Suddenly, the stump began to sink. "Oh, my!" cried Dorothy, jumping up. As she did so, there were several loud popping sounds. The mechanism that had sucked her friends into the ground had now reversed itself. One by one, they all popped out like corks from a bottle. The last one to pop out was the witch. However, unlike the others, her body lay lifeless upon the ground. "You must have released the suction by sitting on the tree stump," said the Scarecrow. "Yes," Dorothy replied. "Now we know what the witch was trying to tell us." "Too late for her," said the Tin Woodman, looking at her lifeless form. "She's deader than a door-nail." They all walked over to where the witch lay. "It would be a beautiful world if all the bad people in it were dead," said the Lion. "I wonder why God lets bad people live," said the Scarecrow. "Sometimes a good person dies young, while a bad person may live a long life." "Why does God even allow bad people to be born in the first place?" asked the Tin Woodman. "He must know they're going to grow up bad. Doesn't He know the state of their soul before they're born?" "God knows what is in everyone's heart," said Dorothy. "And He knows the chances are great that certain souls will give way to evil. But, since He loves all souls equally, He must allow each the opportunity to evolve to a higher understanding." "But," said the Scarecrow, "what about the really bad ones? Who, no matter what they go through, continue to be as evil as ever? It's not fair to the good people to have these people on earth with them, hurting them and doing all the terrible things they do. God must know that no matter what, these people are going to lead their entire lives in an evil way." "That's true, I'm sure," said Dorothy. "But, you see, all people on earth are on that particular planet for a reason. Each soul has certain experiences to go through. Very little is really accidental. Some souls make a great deal of progress through these many experiences, others very little. But the experiences are necessary. Everyone must be allowed the opportunity for growth." Dorothy was quite aware that the words of explanation coming out of her mouth were originating from a much deeper level of consciousness, just as she'd been told. "Any experience that is gone through with others is quite possibly the result of past experiences with the people involved. Something that has happened, perhaps eons of times past, has brought these souls together again. Sometimes again and again, for they fail to learn each time. It could also be that other people whose lives are touched by this experience -- perhaps family members, have something to learn. However, all adverse experiences could be avoided or at least reduced in severity if the same lesson could be learned in any other way.