Someone recently asked me if I ever thought that saying “it's God's will” at a funeral was rude. It seemed rude to her, as though it's perfectly okay to assume that God wanted to kill off her father. She rejected this notion. I suggested to her that the phrase “it's God's will” might be best understood as “stuff happens which you cannot possibly have any control over.” Even if someone does not have faith in a grand plan, perhaps at least they can accept this, as in the Serenity Prayer:
What is “God's will”?
What is “God's will”?
What is “God's will”?
Someone recently asked me if I ever thought that saying “it's God's will” at a funeral was rude. It seemed rude to her, as though it's perfectly okay to assume that God wanted to kill off her father. She rejected this notion. I suggested to her that the phrase “it's God's will” might be best understood as “stuff happens which you cannot possibly have any control over.” Even if someone does not have faith in a grand plan, perhaps at least they can accept this, as in the Serenity Prayer: