Tag Archives: Suffering
Everybody Grieves: Weekly Summary
Everybody Grieves Saturday, August 7, 2021 Week Thirty-One Summary and Practice Sunday, August 1—Friday, August 6, 2021 Sunday Because we’re human, we hurt. Because we’re human, we have tears to cry. Because we’re human, our hearts are broken. Because we’re human, we understand that loss is a universal language. Everybody grieves. —Rev. Jacqui Lewis Monday… Continue Reading Everybody Grieves: Weekly Summary
Vulnerability: A Divine Condition
Everybody Grieves Vulnerability: A Divine Condition Sunday, August 1, 2021 We live in a finite world where everything is dying, shedding its strength. This is hard to accept, and all our lives we look for exceptions to it. We look for something certain, strong, undying, and infinite. Religion tells us that the “something” for which… Continue Reading Vulnerability: A Divine Condition
Job: Hoping Against Hope
Great Themes of Scripture: Hebrew Bible Job: Hoping Against Hope Thursday, July 1, 2021 The author of the biblical book of Job wrestled with the mystery of evil. If we look at this book as a drama or play, we can easily see Job as the protagonist, God as the hero, and Satan as the… Continue Reading Job: Hoping Against Hope
Living the Shadow
Shadow Work Living the Shadow Tuesday, June 15, 2021 All God appears to want from us is honesty and humility. There is no other way to read Jesus’ stories of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11–32) or the tax collector and the Pharisee (Luke 18:9–14). In each story, the one who did wrong ends up being… Continue Reading Living the Shadow
How Do We “Save” the World?
Choosing Love in a Time of Evil How Do We “Save” the World? Sunday, May 16, 2021 The Divine Mind transforms all human suffering by identifying completely with the human predicament and standing in full solidarity with it from beginning to end. This is the real meaning of the crucifixion. The cross is not just… Continue Reading How Do We “Save” the World?
Our All-Vulnerable God
Trauma and Healing Our All-Vulnerable God Tuesday, May 4, 2021 Very few of us can actually imagine God suffering. I bet almost half the prayers of the Catholic Church begin with “Almighty God” and when you’re “all mighty,” you don’t suffer! And yet if we believe that Jesus reveals the hidden heart of God, we… Continue Reading Our All-Vulnerable God
What Do We Do with This Pain?
Trauma and Healing What Do We Do with This Pain? Sunday, May 2, 2021 We have heard the word trauma a lot in the last thirty years or more. I am not sure if it is happening more, or if we finally have a word to describe what has probably always been happening. When we… Continue Reading What Do We Do with This Pain?
Apocalypse is Subversive
Apocalyptic Hope Apocalypse is Subversive Friday, April 30, 2021 Apocalyptic literature is subversive literature. This is a key point in understanding John’s reasons for writing the book of Revelation in the style that he did. Author and speaker Rob Bell has helped many people understand the Bible, including the book of Revelation, in a more… Continue Reading Apocalypse is Subversive
God Uses Everything
Wounded Healers God Uses Everything Monday, September 14, 2020 Feast of the Triumph of the Cross The genius of Jesus’ ministry is that he embraces tragedy, suffering, pain, betrayal, and death itself to bring us to God. There are no dead ends. Everything can be transmuted, and everything can be used. Everything. It seems that everybody… Continue Reading God Uses Everything
Our Sacred Wounds
Wounded Healers Our Sacred Wounds Sunday, September 13, 2020 Ministry can indeed be a witness to the living truth that the wound, which causes us to suffer now, will be revealed to us later as the place where God intimated [God’s] new creation. —Henri J. M. Nouwen (1932–1996) Christianity, in its mature forms, keeps pushing us… Continue Reading Our Sacred Wounds