Where is God? You hear stories about someone missing a flight, where the airplane crashes and everyone dies. They are often quoted “God was looking after me”. But what happened to the other 200 passengers that perished on that flight. Was not God looking after them? Maybe God has no control over what happens on a daily basis. Maybe the world is run on cruise control, like many of the natural cycles that are vital to life.

In the Heaven’s Truth Religion (Tenrikyo), it is the principle of Causality (karma, innen) that determines what happens every day. Good thoughts and actions bring forth joy, and evil (greed, arrogance, and self love) thoughts and behaviors brings upon suffering. This principle is Heaven’s truth. The effect of our actions and thoughts may not unfold until our next lives. This explains why some suffer even though they may live exemplary lives today. This is why evil appears to thrive, and the good sometimes perish. By some incomprehensible system to mankind, God has created a complex system where every soul becomes liable for his or her behavior or thought. The effect of each action manifolds itself at selected times, possible awaiting individuals of similar fate through many lifetimes. With seven billion people on earth, imagine the infinite combinations of occurrences that are possible over time and space brought forth by our thoughts and behaviors. Today we see suffering and joy; and we see evil and good. Yet, we do not understand.