Employees Don't Quit Their Job; They Quit Their Boss!

by Brigette Hyacinth 

• Published on April 16, 2018 LinkedIn

Employees might join companies, but they leave managers. Too many managers view their position as one of entitlement rather than one of responsibility. In days past, managers would focus on developing their employees. Today they are more focused on self-promotion and securing their position. A managers' job is to facilitate a good working environment for his/her employees. The focus should be to help everyone around you succeed. Managers define culture, and culture under-girds the lasting health, success, and sustainability of an organization.

The biggest danger of leadership: Arrogance

According to research from the University of Washington Foster School of Business, humble people are more likely to be make the most effective leaders. It turns out, humility offers a competitive advantage.

So why has arrogant or narcissistic leaders become the norm:

It has been historically perceived that humility is a sign of weakness and an antithesis to leadership. There is still an expectation that successful leaders are more arrogant than humble. Narcissism is mistaken for self-confidence and toxic leaders seem to be in control of everything. They are able to provide short-term results but the truth is they leave a trail of destruction in their path. Organizations pay heavily for such managers with low engagement, high turnover and reduced productivity. Arrogant leaders have a shelf-life within their organizations. They may “rule the day” but eventually people tire of them and their tactics, which lessens overall commitment from the team. Intimidation and threats of punishment can only work for so long.

The x- factor of great leadership is not personality, it's humility. - Jim Collins

The Power of Humility in the Workplace

Leading with humility means focusing on others and practicing servant leadership. Humble leaders:

1.They put people first. There focus is on serving others. They do not get consumed by seeking out more power. Instead, they seek more ways to help others.

2. They admit their mistakes. All leaders make mistakes. Humble leaders own up to them. They don't play the blame game when things go wrong. Instead they hold themselves accountable. Vulnerability builds trust.

3. They share information and delegate. Humble leaders are aware of their strengths and weaknesses. They realize that they cannot do everything. They delegate because the work is more important than their ego.

4. They listen - They are approachable to employees and this allows them to create an environment of open communication and effective feedback.

5. They do not hesitate to give credit where credit is due. They appreciate the contributions of others. They are quick to recognize and reward the efforts of team members.

6. They are empathetic to those in their charge. They genuinely care about employees and employees can feel this sincerity. Empathy allows them to build healthy relationships and bond with team members.

7. They are authentic. They are the same person in every situation. This makes them trustworthy. Authenticity goes hand in hand with integrity. They are individuals of integrity.

No matter how educated, talented, rich or cool you believe you are, how you treat people tells all. Integrity is everything.

Humility doesn't mean that leaders can't make tough decisions. A humble leader should not be mistaken for a weak one. It takes strength, courage, and wisdom to practice humility. I have learned that the best leaders are selfless and more concerned with the well-being of their team than with personal titles or status symbols. Easily offended leaders with inflated egos don't build strong teams. You cannot be an effective leader if you feel that you are better than your subordinates. No one likes dealing with egomaniacs. Arrogance is a deterrent, it destroys relationships and lowers employee morale whereas genuine humility has a way of winning others over.

Good leaders empower. Bad ones micromanage. It is dreadful to work under a manager who is more worried about pushing their weight around than building relationships. The role of any leader within a corporate framework is to build up the team and to encourage growth. If we want employees to feel a commitment to the organization; we need to show we respect and value them. This takes humility. For loyalty, there has to be a relationship that develops between employee and employer and this develops over time through trust that gets built and sustained. Once people trust you, they will follow your lead. You won't need to flaunt your title to get them to do the best possible job.

People might tolerate a boring job or long commute, but they are more prone to leave if their boss treats them poorly. Humble leaders get the best from people. They have more influence, they retain top talent, and they earn more respect and loyalty than those who rely upon ego and power. Want to be a good boss? Start by taking a slice or two of humble pie!

If Only We'd Done Things Differently!

If Only We'd Done Things Differently!
by Bryan J. Neva, Sr.

How many of us have said, "If only I'd done things differently."?  Regrets are a normal part of the human experience as we all make poor choices in our lives.  Some of the choices we're faced with are clearly wrong and avoidable, but most of our choices are murky and grey when we're faced with equally bad or good options. Do we buy the Ford or the Chevy? Should I go to this college or that one? Should I major in this subject or that one? Do I join the Army, Air Force, Navy or Marine Corps? Should I move to this city or that one? Should I take this job or that one? Should I quit my job? Should I marry this guy/girl? Should we have children? Should we get a divorce?

When faced with important decisions, most of us discuss it with our confidants to get their advice.  Even the President of the United States has trusted advisors to help him make wise decisions.  Our hope is to achieve the best possible outcome by the choices we make. But how many of us confide in God to help us make those tough choices?

God knows what the future holds; He knows every possible alternate reality, but He still gives each of us the freedom to make our own choices. God's ways are not easily understood, but they'll always result in the best possible outcome for us.

But He knows the weakness of our human nature and tries to lovingly lead and guide us on the best path for us to follow. Some choose to listen and follow Him wherever he leads them; unfortunately, most of us do not. We just do what seems right to us at the time and we end up making poor choices and eventually wishing we'd done things differently.

But if we strive to make our hearts humble, pure, loving, trustful, and sincere towards God, He'll show us the best possible way through life. Prayer is an act of love towards God. You don't have to formulaically recite prayers. Pray to God from the depths of your heart while doing the normal chores of life such as cooking dinner, cleaning the house, doing yard work, driving to work, or working at your job. Prayer doesn't even have to be words; it can be just concentrating on God with an attitude of gratefulness for all His blessings.

Don't tell God what He needs to do for you. He knows what you need before you even ask Him. Just ask that His will be done and not yours. Don't be afraid! God sees, understands, listens, and grants. How many graces are granted for one single, true and perfect act of love towards God? How much wealth is granted for an intimate sacrifice made out of love.

Ask and it will be given to you. Look and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened for you. Because whoever asks, will receive, whoever looks, will find, and whoever knocks it will be opened to. God, who is our Father, will give us the good and necessary things for our welfare. So don't be afraid to ask, and don't be afraid to receive.

So we ask, we look, and we knock but our prayers go unanswered. Why? Because what seems right to us today may not be right for us tomorrow. We do not know that because we only know the present, and that, in fact, is a grace from God too. Because God knows the future, He is trying to save us a greater pain tomorrow, so He does not answer our prayers today. So don't be discouraged or angry with God. He has our best interests at heart. Just rest in the fact that God is with us and He's leading and guiding us. Just thank God for his protective care for us and that His will and not our will would be done. A day will come when you'll say, "Thank You, my God, for not answering my prayers! Your Will for my life was so much better!"

7 Mistakes Managers Make That Cause Good Employees To Quit by Brigette Hyacinth

7 Mistakes Managers Make That Cause Good Employees To Quit

by Brigette Hyacinth  Published on March 28, 2018 LinkedIn

"You can't be a good leader unless you generally like people."

- Sir Richard Branson

Many managers lack fundamental training in leading people. They also lack the empathy and awareness needed to effectively interact with employees. This has dire consequences. When employees quit, the top reason for their resignation is their relationship with their manager. People don't leave companies. They leave their bosses.

7 Mistakes Managers Make That Cause Good Employees To Quit:

1. They are inflexible and make things difficult. They make mountains out of molehills for simple things as an employee needing time off or wanting to take their lunch earlier. Employees should feel comfortable to approach you at all times, but when you are inflexible, it creates a wall between you and your team. I am not saying being unethical or breaking procedure, but putting your team first and using your judgment in certain situations, will make people more inclined to trust you. If an employee gives their all to an employer and they respond with inflexibility during their time of need, at that exact moment the relationship is lost.


2. Showing favoritism. We know too well about office politics and favoritism. It’s really sad when employees can tell who will be getting the next promotion because of their close relationship with the manager. Always favoring certain employees for promotions and assignments is a sure way to damage team morale. Employees who are not in your inner circle will always believe that you favor the employees who are—whether you do or not. This perception destroys team spirit and undermines engagement.


3. They are quick to blame or punish employees. A bad boss assumes the worst. Throwing employees under the bus rather than standing up for your team in distressing moments is a sure way to lose points. Everyone is looking to you in moments like these. As the leader, why not act with dignity and advocate for your employees? If you want to build loyalty, you must demonstrate loyalty. When you blame employees, it destroys your credibility and leads to a culture of distrust. Good bosses don’t dwell on mistakes made by others, hold grudges or point fingers. They take responsibility and focus on solving problems.


4. They don’t show they care. A bad boss treats workers like they’re interchangeable. Employees want to work for someone who treats them like a person. They have emotions and personal lives. If you care about employees, you will not continuously push them to work long hours or contact them after hours. Taking a healthy interest in your employees' lives is the first step in relationship building. It starts with supporting work/life balance. Show that you sincerely care about their well being. I can’t emphasize this point enough. If a staff member is dealing with personal issues as illness or bereavement show empathy instead of solely focusing on when they will be back out to work.

“Having a personality of caring about people is important. You can't be a good leader unless you generally like people. That is how you bring out the best in them.” -Richard Branson

5. They don't recognize accomplishments. No one likes to feel ignored or like their efforts are taken for granted. As Dale Carnegie stated, "People work for money but go the extra mile for recognition, praise and rewards." Appreciate employees, show them how much you value their efforts. It does not have to be always about monetary rewards. But simple things as "Thank You" and "Well done" goes a long way. Bad bosses make work drudgery and it's always onward to the next task. Employees spend over half of their lives at work. Create a fun atmosphere where you celebrate successes and bring people together.


6. Micromanaging employees. Your job as a manager is to provide the tools and support an employee needs to effectively perform. Micromanagement sucks the life out of employees. If you hired someone for a job then trust them to get it done. Constantly monitoring an employees every movement can be disheartening. Sometimes knowing when to step back and let your employees do their work is what they need. Ask for input. Encourage your team to come up with ideas. People like to feel like they have some say in what happens to them. However, worse than not asking, is asking but never doing anything with the input.


7. They have no interest in employees' development. One of the top reasons employees leave a company is the lack of development opportunities. Employees can interpret an employer’s unwillingness to invest in training as a disregard for their professional development. Acknowledge and encourage strengths, recognize the different skills employees possess and recommend them for opportunities. Subsequently, if a team member has informed you they want to move to another department support their wishes, don’t be an obstacle to them.

It's not rocket science. You can have all the perks and benefits but if you treat employees poorly, they will still leave. If a manager has a foundation of truly caring for their people, it becomes easier to lead and retain good employees. Your staff can tell if you are authentic and want the best for them. When employees have a boss who truly cares, they are willing to go the extra mile to ensure successful outcomes.

I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth by Lou Holtz

The Rules of My Universe

The Rules of My Universe

by Kristin Neva

In maintaining the rules of the world I’ve created with strokes of a pen, I have a better appreciation for why God doesn’t always intervene in our lives.

Different genres of literature are set in various times and places, and it’s important for authors to maintain the rules of their particular universes. In Historic novels, they can’t utilize technology that hadn’t yet been invented. Authors of Fantasy and Science Fiction must describe the limitations of their universes and stick with them, otherwise, they won’t be able to effectively create tension or the readers won’t be able to suspend their disbelief.

I write contemporary fiction because I love the real world—but I also hate it. When I drive my kids to school, I glory in the beauty of the sunrise over the Portage Canal, but I despise ALS and the toll it takes on caregivers and people with the disease who don’t have basic needs met.

We’re in a better situation than many, and I appreciate the support from family and friends, but life is still hard as a full-time caregiver for my darling husband, who is now paralyzed. Meanwhile, I battle my own chronic health issues, and I cry out to heaven, “Jesus, won’t you please come back? God, this is too hard. Why won’t you heal Todd? At least heal me so I can better care for him and our kids. Help!”

I pray for a cure for ALS, some medicine that would at least stop the progression. Better yet, I’d love to see divine intervention. A miracle. Poof, ALS is gone, and my best friend can walk. We’d go on vacation and build sandcastles on a beach in Florida with the kids.

Alas, those are not the rules of the universe we live in, nor of the universe, I’ve created on Copper Island. My characters experience the pain of life, and they’re frustrated when there are no easy answers.

One of the hardest parts of writing is to resolve tension and conflict organically, to let it play out. As I write, I get to know my characters, and they become friends. I want good for them—after all, there’s a lot of me and others I love in them. But inevitably, because of the world in which they live, my characters get in situations where they feel like there’s no hope, and as the author, the god of my fictional universe, I don’t even know how they’ll find a resolution.

With the stroke of a pen, I could employ deus ex machina, or god from the machine, a literary device used in Greek tragedies. At the dark moment, when all hope is lost, a crane would lower onto the stage an actor playing a god, who would resolve the conflict and conclude the drama. But if I tried this, it wouldn’t feel authentic.

Instead, my characters must grow through whatever tragedy they face. And growth is hard. Just as there are no easy transformations in our real lives, change doesn’t come easily in my fictional world. I write my characters into a corner, and they need to work through the messiness of life.

In my novel Copper Country, I would’ve liked for Aimee to have the kind of relationship she wanted with her dad, but there’s no easy cure for narcissism in real life. I would’ve liked for Russ’s parents to embrace Aimee, but the Saarinens held firmly to the sectarianism of their church. Anything else wouldn’t have felt true to character, true to the universe I created. So instead of these situations getting better, Aimee gets better and perseveres.

When my daughter was eight, I was reading her a story from a Children’s Bible in which Adam and Eve disobeyed God, ate the apple, and sin entered the world.

“It’s all their fault,” she bemoaned, absorbed in the story. And then she remarked, “On the bright side, there wouldn’t be mysteries or exciting movies if they hadn’t sinned.”

There is no story without conflict.

In our story, God subjected all of creation to futility. There’s a cosmic battle between good and evil, and an internal battle within our hearts and minds. We face loss. Tragedy. Broken relationships. Health issues. Internal angst. We struggle with faith in a God who can seem distant and absent. How can a loving, all-powerful God allow his children to suffer?

I can’t answer that question, but when I press hard, it gives way to a different question as I consider my creative pursuit of writing. Could have God created a different world in which we didn’t suffer?

Perhaps God could have written our story in a different genre, with different rules for our universe, but in doing so the world as we know it would cease to exist. We would cease to exist as we are.

My life story takes place in a messy, broken, sorrowful world, but it also contains beauty, joy, glory, and love. But when this story ends and the book is closed, I’ll enter a new world where the rules of the universe contain no evil or suffering. Only love.

The Truth About Happiness

The Truth About Happiness
by Bryan J. Neva, Sr.

We are happiest when we give to others, when we care, share and have compassion. When we live our life for a greater purpose, and when care for others is balanced with care for self. 

- Emma Seppälä, Ph.D
Co-Director, Well-Being, Yale University Center for Emotional Intelligence | Faculty Director, Women’s Leadership Program, Yale School of Management | Science Director, Stanford University Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education | Author: The Happiness Track | www.emmaseppala.com | TEDx on Breathing Happiness

$10 Billion a year! That's how big the self-improvement industry is, and it's projected to grow by nearly 6% annually. So there are ten billion reasons why that industry doesn't want you to know the truth about happiness.

If you were to ask others what would make them happy, they'd typically answer with such things as, winning the lottery, buying a car or home, or going on an exotic vacation. These material externalities are fleeting and temporal. Others look for happiness within themselves, going so far as a Tibetan monastery high atop a Himalayan mountain to find it. However, lowering your expectations or denying the reality of life only numbs the pain.

The word itself, Happiness, implies circumstantial conditions, like happenstance, or luck. However, Joy is so much more important than happiness. And joy is much closer than you might think.

Joy can be found in your heart, words, and actions. A heart for God seeks to obey his commandments for life, the greatest of which are to love God and your neighbor. Put God first, others second, and yourself third.

My younger brother Todd is one of the happiest people I know, and he’s a complete quadriplegic with ALS. He’s mostly confined to his home, but he lives his life in service to others. He helps his wife, Kristen, with her fiction writing and her YouTube channel The ALS411. He volunteers with his church as a webmaster and graphic artist. He speaks and maintains a blog, nevastory.com, on topics of grief and suffering.

I've asked him several times how he remains so happy, and he can't give me an answer. But if you look at his life, he puts God first, others second, and himself third. He strives to live a godly life by obeying his commandments, and he seems to have joy in spite of his circumstances.

Suffering in life is a given. We all must suffer in some way, physically or mentally, at some point in our lives. If we love others, we’ll suffer all the more through our compassion, but we can still have joy. Rather than running away from our problems, embrace them and run toward the problems of others by helping them carry their burdens in some way.

This is not to diminish the need for medical help when needed. If you're sick, go to a doctor and take your medicine. If you're depressed or anxious talk with a confidant, a clergyman, or mental health provider and take their advice. Depression and anxiety can be due to chemical imbalances in the brain, and thankfully medicines today can relieve some of the symptoms. If you’re struggling with addiction, find a twelve-step program. Don’t suffer in silence. Give others the opportunity to live outside themselves and come alongside you and help you carry your cross.

Suffering, sadness, and happiness are all parts of the human condition. Find joy in all those situations through your heart, words, and actions. We all must suffer. So embrace your sufferings but do your best to overcome it. You'll never appreciate the mountains until you've traveled through the valleys.

Accepting our sufferings gives us hope and meaning in our lives and ultimately leads to joy and happiness.

The Church in Laodicea

The Church in Laodicea
by Bryan J. Neva, Sr.

I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth. For you say, "I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing;" not knowing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. Therefore, I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, that you may be rich, and white garments to clothe you and to keep the shame of your nakedness from being seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see. I correct and discipline those whom I love. Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me. 

- Jesus' message to the Church in Laodicea, circa 95 AD (Revelation 3:15-20)

Laodicea was an ancient Roman free city in Asia Minor; the ruins of which today are located near the modern city of Denizli, in Southwestern Turkey. It was one of the Seven Churches of Asia mentioned in the New Testament Book of Revelation. Many of Laodicea's inhabitants were Jewish and in the first century were Christianized by disciples of St. Paul (possibly by St. Epaphras who was mentioned in his letters to the Colossians and Philemon).

Laodicea was a very prosperous city which benefited from its location at the crossroads of economic trade routes and had large financial, black wool, and agricultural industries. It was a cosmopolitan city with a taste for the arts and literature. It also had a great medical school which specialized in diseases of the eye (ophthalmology). In addition, it had an impressive aqueduct system which carried hot mineral water from several miles away into the city; but by the time it got to the city though, it was tepid or lukewarm.

When Jesus talks about them being neither cold nor hot, he was probably making an analogy to the tepid, lukewarm water Laodicea was known for. As a character trait, being tepid is synonymous with being apathetic, unenthusiastic, indifferent, or uninterested. When we drink water or soda we want it to be cold, and when we drink coffee or tea we want it to be hot. Room temperature beverages just don't taste good; in fact, they can be quite unpalatable. What do we do when we've discovered our coffee has cooled to room temperature? We spit it out. "Cold and hot" are desirable compared to being lukewarm.

Holocost survivor Elie Wiesel once said, "The opposite of love is not hate...it's indifference." And indifference is treating others as if they didn't matter. All around us are people that society treats as inconsequential, having no value or importance, such as the homeless, the poor, the illegal immigrant, the handicapped, the old, the unborn, and many others. But more importantly, we become indifferent or apathetic towards God. We say we believe in God or we have faith, but our actions don't match up with our beliefs. We may go to Church on Sunday, but we don't live our faith during the week. If we're like this, then our faith and works are lukewarm and unpalatable to God.

When Jesus talks about the Laodicean's poverty, blindness, and nakedness, he was probably making an analogy to the city's wealth, medical science, and their black wool. Materially the city was wealthy, but spiritually they were poor; their medical school specialized in ophthalmology, yet they were spiritually blind; they made black wool, yet they were spiritually naked. And why were they spiritually poor, blind, and naked? It was because of their pursuit of material wealth that they didn't see the poverty all around them. The purpose of wealth is not to raise one's standard of living but to help improve society as a whole. By sharing our wealth with others we help cure society's ills and make life better for everyone.

The developed world today has become just like The Church in Laodicea. We're wealthy beyond our wildest dreams; we have some of the longest life-spans due to our medical science, and our closets are overflowing with clothing. Yet we're spiritually poor, blind, and naked just like the Laodiceans because we've become apathetic towards God and our neighbor and we've forgotten about the welfare of those less fortunate.

Companies drive themselves into spiritual bankruptcy when they pursue profits at any price forgetting about the people who helped make those profits. Our lifespans are getting shorter because we're working ourselves to death in pursuit of material wealth. We've become spiritually blind to the sufferings of the world by looking the other way when we see poverty, homelessness, chronic unemployment/under-employment,  corporate greed/dishonesty, and government inaction.

The solution to our society's spiritual poverty, blindness, and nakedness is to change our paradigms. Companies must stop maximizing "shareholder" value and instead maximize "stakeholder" value by spreading the wealth around. They could start by paying their workers a living wage and sharing their profits; if they did they'd prosper even more materially and spiritually. If they'd stop trying to avoid paying their fair share of taxes our society would have more revenue to address society's ills such as chronic homelessness and poverty.

If each of us would keep our priorities straight by putting God first, others second, and ourselves third we'd live more meaningful lives. If we'd each do our part to take care of the disenfranchised and marginalized in our society, we'd become spiritually rich beyond our wildest dreams. The works of corporal mercy are to feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless and welcome the stranger, visit the sick, visit and ransom the captives, and to bury the dead.

Finally in Revelations 3:20 when Jesus says, "Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me." he's simply asking each of us to let him into our hearts and lives by repenting and changing our ways. We routinely invite our family and friends into our homes to eat with us; Jesus too wants to have an intimate relationship with us and he's knocking at our heart's door asking to come in. Jesus can change our lukewarm indifferent hearts so that we'll no longer pursue futile material wealth but true and lasting spiritual wealth through our love of God and our neighbor. 

WHY IS THERE SO MUCH EVIL IN THE WORLD?

WHY IS THERE SO MUCH EVIL IN THE WORLD? 
by St. Pope John Paul II (1920 - 2005)

Your words open up for us grand and fascinating prospects that, for believers, are certainly further confirmations of their hope. And yet, we cannot forget that in every century, at the hour of truth, even Christians have asked themselves a tormenting question: How to continue to trust in a God who is supposed to be a merciful Father, in a God who-as the New Testament reveals-is meant to be Love itself, when suffering, injustice, sickness, and death seem to dominate the larger history of the world as well as our smaller daily lives? 

Stat crux dum volvitur orbis (The Cross remains constant while the world turns). As I stated earlier, we find ourselves at the center of the history of salvation. Naturally you could not fail to bring up that which is the source of recurring doubt not only in regard to the goodness of God but also in regard to His very existence. How could God have permitted so many wars, concentration camps, the Holocaust? 

Is the God who allows all this still truly Love, as Saint John proclaims in his First Letter? Indeed, is He just with respect to His creatures? Doesn't He place too many burdens on the shoulders of individuals? Doesn't He leave man alone with these burdens, condemning him to a life without hope? So many incurably ill people in hospitals, so many handicapped children, so many human lives completely denied ordinary happiness on this earth, the happiness that comes from love, marriage, and family. All this adds up to a bleak picture, which has found expression in ancient and modern literature. Consider, for example, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Franz Kafka, or Albert Camus. 

God created man as rational and free, thereby placing Himself under man's judgment. The history of salvation is also the history of man's continual judgment of God. Not only of man's questions and doubts but of his actual judgment of God. In part, the Old Testament Book of Job is the paradigm of this judgment. There is also the intervention of the evil spirit, who, with even greater shrewdness than man, would judge not only man but God's actions in human history. This too is confirmed in the Book of Job. 

Scandalum Crucis (The Scandal of the Cross). In the preceding questions you addressed the problem precisely: Was putting His Son to death on the Cross necessary for the salvation of humanity? 

Given our present discussion, we must ask ourselves: Could it have been different? Could God have justified Himself before human history, so full of suffering, without placing Christ's Cross at the center of that history? Obviously, one response could be that God does not need to justify Himself to man. It is enough that He is omnipotent. From this perspective everything He does or allows must be accepted. This is the position of the biblical Job. But God, who besides being Omnipotence is Wisdom and-to repeat once again-Love, desires to justify Himself to mankind. He is not the Absolute that remains outside of the world, indifferent to human suffering. He is Emmanuel, God-with-us, a God who shares man's lot and participates in his destiny. This brings to light another inadequacy, the completely false image of God which the Enlightenment accepted uncritically. With regard to the Gospel, this image certainly represented a step backward, not in the direction of a better knowledge of God and the world, but in the direction of misunderstanding them. 

No, absolutely not! God is not someone who remains only outside of the world, content to be in Himself all-knowing and omnipotent. His wisdom and omnipotence are placed, by free choice, at the service of creation. If suffering is present in the history of humanity, one understands why His omnipotence was manifested in the omnipotence of humiliation on the Cross. The scandal of the Cross remains the key to the interpretation of the great mystery of suffering, which is so much a part of the history of mankind. Even contemporary critics of Christianity are in agreement on this point. Even they see that the crucified Christ is proof of God's solidarity with man in his suffering. God places Himself on the side of man. 

He does so in a radical way: "He emptied himself, / taking the form of a slave, / coming in human likeness; / and found human in appearance, / he humbled himself, / becoming obedient to death, / even death on a cross" (Phil 2:7-8). Everything is contained in this statement. All individual and collective suffering caused by the forces of nature and unleashed by man's free will-the wars, the gulags, and the holocausts: the Holocaust of the Jews but also, for example, the holocaust of the black slaves from Africa.

WHY DOES GOD TOLERATE SUFFERING? 

The objection of many people to the previous response is well known-the question of pain and evil in the world is not really faced but only displaced. Faith affirms that God is omnipotent. Why, then, hasn't He eliminated-and does He persist in not eliminating-suffering in the world He created? Aren't we being presented with a sort of "divine impotence," the kind spoken of even by people who are sincerely religious, though perhaps deeply troubled in their faith? 

Yes, in a certain sense one could say that confronted with our human freedom, God decided to make Himself "impotent." And one could say that God is paying for the great gift bestowed upon a being He created "in his image, after his likeness" (cf. Gn 1:26). Before this gift, He remains consistent, and places Himself before the judgment of man, before an illegitimate tribunal which asks Him provocative questions: "Then you are a king?" (cf. Jn 18:37); "Is it true that all which happens in the world, in the history of Israel, in the history of all nations, depends on you?" 

We know Christ's response to this question before Pilate's tribunal: "For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth" (Jn 18:37). But then: "What is truth?" (Jn 18:38), and here ended the judicial proceeding, that tragic proceeding in which man accused God before the tribunal of his own history, and in which the sentence handed down did not conform to the truth. Pilate says: "I find no guilt in him" (Jn 18:38), and a second later he orders: "Take him yourselves and crucify him!" (Jn 19:6). In this way he washes his hands of the issue and returns the responsibility to the violent crowd. 

Therefore, the condemnation of God by man is not based on the truth, but on arrogance, on an underhanded conspiracy. Isn't this the truth about the history of humanity, the truth about our century? In our time the same condemnation has been repeated in many courts of oppressive totalitarian regimes. And isn't it also being repeated in the parliaments of democracies where, for example, laws are regularly passed condemning to death a person not yet born? . . . 

God is always on the side of the suffering. His omnipotence is manifested precisely in the fact that He freely accepted suffering. He could have chosen not to do so. He could have chosen to demonstrate His omnipotence even at the moment of the Crucifixion. In fact, it was proposed to Him: "Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe" (Mk 15:32). But He did not accept that challenge. The fact that He stayed on the Cross until the end, the fact that on the Cross He could say, as do all who suffer: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mk 15:34), has remained in human history the strongest argument. If the agony on the Cross had not happened, the truth that God is Love would have been unfounded. 

Yes! God is Love and precisely for this He gave His Son, to reveal Himself completely as Love. Christ is the One who "loved to the end" (Jn 13:1). "To the end" means to the last breath. "To the end" means accepting all the consequences of man's sin, taking it upon Himself. This happened exactly as the prophet Isaiah affirmed: "It was our infirmities that he bore, / We had all gone astray like sheep, / each following his own way; / But the Lord laid upon him / the guilt of us all" (Is 53:4-6). 

The Man of Suffering is the revelation of that Love which "endures all things" (1 Cor 13:7), of that Love which is the "greatest" (cf. 1 Cor 13:13). It is the revelation not only that God is Love but also the One who "pours out love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit" (cf. Rom 5:5). In the end, before Christ Crucified, the man who shares in redemption will have the advantage over the man who sets himself up as an unbending judge of God's actions in his own life as well as in that of all humanity. 

Thus we find ourselves at the center of the history of salvation. The judgment of God becomes a judgment of man. The divine realm and the human realm of this event meet, cross, and overlap. Here we must stop. From the Mount of the Beatitudes, the road of the Good News leads to Calvary, and passes through Mount Tabor, the Mount of the Transfiguration. The difficulty and the challenge of understanding the meaning of Calvary is so great that God Himself wanted to warn the apostles of all that would have to happen between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. 

This is the definitive meaning of Good Friday: Man, you who judge God, who order Him to justify Himself before your tribunal, think about yourself, if you are not responsible for the death of this condemned man, if the judgment of God is not actually a judgment upon yourself. Consider if this judgment and its result-the Cross and then the Resurrection-are not your only way to salvation. 

When the archangel Gabriel announced to the Virgin of Nazareth the birth of the Son, revealing that His Reign would be unending (cf. Lk 1:33), it was certainly difficult to foresee that those words augured such a future; that the Reign of God in the world would come about at such a cost; that from that moment on the history of the salvation of all humanity would have to follow such a path.

Only from that moment? Or also from the very beginning? The event at Calvary is a historical fact. Nevertheless, it is not limited in time and space. It goes back into the past, to the beginning, and opens toward the future until the end of history. It encompasses all places and times and all of mankind. Christ is the expectation and simultaneously the fulfillment. "There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved" (Acts 4:12). 

Christianity is a religion of salvation-a soteriological religion, to use the theological term. Christian soteriology focuses on the Paschal Mystery. In order to hope for salvation from God, man must stop beneath Christ's Cross. Then, the Sunday after the Holy Sabbath, he must stand in front of the empty tomb and listen, like the women of Jerusalem: "He is not here, for he has been raised" (Mt 28:6). Contained within the Cross and the Resurrection is the certainty that God saves man, that He saves him through Christ, through His Cross and His Resurrection.