Why?
Why what? Why poverty? Why cruelty? Why pain (beyond necessary warning signals)? Why war? Why natural disasters with such swingeing consequences? Just - why evil?
As ever, there is a Greek word for this search for understanding - "Theodicy" (God's justification). But it isn't old - it was coined during the Age of Enlightenment (17th/18th centuries) by the German philosopher and mathematician Liebniz (1710).
Visualising evil as Satan personified, a gremlin with horns and tail, is just too simple isn't it? An avoidance of personal responsibility and reality? And yet these questions nag. This Lent may we pray that we can face truth - in life and in ourselves - honestly and realistically - for God's Truth HAS set us free!
Just a thought - evil is often a way of making us sit up and take notice. For God's sake, care! It's what our brains are for!