Read the opening chapters of Job. Go emotionally, if you dare, to the place of his suffering. If you lost your wealth and children, and your friends were of little comfort to you, would you go mad? Would you be overwhelmed by despair? Job responds by recalling the goodness of God in the past: Job's own past and the distant past, the past of his ancestors. He "goes" to the place of tradition, that which was handed down to him or that which he handed down to himself (that which he could recall from his past). The Latin root for the word tradition means that which is handed down.
In your suffering, are the stories of God's goodness (say in the Bible), your memories of God's goodness, and the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper that communicates God's goodness, enough? Why or why not? These are what have been handed down to us, our tradition. How do you feel now? How has God blessed you in the past? What do you believe about tomorrow?
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Yes, if I lost my children I would go mad, or rather to God, to ask to join them in paradise.
ReplyDeleteMy question surrounds suffering. I often create my own suffering and have witnessed the suffering of others. There is meaning within the pain. Yes, the Lord is my shepard, and his table grants me peace. It is not a matter of God's goodness being enough, it is everything.
God has been so generous to me. I was abandoned at an orphanage as a baby and God sent me my parents who loved me and cared for me as their own. God gave me family with those parents and a brother, also an orphan.
God gave me friends and a husband. He saves me from the abuse of others and gives me strength when I tend to abuse myself. God gave me two healthy daughters and two grandchildren. He led me to care about others and pursue nursing and then social justice. God reminds me everyday that when I do for the least I do for him.
And when I am in the fog of false pain, I see a little light to guide me back to clarity. My stronger faith now teaches me to look for that light instead of waiting for it to appear to me.
And when I wonder why I am so blessed, he leads me back to church.
I believe God will lead me again to greater service. He will take me back to witness in a more personal way the suffering and the mercy in this world and he will show me how be a part of the mercy. I am truly blessed, I just need God's help to find better ways to share these blessings.