One question I sometimes find at events where we meet as believers involves "do you remember when you became a believer? An extension of this involves the call to ministry... do you remember when you felt or heard the call upon your life? Because we are a people of nostalgia we love to center our lives around special events or sacred moments which help us to mark our place, to center our existence. The interesting thing is when someone responses to above question with "I don't really know", or better yet, "well, I think I have always lived this way (had this call), we don't quite know what to do!! There is no burning bush moment, no road to Damascus experience to mark the rite of passage, so some feel like those who cant chart thier sacred moments have missed out on something. I do think many are frustrated by this, which is probably why we often approach suffering through the eyes of nostalgia; one big event which cause great pain and sorrow. One moment of loss or failure that crushed our souls and wrecked our spirits. And it is easier to console someone with such a paradigm as well; "it will be over soon", "time will heal your wounds" or "the clouds of today will be replaced by the sunshine of tomorrow!"...
Galli speaks of the Difficult Love with a mind for re framing suffering and moving it past an isolated event or moment and connecting it to the human experience. What good are our sufferings if they do not translate into a greater awareness to suffering in the world? What good is suffering if we cannot learn to trust, find strength and ultimately be prepared to see pain and anguish not through the eyes of a moment but rather as a course of lifestyle? In seeing suffering through eyes of faith, we are not absolved from it, but Galli says that in it is found the crucible to bring about a deeper understanding of the ways of the Lord.
The scripture from Philippians is great; I want to know his resurrection and share in (Christ's) suffering... How do you see the love of Christ in the sufferings you endure? What theological insights do you uncover in the midst of pain?
How is your spirit suffering today? Where are the barren parts of your soul, what is causing you ache? Burnout? unresolved issues? Because we see suffering as events rather than a state of emotional being we often repress feelings that give us the sense of never being well.... How will you allow God to know that suffering? How is the Lord changing you and your capacity to see suffering in the world?
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