Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?

When I walked into class on Thursday that question was on the board: Why do good things happen to good people? You'd better settle in because I have a lot of opinions about this. 

I really do not like this question. First of all, it sounds too restrictive. What constitutes a good person? I bet there are plenty of people out there who think things like stealing or incest are marvelous and contributing a ton to society. Aren't they good people if they believe they are good? Also, are we really qualified to say what's good and what's bad in a time when people can hardly talk about their opinions in a open, mature discussion without judging them or cutting ties with them because we so fervently believe our opinions and beliefs are good and theirs are bad? I know that might not exactly apply because in general most people have a universal understanding of good, but regardless I think my point still stands. 

Nonetheless, I mostly don't like it because sounds like "good" people will never suffer but that's completely untrue. No one, no matter how good or bad you are is that privileged and exempt from going through life without challenges. Of course, the extent of suffering varies from person to person quite a bit but it's inevitable. Even Jesus Christ, who is the good-est of us all suffered the most. Isn't that ironic?

What kind of life would you be living if everything was just dandy all the time? We'd never learn. It's like in the Pixar movie Inside Out (makes me cry every time) where the personification of Riley's emotion of joy, named Joy, was trying to prevent Riley, from feeling the other personified emotion of sadness, named Sadness. But in the end Joy realizes that sometimes it takes sadness to feel joy, and that's okay. I believe we learn the most from hardships. The more effort you put into getting through it the more wondrous your joy, relief, happiness, or what have you will feel. 

On the other hand, I can understand why people ask this question. There are some truly kind, terrific  people who suffer so much and it's just not fair that some people are allotted with worse situations than others. As a member of a church ward with people that I've known pretty much my whole life this was a question I heard a lot after my mom died. It's hard to figure out what to say to someone grieving so as one of those common phrases that people say and don't really think about but are well meaning, I understand why it was asked.

Back then and even now I try not to think about how unfair it is that she died, because gosh darn it to heck, it's unbelievably unfair. How does someone who had never ever smoked or drank get pancreatic cancer? She was contributing so much as a mother, an artist, a churchgoer and is missing out on so much of life by dying at 47. I kept telling myself that "it's God's plan" but honestly how comforting is that really? It's just not fair but it happened. The situation was out of my hands and all I can do now is  choose how to proceed. I choose not to ask that question because I think there are far more better questions we could be asking in it's place. I'm not sure what those questions are but I know that asking "why" doesn't usually get anyone anywhere, except maybe more upset.

So if you really need an answer, albeit a rather lame one, it's just life.