Welcome to the website of the Anglican Parish of Prince William, Dumfries, Queensbury, and Southampton. Thank you for taking the time to visit with us and discovering a little bit about our parish. The Parish of Prince William follows the Safe Church polices as outlined by the Dioceses. Father David Mercer, Priest in Charge 454-9998 dmercer98@bellaliant.net
To find out more about us, please click on the About us link. News & EventsService of Holy Eucharist each Sunday at St Clements Church Dumfries 11 AM TRINITY 9 Why do the innocent suffer? That question is one that does not seem to have an answer. It does not seem to be fair that those who do nothing wrong in this world very often are the ones that suffer the most and those who do wrong are the ones that get off scot free. Saint Paul’s image of the Church as the human body does help us to understand how it is that we are interconnected. Dean John Donne that great 16th century poet who served as the Dean of Saint Paul Cathedral London once said the “No man is an island.” What he meant was that we cannot live as individuals in complete isolation, in fact we need each other. We, by our very nature, are social beings and as such have a basic need to communicate and be in contact with each other. It is true that we can live in isolation but without human contact we become less human. The fact that we are in contact with each other means that we can cause harm or good to others. Sometimes this is done without intent, but we can also intentionally hurt each other as well. This is possible because we can and often do what ever we want with out regard for the results. This is possible because we have free will, in other words we control our own actions and are responsible for what we do. Saint Augustine tell us that we were given free will in order that we may do good, but because we are free we can do evil if we choose to do so. That may well explain why it is that in human relationships we can hurt or be hurt by others, but why are innocent people caused to suffer? Is its God that causes this or is there some other reason? I once had a conversation with a lady who said that she believed that a child that she knew had been killed by a car because it was the child’s time. It is true that we are mortal, in other words, that we will eventually die. However it is wrong to believe that God sits on his throne in Heaven and decided who will live or die this or any other day for that matter. There are always reasons why someone dies, it may well be that they were careless and did something with out thinking. It may be that someone else was careless and caused their death, but to believe that God decides when and how someone will die stands outside his nature. Before the Fall in the Paradise of this world there was a harmony between Mankind, the world and God. We believe that Mankind’s disobedience brought about disorder and the harmony of Nature that existed before the Fall was lost. Sickness, death and natural disorder was the result. The purpose of God’s coming in the Person of Jesus Christ, his death and Resurrection was to restore the order that was lost. The Church is the result of his action and it continues to grow out of the fallen order. The result of the Fall and its consequences still effect us, but as members of Christ’s new creation we have the gift of eternal life. When Marlene was doing interviews for her University work she talked with a man whose child had recovered from cancer. He said that he believed that if he did not do anything wrong his child would not get cancer again. The problem with this approach is that the cancer that his child had was caused by factors that had little or nothing to do with his behaviour. The world in which we live has been effected by our collective disobedience. We are human beings who reap what we sow and the condition of the world in which we live results from our behaviour. Does God want use to suffer? No. He wants us to be happy and to love one another, but our actions have consequences.Our suffering results from our actions either directly or indirectly. To blame God for our suffering does not explain to consequences of our action or the effect of the actions of others on us. |
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