Why do you think things like this happen? (LONG)

bushyhead · 08-04-2009, 03:54 PM

(WARNING: This thread contains a news story about a fatal car accident involving children.)

The death of my cat a few months ago has sent me on a spiritual journey of sorts in an attempt to wrap my head around what happened. Since I don’t follow a particular religion, I’ve been doing research on different theories about the purpose of life and what happens afterward.

The theory that makes the most sense to me at this point is that our souls exist before and after our life on Earth. There is a divine Creator (God), and together, we map out our lives, including the relationships we will have and the events that we will experience, before birth. The purpose of coming to Earth is so that our souls can learn and grow, and the more difficult our lives, the more growth we experience. We can have multiple lives here on Earth, but we are always with the same people (soul groups), but not necessarily in the same relationships (i.e., in one life, my father might be my father, but in another, he might be my brother).

So that is a concept I can grasp, but then I read about something like this:

GARDEN CITY, N.Y. (AP) - A Long Island mother was drunk and high on marijuana when she drove the wrong way for almost two miles on a highway before smashing head-on into an SUV, killing herself and seven others, a prosecutor said Tuesday.

The fiery July 26 crash on the Taconic Parkway killed the woman, her 2-year-old daughter, three young nieces and three men in the SUV. The woman's 5-year-old son survived. The occupants of a third vehicle sustained minor injuries.

A medical examiner found Diane Schuler's blood-alcohol level was 0.19, more than twice the state's legal limit of 0.08, Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore said in a statement Tuesday. The autopsy also revealed that Schuler was impaired by marijuana, DiFiore said.

State police have been investigating why the businesswoman, who was a regular visitor to an upstate New York campground, would have been driving toward her Long Island home the wrong way on a highway she reportedly had driven many times.

Investigators did not immediately comment on the prosecutor's report.

Schuler's husband, Daniel Schuler, told investigators that everything seemed fine when he and his wife left a Sullivan County campground at about 9:30 a.m. He went on a fishing trip while his wife headed home with the children.

Diane Schuler, 36, wound up going south in the northbound lanes as motorists sought in vain to get her attention. Six drivers called 911 before the collision, which happened about 35 miles northwest of New York City.

Witnesses reported seeing Schuler's red Ford minivan driving erratically, state police said Monday. They said the van was straddling two lanes, tailgating, flashing its headlights and beeping the horn.

Others saw the vehicle veering from one lane to another and one witness said it appeared as if she was attempting to pass him on the shoulder of the highway. Another witness said the van drove across a grass divider at a service area.

Schuler called her brother - the father of the three nieces who died - just after 1 p.m., saying she was feeling ill and may have been disoriented. The brother, Warren Hance, told her to stay put and he would come to meet her, but she apparently disregarded those instructions.

An attorney who served as a family spokesman at funerals last week did not immediately return a telephone message left by The Associated Press on Tuesday.

Floral Park village police blocked access to the Hance home and said no one was there to comment. There was no answer when a reporter knocked on the door of the Schuler family home in West Babylon.

Now, if the theory I described earlier is true, I cannot fathom why anyone (such as the parents of the three nieces) would possibly choose to experience those events for themselves. I cannot understand why such terrible tragedies occur, and what their purpose is. So I am interested to hear from others who have various beliefs about why you think such things occur in life.

Do you think it’s simply a matter of bad luck? Do you think it was all planned out in advance? This thread is not meant to become a comparison of different religions and I hope it doesn’t turn into that. I just want to hear others’ theories.

curlyjenn10 · 08-04-2009, 04:09 PM

I've read a few books by Concetta Bertoldi, a medium who presents this same theory. Her books are in a question and answer format, and this was one of the questions someone had asked her. I can't remember the exact answer, but it is all planned out in advance. When someone dies, they (should) have completed their growth in this particular lifetime.

This could be a number things; and either for themselves (like overcoming something) or perhaps others were supposed to learn something from their death. Tragedies like these do promote knowledge about things (like when Natasha Richardson passed away - we all were reminded about being safe and why we should go to a hospital if someone has a head injury), and there are many challenges that family members go through after a loved one has passed away. I can't say for certain that is the case, as the reason for things like this occurring is between the person involved and God.

And someone who doesn't achieve that growth gets another chance the next time - we do have free will after all.

I like Concetta's books (they're pretty amusing and make a lot of sense to me because I've had some paranormal experiences), but I'm undecided on whether I truly believe this or not. It does make sense though. And for the record, I'm Catholic.

gekko422 · 08-04-2009, 04:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bushyhead

There is a divine Creator (God), and together, we map out our lives, including the relationships we will have and the events that we will experience, before birth.

Now, if the theory I described earlier is true, I cannot fathom why anyone (such as the parents of the three nieces) would possibly choose to experience those events for themselves. I cannot understand why such terrible tragedies occur, and what their purpose is. So I am interested to hear from others who have various beliefs about why you think such things occur in life.

Do you think it’s simply a matter of bad luck? Do you think it was all planned out in advance? This thread is not meant to become a comparison of different religions and I hope it doesn’t turn into that. I just want to hear others’ theories.

I think you can choose to plan your life in that you make decisions and choices that alter outcomes. In this case, the family of the three children could have said, you know what, never mind, we will take them back ourselves. That desicion would have significantly effected the outcome of this story. I don't believe anyone would choose to suffer a horrific loss such as this one, so in the sense of planning, I don't think this was ever planned. (nor am I saying in any way, shape, or form that the parents are in ANY way responsible for what happened here)

I do think sometimes **** just happens. Sometimes it's minor and sometimes, like in this case, it's so mindblowingly awful that it is impossible to make it make sense.

wavycurly40+ · 08-04-2009, 10:56 PM

I believe that horrible things happen by random chance, and the universe is indifferent to them. I believe the only comfort that exists is what we create -- loving and caring for each other, trying to do no harm, trying (if possible) to turn pain and tragedy into goodness by developing compassion for others and helping to ease their pain. That's it, for me. I recognize that I'm in the minority, and I respect those who disagree.

wild~hair · 08-04-2009, 11:43 PM

If someone goes through a loss like that, and then manages to find some peace in the aftermath, there isn't anything they cannot do. In the process, they become incredibly close to god/spirit/divine energy [which is to say, all energy].

The point of life, in my understanding of it, is to become as much as possible like god/spirit/etc. Every atom of the universe is manifesting itself in order to get closer to that end.

Quote:

“Our duty, as men and women, is to proceed as if limits to our ability did not exist. We are collaborators in creation.” ~ Teilhard de Chardin

Life is just spirit at play, playing with form. I know it may seem odd to use the word "play" that in this context, but form gets created, form gets destroyed. That's just how it is.

I don't pretend that if something like this happened to me I wouldn't be devastated. Of course I would. But whenever I see tragedy, I think about how it is part of how life unfolds, there will always be light and shadow in the physical world. I would hope for myself at some point I would be able to bring it back to that, and see the role the tragedy had in bringing me closer to spirit.

All life ever does is present us with opportunities to gain further understanding, further meaning, become closer to the source of everything. We can choose to undertake this challenge, or not. It's our call.

Gemini13 · 08-05-2009, 08:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wavycurly40+

I believe that horrible things happen by random chance, and the universe is indifferent to them. I believe the only comfort that exists is what we create -- loving and caring for each other, trying to do no harm, trying (if possible) to turn pain and tragedy into goodness by developing compassion for others and helping to ease their pain. That's it, for me. I recognize that I'm in the minority, and I respect those who disagree.

ITA with all of this.

LikeAustralia · 08-05-2009, 08:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gemini13

Quote:

Originally Posted by wavycurly40+

I believe that horrible things happen by random chance, and the universe is indifferent to them. I believe the only comfort that exists is what we create -- loving and caring for each other, trying to do no harm, trying (if possible) to turn pain and tragedy into goodness by developing compassion for others and helping to ease their pain. That's it, for me. I recognize that I'm in the minority, and I respect those who disagree.

ITA with all of this.

Me too. I don't think you're as much in the minority as you think, wavycurly. Most people just don't say it for fear of backlash.

Scarlet · 08-05-2009, 09:03 AM

I think most of life's events are random, particularly in cases like this. I think we're given free will, and we decide the road our life is going to take. In this case, this woman made stupid and deadly choices and unfortunately, a lot of innocents paid the price. Although I do consider myself a Christian, I don't believe it's in "God's plan" for tragedies like this to occur.