Why?

At Auschwitz recently, many expected Pope Benedict was there to represent Germany, or perhaps the church - which itself failed in some ways some pretty important tests of the Second World War.

Instead he represented himself, asking a profoundly personal question we've all wondered at times.

"To speak in this place of horror, in this place where unprecedented mass crimes were committed against God and man, is almost impossible -- and it is particularly difficult and troubling for a Christian, for a Pope from Germany. In a place like this, words fail; in the end, there can only be a dread silence -- a silence which is itself a heartfelt cry to God: Why, Lord, did you remain silent? How could you tolerate all this?"

This is a question we all must ask. Nor will we get an easy answer. In the Bible's famous work on sorrow, the Book of Job, Job wondered why he suffered. His friends wondered whether Job's sins had caused it. But God rebuked these men. To Job, he refused to explain himself, telling him only, "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the Earth? Tell me if you have understanding!"

But still we must ask - to be human is to ask, and God likely would not have it any other way.

Someone wrote the following words and put them in this week's church bulletin. I don't know who wrote it, but this is how I see it, too.

"There will never come a day when a human can look on Auschwitz without asking 'Why?'
It may be that this question is what keeps us human. We ask why god would tolerate genocide, but we also ask why humanity tolerated it, and tolerates it still. If a day comes when millions die and no one asks why, there will be no need for religion or philosophy, because humanity will have lost is soul."