Oh, please!? tell me about the third way, PLEASE! - I promise I’ll give it the full attention and consideration it deserves. Here’s your chance to save a soul and you’re refusing. I don’t think god will be very happy with you.
Actually the third way I think of god is that he and his buddies are just using us as entertainment. He created us, a frequently irrational, emotional animal, threw us all together on this planet and said, “lets see what dumb and entertaining thing they’ll do next”. A bit like watching an ant farm or a cat playing with a mouse.
What do you think?
There was one particular boat in the fishing village which always brought in the freshest fish for sale at market. The fish that boat brought in were always hearty. The boat was run by a father and son. One day the father died and the son took over the fishing chores alone. But that boat still continued to bring in the most hearty fish! The men of the other fishing boats finally gathered on the very successful boat to ask the son what was the secret to their fish always being the most hearty. The son gave it some moments of thought then led the group to the wet well where the captured fish were kept. He opened the hatch and as the light illuminated the interior they men saw a large sea catfish circling slowly in the wet well! The men were amazed and of course asked, "Doesn't that monster eat your catch?" The son nodded his head, saying "Yes, he eats a few, but it keeps the others moving."
And that is just the first half of the third way of looking at the presence of active evil allowed by God to roam the earth devouring folks like you.