thesoulpurposedotorg

On this Good Friday I have been contemplating the suffering of Jesus the Christ that we for some obscure reason call Good Friday. I bet he didn’t call it that. I know he didn’t welcome suffering. I know he felt abandoned in the midst of it. He cried out, perhaps as much from the experience of betrayal as from the agony of crucifixion. So I wonder where we get the idea that being stoic is Christ-like. I’m thinking of Jesus in the Garden asking God to find some other way for “Thy Will Be Done”. He sweat blood not to mention tears of agony just knowing what he faced.

So I hereby proclaim that it is not Christ-like to enjoy suffering! Or even to just shut up about it. Especially in prayer. Or in church. I’m thinking it’s okay to howl at the moon or the sun at the break of day when the need arises. And that God howls right along beside us.

Of course, for practical reasons, it is not helpful to complain all the time or to look for things to be wrong so we can complain, or howl. In fact, laughter is much more useful than screams. And bitterness has no use at all even when thoroughly deserved.

This is what I have found to be helpful when true suffering has come my way. First, to be honest about what is going on (for me this only comes after a lovely blanket of denial turns out to be a delusion). Then to just be with God in it whether that involves the prayer of talking out loud to The Divine (preferably when no one else is around lest more suffering come your way) or putting on soothing music (I like Daniel Kobiaka’s Timeless Motiion) or going for a walk with loud, complaining music singing in my ears through the iPod. And then to truly, truly remember that there is nothing that happens to us that isn’t designed to bring us closer to God-wakefulness. This has taken me decades to understand but oh the sweet release when I know this in my bones. Everything is designed to birth the Divine, or perhaps merely to resurrect what is already there.

Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an
indomitable will.

Ghandi

The grinding wheel of Time doth mar
  Full many a life of moon and star
  And many a brightly smiling morn—
  But still my soul is marching on!
  Darkness, death, and failures vied;
  To block my path they fiercely tried;
  My fight with jealous Nature’s strong—
  But still my soul is marching on!

Paramahansa Yogananda

“Do not do what you want, and then you may do what you like”

Sadasiva

Have you ever tried to count the number of things that are on your mind at any one time? I used to make a game of that when I was a kid trying to fall asleep at night. In later years I came to observe that the more I thought about something, the greater it became. And the more thoughts, the greater my anxiety. Like when I try not to think about chocolate, I can’t think of anything else. But when I choose to think intentionally rather than worry or fret, the good things become more apparent and more powerfully present.

“Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.”

– Philippians 4:4-9

On this Ash Wednesday, may the thoughts that steer us away from the peace of Christ that passes all understanding be turned to ashes and the thoughts that center us in Our birthright of peace as sons and daughters of God flourish

I am reading Practicing the Presence of Peace by Bear Gebhardt

He uses the term peace in a way that I would use the term Christ or the Holy Spirit but the meaning is the same. Here is a quote to illustrate:

I’ve learned that living in peace is the most practical and most natural and most generous thing we can do for ourselves and for everybody around us,” he said. “I’m convinced that some day everybody will come to understand and practice this simple truth”

The book is a very practical guide to practicing the awareness that all of life is lived within God’s presence. I have experienced this in my life as I continue to learn to live with chronic pain. When I am able to remember, or rather to access the peace that I easily access in meditation, the pain becomes less personal. I even have a sense of somehow bearing this pain as a spiritual practice that somehow is useful to life beyond me.

I’m not sure if I am able to express this very clearly. It isn’t like being a martyr. It is an awareness that whatever the particular pain is, it isn’t about me. It’s about the suffering that we all share just by being human in a fallen world. The pain I experience is from a genetic disorder that cannot be fixed. I have found that merely accepting that pain doesn’t mean that I’ve done something wrong brings a peace in and of itself. But taking it step farther, I see the pain as an invitation to just be in God’s presence. Well, truthfully, that’s on my good days. In the worst of it, my mind just goes numb and I am more like a little child in her fathers arms being rocked and comforted. And my words aren’t so peacable.

I hope this is helpful to someone! I’d love to know of others who have found deeper meaning in their own suffering. Please write. I’d love to hear from you.