Paradox?

I am writing in reference to Tami Koestomo's belief that God has His reasons for letting Bang Soo-hyun trounce Mia Audina in the Women's Badminton Finals in Atlanta (The Jakarta Post, Aug. 7, 1996). I wonder what those reasons could possibly be?

This is a doubly tricky theological question because here you had two apparently devout Christians, each presumably believing that their every stroke was personally guided by the hand of the Almighty. Now, putting aside for the moment the unlikely notion that God competes with himself, and dismissing the equally absurd idea that Bang Soo-hyun simply played better on the day, what are we left with? A mystery, contained within a paradox, wrapped in an enigma.

Still, as Ms. Koestomo would no doubt agree, God moves in mysterious ways. The most mysterious being: Why was she overlooked when God was dishing out the sense of humor?

DAVID WIXEY

Jakarta