It was a widespread belief of Jesus’ time that suffering and misfortune were a sign of God’s displeasure and punishment, that they were somehow earned and deserved.Let’s be frank, we can even fall prey to the same superstitious beliefs today, where adversity and affliction can all too easily be labelled as the consequences of such phrases as ‘poor choices’ or ‘unhealthy lifestyle’ – at least by those who lead privileged lives.But two thousand years ago, Jesus was warning about this erroneous connection between good fortune and virtue, and misfortune and vice.Sometimes, mostly, suffering is random, undeserved, not the consequences of our guilt or complicity and conversely, good fortune and advantage in life is rarely distributed equitably.Especially it seems in American and Western politics, no question more reliably divides conservatives from liberals, than the element of luck in economic success.But in recent years, social scientists have discovered that sheer chance actually plays a much larger role in important life outcomes than most people imagine, or we are comfortable acknowledging.This, of course, should engender our compassion for those who suffer, and greater humility in our privilege – but I wonder, in reality, if it does?