Good morning…
As our daughter was in Louisiana with friends Grieving A Suicide, the Henri Nouwen meditation for yesterday brought to life the gift she was experiencing. Our ability to suffer in solidarity, with God and with each other, creates beautiful moments amid life’s brokenness.
“God loves us so much that he does not simply take our suffering away; he suffers with us,” Nouwen explained. “If we understand God’s solidarity, if we see God as the One who did not cling to power but gave it up, who did not cling to the ability to solve everyone’s problems, we have the mind of Jesus Christ. Be present to each other and experience in the depths the gift of life! Christ didn’t fall into solutions or solving problems – that’s the temptation of the desert. That’s our temptation – to solve people’s problems, to cure, not care. To care means being where the suffering is. It’s a way of living together so the mystery of life is revealed.”
As we interact with family and friends over this Thanksgiving season, it is important to remember, we are not equipped to cure, we are empowered by God to care. To care means being where the suffering is, to go where Love carries us. Suffering in solidarity, with God and with each other, is a way of living together so that the mystery of eternal life is experientially revealed.
Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me” (Matthew 26:36-38, NIV).
Even Jesus knew, as he walked a short lifetime on this earth, that feeling the depths of sorrow together is more healing than feeling pain alone.
…Sue…
