Eli Hartman AP
Sign of Mourning
Campers belongings sit outside one of Camp Mystic's cabins near the Guadalupe River, Monday, July 7, 2025, in Hunt, Texas, after a flash flood swept through the area. (AP Photo/Eli Hartman)
Special to United Methodist Insight | July 8, 2025
Like many of you, I’m heartbroken by the recent devastating floods in Texas. As I write these words, more than eighty people have died, and that number continues to grow. Perhaps the most painful story is the death and destruction at Camp Mystic, a young girl’s Christian camp.
Yesterday on the news I watched an interview of a man whose loved one survived the flood. She managed to climb up a tree and hold on until she was rescued. The man called it a “miracle” and said that it was “a God thing.”
I’m sure that kind of thinking gives some people comfort. It just makes me angry. When I heard that man say those words, I snapped (out loud) in frustration, “Then why didn’t God rescue all the other people who died in the floods, including all those children?”
I’ve grappled with providential theology nearly all my life. I have no good answers for the problem. All I know is that belief in a providential God who supernaturally intervenes in the world to protect people from harm is no longer believable for me. And that’s also true for a ton of other folks. I know because I hear from them all the time.
As noted earlier, I’m taking a break from writing new articles in July. However, if you are interested, here are three posts on the topic of providence that I’ve written over the past few years in Doubter’s Parish:
- The Death of Providence
- Hurricanes, Holocausts, and other Horrors: Three Theological Responses to Suffering
- Providence and the Pandemic
I look forward to returning in August. However, given my schedule, it will likely be mid-August before I post a new article. I tentatively plan on sharing an article called "Reading the Heretics."
I hope the rest of your summer goes well.