Predestination, Providence and Tolkein

On one hand, I am very religious, and always have been. But, as I listen to religious people of our time describe their outlook on life, their view of God and other people, I feel very distant from the normal Christian views of this society. I am talking about Christianity, because I don't hear enough about how other religions represent faith.

But, Christianity in the U.S. is something I was raised in and something I hear about all the time, whether I want to or not. And, the majority of what I hear is so foreign to what I experience and what I believe. And, the main thing I don't believe has to do with the common belief that God plans all things out ahead of time and that everything that happens is what God wills to happen, and that all things are part of a good plan that was worked out long, long ago.

I don't believe this and don't experience this in my faith. I believe in God who is in a real relationship, a living, dynamic relationship with this creation. I believe in God's complete goodness and how that is violated again and again in this world. And, yes, I believe that a lot of things happen that should never have happened, and can in no sense be called "part of God's good plan." And, I believe that God's goodness is the most powerful force in all the world and that this goodness will eventually overcome. But, God's goodness is hidden in the present time and God's power is hidden in the present.

My reality is a lot more like Tolkien's Middle Earth, than the reality envisioned by so many Christians. This thing we are going through on earth is a real struggle. God is the greatest character in this struggle, but the struggle is real. It is not as if you can step aside from life and say: "well, it doesn't really matter, because God's will will be done anyway." No, somehow God has allowed his will to get all mixed up with the screwed up human will on earth. And, somehow God means to work through this all so that human beings can learn to will the good, the good that God has always willed, but which has not always come to pass.