A Compassionate God?

The following is a correspondence with a reader who gave me permission to share this familiar question...

Amy – 
It seems impossible to believe in a compassionate God in the light of the holocaust. Free will doesn’t cut it if one believes in God’s compassion or Christ’s sacrifice. As a well-known rabbi said “ if God is God (compassionate) and he allowed the holocaust, then he is not good. If God is good, and couldn’t stop the holocaust, then he is not God ( all powerful.
I’ve asked  Jewish and Christian clergy how they can continue their beliefs and hopes with the apparent negligence or powerlessness of God, and all I get basically is shrugged shoulders, leaving secular humanism the only option. Any thoughts?

Dear Friend –
I apologize it has taken me so long to reply. I think I have procrastinated because I want to respond with “just the right answer.” Alas I can only share with you my perspective which will leave a lot undone. I will ask more questions than provide answers. Yet living into the questions is what leads me to my response.

At the time of creation God saw all that God created and it was very good and I believe all of creation is inherently good. If humanity is created in God’s image, then like God we have the capacity and freedom to choose our actions and what we dwell on in our thinking. The story of Adam and Eve depict that freedom… we are born innocent, we become aware of choices and are influenced by voices around us, and we choose – often what is not in our best interest. Would God have been more compassionate in limiting their (our) choice and being controlling? Or in allowing them/us to learn and find their way? I believe the myth of Adam and Eve is a story of the beginning for each one of us and it has helped me to understand God as a parent. 
Parenting has guided my relationship with God more than anything. I brought children into the world - they have my DNA and are “made in my image.”  I have done my best to guide and teach them but I do not control them. They’ve made some harmful choices and have suffered the consequences. And I am always here for them, to love and support them and empower them on their journey if they so choose. But they have to choose.

There is systemic and systematic evil in the world perpetuated by people who choose the path of evil and cause great suffering and harm. The really difficult question is, if they started out good but then eventually made choices that were not good, at what point would God start controlling them? Where would the control begin and end? Do I want God to control the people I see as evil but let me have the freedom to choose what I want, for better or worse? I’ve thought about this a lot. It leads me to questions like why can’t God control people’s choices for our elected officials; why can’t God control the votes to legislate gun safety in our country – why didn’t God control the notion of making a gun in the first place? There are a lot of ways to go with this and where does it end?  God gave us responsibility with minds to think and learn and grow and out of that has also come a lot of good … gym equipment (ha!), medicine, materials and ability to build our homes, communities, delicious food, cell phones, etc. So much that is nurturing or can be used for good. Yet even what we enjoy is not good for us when we over-indulge in it, i.e. social media, alcohol, desire for material things, power, etc. 
So, we are given something good and we abuse it. So again, where would the control begin and end? Apparently God was destroying wickedness with the flood in the story of Noah (Genesis 6:5-8)? Was that an abuse of power in an exercise of control? Was God’s regret and covenant (Genesis 8:21-22) an expression of compassion or abdication of power?  

 The Hebrew Bible is a testament to humanity’s development in understanding a relationship with the Holy. It gives witness to God’s faithfulness and availability to the people. And, it records the prophets repeatedly admonishing the people for their lack of faithfulness to God. 
The Second Testament bears the life witness of Jesus the Christ and is a continuation of the development of our understanding. This is where I discover God’s great compassion and grace. Compassion is defined as “great concern for the suffering and misfortune of others.” God created us good, commissioned us to be stewards of creation (meaning to take care of it), and gave us the freedom and responsibility to do so. And we have messed it up! With great compassion, I believe Jesus manifested in his life and witness the pure love of God. Jesus called out the broken systems of imperialism; of holding traditions more important than love of God, self and neighbor; and rather than exercising power to abolish the evil in the world at that time, he chose to demonstrate unconditional, non-violent love extended in grace. Is this a continuation of God’s promise to Noah? 
I do not ascribe to the Christian doctrine that “Jesus is the only way to God” (which is another discussion). I think this is a misreading of what Jesus was saying. Jesus never asked to be worshipped – rather he asked people to follow his way. And his way was one of choosing to limit his power by using his power to be present with us in our suffering and to lead us into a better way of living. The Latin origin of compassion is com(with) and passion(suffering). I believe this is the great power of God – to be with us in our suffering. Whether we are suffering by the choices of others or even suffering to make good choices ourselves. We all make poor choices and fortunately most of us are able to stop before it becomes the great harm which you question. Nonetheless, we are still complicit in systems that bring harm on people every day. What evil would God have to destroy in me? 

Psalm 37 reads how long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?... How long must I bear pain in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all day long? I wonder if God cries that out to us, waiting for us to turn and be repairers of the world created and entrusted to us? 

Friend, I do not pretend here to answer your question or change your mind about anything. And there is certainly a lot left undone. I only offer you my faithful response and hope you receive it as such. Have I in a round-about way explained secular humanism? I don’t know. I only know that I am my better self when I strive with God toward beloved community than when I strive without.

Faithfully yours, 
in this together… Amy