We're in good company asking that question. People started asking it and writing down their answers about it at least 3,000 years ago. Probably as soon as innocent people started suffering trauma and having to live with it afterwards.

The Book of Job in the Bible asks that question in the Old Testament. The more recent place I'd suggest for exploring that question is Harold Kushner's book that uses your exact words: "When Bad Things Happen to Good People," available used at Amazon.com for just over two dollars plus shipping at this link:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/1400034728/ref=sr_1_1_up_1_main_olp?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1362592806&sr=1-1&condition=used

I won't spoil the ending by telling you what all of these people say here. I'll leave that to you. It's obviously something I personally care about intensely. You could say it's so important that the entire religion called Christianity is built on it. Jesus of Nazareth was totally innocent and yet he was executed in a severely traumatic manner. He was the ultimate good person who had the ultimate bad thing happen to him. His followers had to deal with that later as a central fact.

If you read that or any other book on the topic, I'd love to hear about it here.

Being good does not protect us from bad. It doesn't create an invisible shield.

People look for someway to blame the victim (they were bad, or they were asking for it, or they didn't take care of themselves etc.) If the victim can be blamed then no sympathy or help is required from others. It also makes others feel like that bad thing will never happen to them.

When something bad happens we are challenged to overcome the difficulty and still remain a good person.

All the illness, and famine and violence in the world has nothing to do w/ what is deserved. In my mind (as in the book Mujica spoke of) the question we should be asking ourselves is not "why me?" but 'what next?' Our focus should be on recovery and prevention of further difficulty. We can't control everything in this world.

i don't think that anyone gets out of life unscathed, but why do devils pick the victims they pick?

i don't know?

i do know, once you've seen the devil, life is never the same.

i'm sorry you saw the devil ladydi.

I dont know. I dont pretend to know. I also dont put much energy in finding out. I feel like, though there is definitely negativity and positivity in the world, when it comes down to it in the grand scheme of things it isnt good or bad, it just 'is.' I think there is a reason for everything. But it isn't something that we are supposed to totally understand. If we were meant to understand it in our lifetime, we would. I'll just have to wait until whenever the end is to see if its explained to me then.

It doesnt take away from all of my resentment but its something.

Thats my philosophy anyway. I can see how not many would subscribe to it. Thats ok.

A wonderful rabbi, smart, wise person wrote, "When Bad Things Happen to Good People. A book. It's a must. You feel much better after having read it.

The bull will charge at anyone in his sight, whether that person is a strict vegetarian who means him no harm, or a steak-for-dinner-every-night kind of person. The bull does not differentiate between one and the other.

This is the Universe we live in. The best we can do is try to learn from experience and avoid the bull in the future. It's not what we would wish for and it's not our ideal circumstances, but it is what we have gotten.

Sometimes we can find a friend to take us by the hand and show us another way to get to where we are going without the bull being part of our journey. That's what makes friendship so wonderful, the shelter that it provides from the difficulties of life.

You'll find some wonderful people here on the DS website, some of whom would like to be your friend and take you by the hand, and some of whom would like you to take them by the hand and show them the way. Under the sheltering tree of friendship we can find shade when the sunshine becomes too much.

Milla and I are referring to the same book here, ladydi1961, and it's no coincidence. The author of the book isn't speaking from theory, but from experience. He wrote it after something really rotten happened to him that was totally uncalled for. Like happened to us. Here's that link again where you can get his book used for just over two bucks plus shipping:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-list...

Evil does target the innocent and the good.

In my opinion in spiritual terms there is a tug of war between good and evil in the world and evil does target the innocent and it doesn't like the good.

However i also think evil is not a supernatural force is a destructive psychological one.......Every time an abused child turns into an bauser evil won...

When other things happen like natural disasters and stuff like that is just chance.

I also red that book long ago.Good one.

In particualr i like the part where the rabbi suggests what NOT to say to someone that has just suffered a devastating blow from life.

In my view it is not evil or the devil that targets the good or innocent. It is sheer opportunism. Predators look for easy prey.

The more defenseless someone is, they easier they are to target. Children, the elderly, women, the mentally challenged are often viewed as easy pickings.

The only time i ever got robbed was when I went off on a hot day and forgot to close a front window. Anyone walking along could see that point of entry.

The point is to learn to protect yourself. I am not an aggressive person, and so physical aggression is not the type of protection I'm referring to. I guess what I have learned is the art of camouflage - blending in more or less. I can be my out-of-the-box self and still somehow am invisible.

Predators are evil.That what evil is in my opinion..like i said not a supernatural force but a malignant destructive psychological one.

I agree with Letitbe. Predators look for the easiest prey. I was prey for most of my childhood. After that, I took on the visage of the predator. I was the sheep in a wolf's skin. I was no longer an easy target. It took commitment to pull this off. I channeled my anger from my childhood into making this persona of being a bold, take no crap, tough person. My friends really know that I am not a true predator, that I would more likely help than take advantage of people. In fact I live by treat others as I would like to be treated. This was one way I protected myself.

"i do know, once you've seen the devil, life is never the same."

Amen.

The greatest deterrent to my getting lost in "why me?" thinking is this. "Then who?" If you promised to be objective and not just pick on your personal enemies and God let you pick the person who should suffer the trauma you suffered, who would that be? Not just "anybody but me," but exactly who? If you have a quick and easy answer to that, I think you're in the minority.

It makes me realize it not only shouldn't have happened to me. If shouldn't have happened to anybody. Yet, the world being what it is, bad things are going to happen to somebody. Life in the real universe isn't going to be all good all the time.

It begins to make me have compassion for total strangers to realize almost no one deserves for the sky to fall on them, ever, and to care when it does, as it will. As it has on us. That makes me come and care not just for me, but for all the PTSD
Daily Strength friends I make here.