I was visiting Ireland with a couple of friends in 2002. It was a March Sunday, the week before St. Patrick�s Day, and the two Catholics among us were looking to go to Mass.

Seeing as we were in Dublin, we thought we�d go to St. Patrick�s Cathedral. Sounds perfect, right? Well, it was except for one thing: St. Patrick�s Cathedral is an Anglican Church.

Damn Cromwell.

Anywho, what were we going to do? Walk out in the middle of the service? Uh, unh. We stayed. (The Methodist in our midst swore she couldn�t tell the difference between the Anglican high Mass we attended that day and the Catholic Mass s she�d visited previously.) Trust me, there�s a big difference.

Despite the shock of it, I decided to learn from the experience. (Even if the guilt killed me.)

The Rector's sermon was about the Job Syndrome.

It comes back to me now, because I�m in the middle of a pity party. (I only invited myself.) People have died, people have moved away, I�m generally unhappy at work, I haven�t had a date in 2 years � now you see why I only invite myself to these things: �Whine, whine, whine�� Anywho, I�m feeling afflicted. I�m feeling Jobish. There�s a question buzzing in my brain that has a whiny voice. I�m ignoring it, because I think the whole �Why me?� vanity is silly. It reminds me of an Irish Anglican sermon I�ve been pondering for 2.5 years now�

Part of the Rector�s sermon was the usual we-shouldn�t-question-God�s-will stuff � which I don�t agree with. Look at Thomas; look at Abraham. And when was Jesus ever pissed about at explaining things to his flock?

But the other part � Why do bad things happen to good people? � was food for thought.

While he was going on and on about how questioning God�s will is a REALLY BAD THING, I thought about the question. I�m still thinking about the question.

Here�s what I�ve come up with so far: Bad things don�t happen to good people.

Bad things just happen.

Whether you�re a saint in the flesh or a sinner bound for hell is beside the point.

Don�t get me wrong. I don�t think that God is capricious or vengeful or random. I think he tailors human tribulations to each individual. (Depending on which way you think about it, that�s either comforting or even more depressing. I choose to take comfort in knowing that he�s only giving me trials he knows I can pass.)

So the way I think about it, everyday � whether you�re the homeless guy who wins the lottery; the concert violinist who loses a hand; or the Erasure-loving, faceless guy in the apartment mine � God offers infinite potential, infinite opportunity, infinite possibility.

How you react to whatever tragedy you�re facing at the moment is well and truly the only thing within your control. It�s the same with unimaginable good fortune.

Infinite potential. Infinite opportunity. Infinite possibility.

Saints will take some things badly. Sinners will shine at times.

Do bad things happen? Duh.

The question should be, What are you going to do about it?

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