I’m quite taken with the idea of James Alison, derived from Girard, that there are certain things that God has nothing to do with (to speak loosely). For instance, Jesus’ resurrection shows that God was not on the side of those who killed him or wanted him killed, and that God had nothing to do with that act of violence. On the contrary, God over turns that violence, and redeems it (this would have to be elaborated).
Then one could think about various sayings of the saints, or recently Simone Weil, who say, in effect, treat whatever happens to you as God’s will. So, for Jesus, he regards his death as God’s will, even though it is not God putting him to death, and God would have preferred it if Jesus’ executors had listened to him instead. Yet, in order to deal with what is happening to oneself, one should regard it as coming from God, seeking what is good in it, or what can be learned from it, or offering it back to God.
The question is, could one regard something as not God’s will (e.g. if you were being unjustly imprisoned) and yet treat it as coming from God? Is that double-think or is it seeking something of God in what seems God-forsaken?
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