I’ve been waiting for this reaction, and I feel like it’s come at the perfect time. I have a response to your concern (and this is my personal analysis so you are free to disagree). Here is the question/initial response Whit poses at the beginning after Olivia gives her question:
“Does God want to remove all pain from our lives?”
The key word in that question is “all”. You and Rayah discussed it in length, but in short, the purpose of suffering varies depending on the situation. While painful, suffering can/has played a purpose in people’s lives. And so I would say while God does want to remove pain and suffering, His greater desire is for us to to have a relationship with Him (accept Jesus and become followers etc). And if suffering can play a part in our spiritual journey , then I think His “want” for us is to draw near to Him, rather than remove the pain and be far from Him. That is what I got from Whit. I hope I’m making sense 😅
I think regardless of how he answered, the response wouldn’t be 100% satisfactory, because of the complex nature of the question. Whit even stated that there are several other reasons to why pain exists. I think he gave the best answer one could give. Also, I think he was trying to help broaden Olivia’s understanding of God. God’s reasoning for not always removing pain allows us to look deep into God’s character and considering the questions Olivia is tackling, knowing more about God can help to find answers.
I sympathize with your frustrations of Whit’s characterization as of recent. I too am not a fan of the Rydell saga and wish two characters would just vanish. But I wonder if your disappointment in that saga has clouded your judgment about everything Whit does or says. Just an observation I wanted to address.
Hey Andrea! This was spot-on, thanks for taking the time to write it and share your thoughts.
Just as a preview for next time, you’re absolutely right about my judgments of Whit as of late. We talked about that at the beginning of the Chapter V reaction… which should be releasing very soon. 😁
Edit: The more I think about it, this “Critical Rydell Theory” really has to stop. 🤣
I’ve been waiting for this reaction, and I feel like it’s come at the perfect time. I have a response to your concern (and this is my personal analysis so you are free to disagree). Here is the question/initial response Whit poses at the beginning after Olivia gives her question:
“Does God want to remove all pain from our lives?”
The key word in that question is “all”. You and Rayah discussed it in length, but in short, the purpose of suffering varies depending on the situation. While painful, suffering can/has played a purpose in people’s lives. And so I would say while God does want to remove pain and suffering, His greater desire is for us to to have a relationship with Him (accept Jesus and become followers etc). And if suffering can play a part in our spiritual journey , then I think His “want” for us is to draw near to Him, rather than remove the pain and be far from Him. That is what I got from Whit. I hope I’m making sense 😅
I think regardless of how he answered, the response wouldn’t be 100% satisfactory, because of the complex nature of the question. Whit even stated that there are several other reasons to why pain exists. I think he gave the best answer one could give. Also, I think he was trying to help broaden Olivia’s understanding of God. God’s reasoning for not always removing pain allows us to look deep into God’s character and considering the questions Olivia is tackling, knowing more about God can help to find answers.
I sympathize with your frustrations of Whit’s characterization as of recent. I too am not a fan of the Rydell saga and wish two characters would just vanish. But I wonder if your disappointment in that saga has clouded your judgment about everything Whit does or says. Just an observation I wanted to address.
Hey Andrea! This was spot-on, thanks for taking the time to write it and share your thoughts.
Just as a preview for next time, you’re absolutely right about my judgments of Whit as of late. We talked about that at the beginning of the Chapter V reaction… which should be releasing very soon. 😁
Edit: The more I think about it, this “Critical Rydell Theory” really has to stop. 🤣