The Roman Catholic teaching, doctrine, and dogma of Divine Providence played center stage through my earlier life as a very Catholic youth, a sincere seminarian, and a compassionate priest. As you will see below, I continue to agonize over God’s alleged activism in this world long after leaving the priesthood behind.
Dependence on benevolent Providence is most beautifully described and endorsed by Jesus in the Gospel of Luke 12: 22–31 (i.e., God feeds the birds with abundance and clothes the lilies in splendor without being asked). This notion always provided me with a sense of confidence, perhaps to the point of recklessness.
My almsgiving knew no bounds when I had alms to offer because caring for the poor was/is the right thing to do and in any case, God would always provide for my needs. But did he? Does he? I mean, practically speaking, does God feed us and clothe us without significant efforts on our part? Or do our efforts alone effect the desired and undesired results?