To fight off this crippling doubt, I should become parochial in my thinking, for nothing in my actual social sphere seriously challenges my faith. Some friends’ newborn fatal birth defects don’t challenge my faith. My other friend’s ectopic pregnancy and brush with death don’t bother me. It’s arguments, not actual experiences, that challenge my faith. And for the actual experiences, some combination of Greg Boyd’s and Richard Beck’s theodicies gets the job done for me.
I guess the third pair of friends’ divorce bothered me, but all it really did was show that human will and defects can override the grace of God. A sobering thought, for sure, but not one to slow my faith down too much.