned that Eileen and I have 2 dogs? Here is a photo of Shamus Lochlan MacGregor when he was just a couple of months old. He and Eileen fell in love with each other at first sight. She was "browsing" at the pet store while I was doing something else in the mall and she said that all these folks walked by him and he just lay in his cage looking at them. However, when she walked by, he got up, came to the window and put his paw on the window so she put her hand to the window as well and they just stared at each other for a while.

As fortune would have it, our youngest daughter (Katie) happened to be in the mall and when Eileen saw her and told her about the puppy, she wanted to go see him. I had already checked on the price and told my daughter that there was no way I was going to spend that kind of money on a dog (big bucks!). Anyway, while back in the pet store, Katie had the girl get the puppy out and give her to Eileen. Tears just blew loose from her eyes and I knew that I was sunk - big bucks or no, that puppy had to come home with us.

I'll have to tell you the story of our other puppy some other time - I don't have a photo of her in this computer.

Joplin, MO

I was involved last night in leading a session of The Truth Project at a friend's house and when we ended the session and I asked about prayer requests, one of the folks indicated that he was mad at God for the damage done to people's lives in Joplin, MO. He asked the proverbial question "How can a merciful God allow these things to happen?" He didn't say this, but implicit in it, I believe was that God was at fault for the loss of lives and the loss of homes and businesses.

I think that is a fair question to ask but a hard one to answer and unless one is solidly of the belief that God knows best, there can probably be no answer that would satisfy those who do not have that solidity of belief.

We could talk about the fall of man bringing all sorts of calamity into the world; we could talk about that in a natural world, these events will always happen; we could perhaps come up with many other explanations - but there is no way that we can truly know the answer. And, the question presupposes that life on this earth is preferable to anything else that God might have in store for us. While death (especially to a family member or close friend) is a terrible tragedy for those remaining, is it a tragedy to those who died? We are all going to die at some point (unless, as I frequently ask of God, I am caught up in the Rapture instead!!) and make the transition from life on earth to life in heaven or hell. The real tragedy, of course, is those who die without Christ as their Lord and Savior. I believe, in the final analysis, that is the only real tragedy of this world; everythng else is short of tragedy even if long on pain and suffering.