Recent events in the world may cause one to ponder the question: Does the universe operate like a vast machine--a mindless quantum apparatus operating by random chance? Where is God? If he exists, why does he allow such horrible things to happen? Does God’s creation operate under fixed laws of causation such that nothing happens by chance, even the most gruesome of occurrences? There seems to be an unbearable paradox in suffering created by a belief in a loving deity.

When Newton first proposed his concepts of motion (gravitation acting from a distance), they revolutionized the science of his day. Things could be understood in terms of fixed, mechanistic laws. Upon closer examination, Einstein discovered Newton's laws were only an approximation, because they were relative to the observer. Einstein's relativity successfully explained what happens to large objects in the universe, but when delving into the realm of the very small, quantum mechanics seemed to better explain what was observed there. The motion of very small bits of matter appeared to be more like a system of probabilities rather than a fixed structure. One could say the seemingly structured world of Newtonian and relativistic physics holds for the large generalities, but when getting into the specifics (the components of matter), a level of uncertainty exists in the randomness of chance.

The concept of polar opposites is another notion ingrained within the structure of matter, the planet, and the human psyche itself. The earth has two poles that are opposites in more ways than one. The Arctic is an ocean surrounded by continents. The Antarctic is a continent surrounded by oceans. Discovery of opposing magnetic fields around the poles led to the polar understanding of electrical charges. Polarity is also seen in the nature of light and matter. Either can be expressed as wave energy or tiny particles but not both at the same time. Russian scientists of the new biological paradigm also consider the living state to represent a unity of polar opposites.

Russian biologists identified the first characteristic of living things as being the specific form that makes each species (and individual) unique, or distinguishable from others. The second manifestation is the continuous process of change as the cells regularly replace themselves. In a very real sense, the living organism is a system in constant transformation. Six trillion chemical reactions take place in each living cell every second. At this rate of activity in the human, the skin completely replaces itself every month, the skeleton every three months, the liver every six weeks, and the lining of the stomach every five days!¹ The unity of these opposites (the stability of the overall form with the constant changing of its cells) is only possible by the strict coordination of living processes. An underlying blueprint seems to tell the cells what this person is supposed to look like!²

Just as polarity is seen in the physical body, it's also expressed in the functions of mind. Carl Jung, the famous psychiatrist, saw a parallel to physics in the nature of the human psyche. He recognized that the conscious and unconscious mind, like the wave and particle nature of light, represent a complementary pair of opposites. Biologist Rupert Sheldrake also saw a parallel to the human mind in the "dark matter" astronomers believe comprises the bulk of the universe.

Just as the conscious mind floats, as it were, on the surface of the sea of unconscious mental processes, so the known physical world floats on a cosmic ocean of dark matter.³

The presence of polarity in so many aspects of existence demonstrates its significance. It is most evident in human suffering. If God chooses the desired manifestation of reality, is this true for the events of circumstance in our lives? Have theologians assigned to God the same mechanistic view held by older schools of science, and called it "omniscience?" In other words, are all events fixed or at least known by Deity? Some would call this predestination, or at the very least, "the will of God." Many would stop short of that assertion, as it precludes the operation of free will.

Man's greatest paradox is perhaps expressed most clearly in the book of Job. Of all writings in the Bible, none is more thorough in discussing the aspects of human suffering. Universally accepted as a literary masterpiece, it represents the great struggle of all who tread the spiritual path. The date Job was written isn't clearly known, although some scholars place it around the 7th century B.C. There are, however, some ancient Sumerian-Babylonian texts dating to 2,000 B.C. that have striking similarities to the book. While some scholars regard Job as a strictly fictional character, all agree the book is rich in literary value as an allegory of the human condition.

To briefly summarize the story of Job, it begins with a meeting between God and Satan, an obvious crossing of symbolic opposites. God comments that Job is a perfect man, fearing God and avoiding evil. Satan replies that Job is well behaved because he's so richly blessed with family and wealth. "Put forth your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face," he declares (Job 1:11.)

God, therefore, gives Satan power to destroy Job's entire family (excepting his wife) and all his possessions.

A series of terrible events befall Job, ravaging all that he has. Significantly, the events are both human caused and non-human caused, including: invasions by the Chaldeans, a firestorm, and a "great wind" or tornado. Job's reply to his new predicament has become somewhat of an idiom used at funerals--"The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord" (Job 1:21).

When Satan again meets with God, he's told, "Job...still holds to his integrity, although you have moved me against him, to destroy him without cause" (Job 2:3).

Satan replies, "Skin for skin, yea all that a man has will he give for his life. But put forth your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face" (Job 2:5).

God gives Satan power to afflict Job physically, but not to kill him.

Job becomes afflicted with boils from head to foot. Three of his friends come to comfort him, engaging in lengthy discussions of how God is judging wrongdoing. The irony for Job is that he doesn't know of anything he's done wrong. While there's no chronology for the reader to discern how long the ordeal lasts, detail in the text would indicate it spans an extended period of time. In the discussions of his friends, Job's predicament is analyzed from every conceivable angle. They try applying mechanical laws of reward and punishment, insisting he's in a state of denial.

Job complains that God encompasses humans with a "hedge" to prevent them from learning their destiny (Job 3:23). He accuses God of treating him like a shackled prisoner, not allowing him to realize his hopes (Job 13:27, 14:9). The Deity is described as a hunter, destroyer, and ruler who uses wisdom to create chaos rather than order (Job 12:13-25). Despite his bitter complaints, Job always stops short of condemning God, although his wife encourages him to curse God and die (Job 2:9). He acknowledges the greatness and mercy of his creator, but this only serves to aggravate the paradox, as the suffering continues, unrelenting. Throughout his ordeal, Job expresses a desire to confront his maker in person, to plead his cause (Job 13).

After untold suffering, Job receives his wish, as God finally appears to him both visibly and audibly. Appropriately, God appears in a "whirlwind," or out of the midst of the storm; strongly symbolic of how we learn from our extremities.

Surprisingly, God doesn't reveal the reason for Job's suffering but asks him a series of questions beginning with:

"Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare if you have understanding" (Job 38:4).

From this exhortation, God shows Job, and us, that part of the problem in suffering is created by our frame of reference. We aren't capable of fully comprehending the reasons for suffering in this life, because we don't know what transpired before the creation, what will transpire afterward, or the complexities involved in the plan to bring about our eventual destiny. Our perspective is limited at best. The concept was eloquently expressed by Arthur Koestler -- "The limitations of our biological equipment may condemn us to the role of Peeping Toms at the keyhole of eternity."⁴

In his book The Sabian Symbols of Astrology, Marc Edmund Jones provides an interesting discussion on the story of Job. His perspective could only come from someone well versed in the astrological and symbolic arts, attesting to his three decades of experience on the subject.

God asks Job some interesting questions about the stars:

Can you bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? Can you bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? Or can you guide Arcturus with his sons? Know you the ordinances of heaven? Can you set the dominion thereof in the earth? (Job 38:31-33).

The "Mazzaroth" are generally considered to be the signs of the Zodiac, or possibly the bright planets seen to circle against the backdrop of fainter stars. "Arcturus" is an older name for the stars of the Great Bear "Pleiades," and symbolically represents free motion or a carefree "loosening" of experience. The stars of "Orion" represent a limitation, stability, or "binding" that cannot be influenced by human design. These two constellations thus represent a set of polar opposites, characterizing events in nature and in our lives. As Jones explains, "Nature fixes firmly with one hand, and with the other unties or frees for quite unconditional development."⁵

In his universe of opposites, God functions amid life and death, freedom and control, chaos and order, wisdom and folly. He challenges Job to change his orientation by understanding and balancing the opposites of the creation. At the same time, he's giving us a God's eye view of earthly reality, just as described for Adam and Eve after they partook of the forbidden fruit--"the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil" (Gen. 3:22).

Like the religious fanatic, Job's perspective was distorted. The psychological framework he was using to judge the world, the symbols of his mental imagery, needed re-alignment. This process of symbolic manipulation can be seen in God's discussion with him. The resolution of Job's difficulties did not begin with restoration to health and family, but began within his mind. Shouldn't he be subject to the same uncertainties that are part of the creation? Wasn't this part of becoming "like the Gods?"

Job was taught that certainty and uncertainty are compatible if one refuses to decide in favor of either. The mind can bring order to the paradoxes of an imperfect world. God can produce such order on a universal scale, but has allowed us to experience what this entails in very incremental ways.

This was well stated by Dr. Jeffrey Satinover:

Why does one event happen and not another? As in quantum mechanics... the event is selected from among the various possibilities by the action of those entities that embody free will: by man himself within a limited domain-and by 'something else' everywhere.⁶

God is always involved in our personal affairs in a general way, but only sometimes in the specifics. Compensations are made for what might otherwise seem to be meaningless tragedies.

An example of how one person's tragedy saved countless lives is found in the story of Phan Thi Kim Phuc. In 1972, Kim Phuc, a 9-year-old girl, lived in Trang Bang, Viet Nam. The war was raging, and as fate would have it, her village was targeted by a US-ordered air strike. The bombs dropped that day contained napalm, a jellied form of burning gasoline. Kim was caught in the flames. Her clothes were burned off and her skin seared. She had third-degree burns over 75 percent of her body. As she ran to escape, Associated Press photographer Nick Ut happened to be there. He took a photo before rushing her to a hospital.

Nick's photo captured the terror of the event and was circulated worldwide. It eventually won a Pulitzer Prize. It so affected public opinion that it became a significant factor in bringing the war to an end. After the war, the incident was mostly forgotten.

In 1982, a German journalist asked the Vietnamese government what happened to the girl in the picture. His inquiry led to a two-year search. When she was finally located, the government forced Kim to leave medical school and do interviews for propaganda. The emotional stress, in addition to what she'd already suffered, persuaded her to struggle in a search for God, and she eventually converted to Christianity. Her perspective on what happened the day of the attack is phenomenal.

God used me that day. Even though so much of my body was burned, my feet were not burned, and so I could run out and be there for that photo. It saved a lot of souls and brought an end to the war... He created that moment when I was burned and photographed so that I could help others. He gave me a life, and then he changed my life, and then he healed me.”⁷

In 1992, Kim married and defected to Canada with her husband, and they had two sons. In 1998, she was named a goodwill ambassador by the United Nations organization UNESCO, also establishing a foundation for child war victims.

In all of Job's troubles, his greatest conflict arose when he questioned why, considering his misfortunes were the product of some cause. This is nowhere better expressed than by Jesus himself while hanging on the cross, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" The most profound words he ever spoke, they're actually a question that hangs in time and space before us:

My God, my God, WHY have you forsaken me?" (Mark 15:34).

If a synchronistic experience has led you to this site, please follow through to its conclusion. Your quest for enlightenment has begun!