I was grew up as a strong Roman Catholic, but as a former Marine with combat service in Vietnam, 30 years as a street cop, and tours in Iraq and Afghanistan as an advisor - seeing mankind at his/her worst, I strongly doubt that there is a God. I know all the arguements, I've heard them all my life, and still lead what I consider to be a decent, caring, responsive life, but I'm not doing it for some "final reward." All I can say is, some loving god....
I can't imagine anything more painful for a person than the loss of one's child, and so I won't pretend that I can adequately express the horror of the savage murders at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.
When such tragedies occur, most of us engage in sober reflection about the preciousness of life and especially of our own loved ones. As much as we hurt for the families who lost children at the hands of this murderer, we thank God our children are safe.
But we know it can happen to any parent; these victims did absolutely nothing to provoke this...
That inhumanity is a reflection of mankind's fallen state, not God's of desire for each individual.
God's gift of free will is an inviolable determiner of God's role in each of our lives while on this earth.
His focus on our souls is also a constant reminder that our fallen world is not the end of all things.
Neither is our brief existence on this earth an accurate gauge of what eternity with Him will be like.