JAMES ALAN BUSH

April 11, 2016

Jose Andrade #AB9054
Pelican Bay State Prison
P.O. Box 7500 B6-120
Crescent City, CA 95532

Dear Brother Andrade,

You asked, Why do bad things happen to good people?
God grants in life to everyone these two things: free will, and knowledge of good and evil;
and, while He may intervene from time-to-time in the choices people make for themselves
(and others) between the twowhich is always in and of itself the exercise of His own free
willHe never takes that choice away, the consequences notwithstanding. Obviously, in
giving us those things, He hopes that we will freely choose to be good people that also
choose to love Him and other good people; he wants people to have the best kind of love
there is for themselves, each other, and for Him, the kind that is not attainable by coercion
or force, or given out of necessity or by requirement.
Of course, there are people who routinely choose evil, and such choices invariably impact
those who habitually choose good, sometimes much to their detriment. God, knowing the
risk to people who would otherwise abstain from evil caused by those who would weary
themselves with it, promised long ago to bring balance to this seemingly unfair situation
accordingly:
The LORD gives righteousness and justice to all who are treated unfairly. [Psalms 103:6]
Does God twist justice? Does the Almighty twist what is right? [Job 8:3]
Truly, God will not do wrong. The Almighty will not twist justice. [Job 34:12]
Clearly, your question was at the forefront of Gods mind when He granted everybody,
even those who are evil, a fair chance to attain to the love that He seeks for Himself and for
everyone He created, having not only promised justice to all who suffer injustice, but also
by having given us His Son, Jesus Christ, who promised a solid understanding of the
reason why bad things happen to good people, and who promised the ability to cope and
forgive under such circumstances.

1211 East Santa Clara Street #4 San Jose, California 95116 (408) 685-4049

Christ knew that the only significant roadblock along the Way to giving and receiving the
kind of love needed to sustain us throughout all eternity is the inability to forgive.
Consequently, He devoted His entire life to helping us overcome the tendency to not only
hold grudges, but to justify holding them indeterminately, by giving His life to obtain
forgiveness for all willing to receive it, as undue it was to us, even having said with His very
last breath:
Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. [Luke 23:34]
He knew how truly hard it would be for those of us at the beginning of that journey to
comprehend why things disagreeable, things inexorable, are allowed to happen; it can
bitter a man to see injustice, let alone experience it, whether having it committed against
him or by him. To succeed at reaching our intended destination, Christ placed sole
emphasis on ones willingness to forgive and be forgiven, and so must we.
Bear in mind that, even once you reach that level of comprehension of the love it takes to
love like (and to be loved by) God, you will be no less averse to bad things happening to
good people. A promise of subsequent justice for the wrongdoing of others will not
always feel like enough; and, that is where, for the time being, God expects you to set your
expectations correctly and realistically with respect to the prospect of suffering while
standing in righteousness.
Most people's primary reason for keeping their hands clean (abstaining from sin)and,
therefore, possessing a clear conscience before Godis to preserve their own lives, and to
lead good ones, at that; but, that's not the right motive, even if it is the right means.
Seeking life through righteousness is for the explicit and sole purpose to serve the lives of
other saints [see Romans 15:1-13], who are an early dispensation of your eternal reward:
that is, an intimate and eternal friendship with like-minded, loving, faithful and true
brothers and sisters molded in Christ. Jesus even said:
For whoever is bent on saving his [temporal] life [his comfort and security here] shall
lose it [eternal life]; and whoever loses his life [his comfort and security here] for My
sake shall find it [life everlasting]. [Matthew 16:25]
Seeking life, then, by righteous conduct may obtain it, but using it for the benefit of fellow
saints is essential to keeping it; otherwise, you may die, leaving behind any number of
confused people asking, "Why do bad things happen to good people?" The answer being,
of course, that you weren't making good with your good."

The verses prior notwithstanding, the question of why good people die was also answered
accordingly in this one:
The righteous [may] perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are
[sometimes] taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the
evil to come. He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking
in his uprightness. [Isaiah 57:1-2]
I will write again with an answer to your second question, the one regarding my sins; but,
until then, please write me again, which is a vital part of your continuing effort to
strengthen your faith, keeping in mind at all times that faith is demonstrated as a persistent
confidence in Christ's love, in spite of any barriers standing between you and Him. Truly
knowing Him is an unyielding assurance of His deliverance. Therefore, be always eager to
know [hear and see] more of the wisdom of God as it applies to His power in this world
made accessible to man in any place, at any time; it's the difference between being alive
and being dead, and the difference between creating worthwhile, everlasting lives and
being destroyed or consumed. After all:
For everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord [invoking Him as Lord] will be
saved. [Joel 2:32]
But how are people to call upon Him Whom they have not believed [in Whom they
have no faith, on Whom they have no reliance]? And how are they to believe in Him
[adhere to, trust in, and rely upon Him] of Whom they have never heard? And how
are they to hear without a preacher? [Romans 10:13-14]
Brother Andrade, know that my heart is with you daily as you are tested in the furnace of
affliction [Isaiah 48:8-11]; not a day passes that I do not contemplate the best answers to
your questions. Life is hard where I am, yet God will not yield His glory to another; pray,
therefore, in complete confidence that I can continue along your journey to Him, if it be
your desire that I do.
Yours in Christ,

James Alan Bush