Some Questions and Ramblings

Dear Friend,

So much has happened lately. Death is still very near. Yet I know it was for the best. Sickness too is still so near. Brokenness. Sore heartedness. Loneliness. Why must these things occur all at once, all so close together? Why must loss always seem to follow loss?
Or is it a matter of perspective? Is it not rather loss, but challenge, a challenge to see things in a new way, a new light? Perhaps it's not brokenness, but a chance to find new wholeness. Perhaps it's not sore heartedness, but a chance for the heart to grow and change. And truthfully, am I ever really alone? The question always lingers, "When I'm alone, am I with a friend?" I am always with a very great Friend indeed.
I suppose, the question that sums up all of my questions is: "Why do bad things happen to good people?" How can a truly loving God allow death, destruction, suffering, evil? Again, maybe it is a matter of perspective. Perhaps I am being too much like Adam, "The woman YOU put here..." Should the question not be: How can I, who put my faith in a loving God, allow evil to exist in my life? Or is evil even the right word?
Please forgive my ramblings. These are but mere thoughts of a student of life. I have given much thought to a previous letter you wrote me. You once mentioned my very self, my very core, being a garden. Lately, I have been wondering, does a garden not have its limits? Can a garden grow to big to care for? Do farmers not rotate crops and fields to allow the soil to heal? Should the self be any different? Do I need always focus on the same areas of life? How do I know what to trim and prune and cut? Perspective perhaps? Perhaps your guidance can answer these questions. May this drought and heat soon break.

Sincerely with love,
Mr. Gardner