Is it bad?

From the point of the Shinto (a set of beliefs of a people who admired Nature in Japan) the simple answer to this question is that there is no good or bad. And, in a sense, they are right.

Now, let me clarify something here. I believe in evil. I believe in Good. But I am also beginning to believe, after meditating on the Shinto, that although these truths may exist, what we CONSIDER bad or good may not be either. It may simply be the natural course of life...let me explain.

Kristen told this story of how she came home to feed her cats and then as she was leaving to come back to the college for a 6 o'clock class that takes place only once a week, her car got caught in the driveway and would not get out. She threw a fit because all her plans, all the things she had prepared for, went down the drain. Now, what is the evil in that situation? The Shinto answer is that there is none. These things happen, and the only thing you can do is purify yourself and move on, accept things and continue the path. The Shinto are very big into purification, not to get rid of "evil" or "good" becuse they don't believe in either of those, but to get the soul out, to cope.

Coping is always an issue. This hit home because I thought, or have been thinking, wow it's unfair what's happened to Ian its so evil, this is bad...but the truth is...this happens. No matter what we do, no matter how advanced our civilization gets, these things happen. And rather than get hung up on them, rather than calling them evil, we need to take a deep breath, step back, and just move on.