Why does evil exist?

Someone asked a brilliant question...

Why does evil exist?

maybe the first question to pose would be regarding the existence of evil, or not. The absence of God's goodness could be construed as evil, except that God (who is good) is everywhere. Therefore, evil may only exist in the light of an opportunity for God's magnificence to brightly shine in the moment's of our dependence on Him. . . i think?!
. . . what was the question?

why don't you post your response in the section below... and put a link to your blog, or site or whatever so you can post the same question and get responses from those whom you know, and we can examine the variety of responses across this disparate web of question askers!