Suffering and Grace

It is easy to get mired in suffering, whether our own or that of others, and in so doing we become defensive and protective of what we have, often in ways that may be either assumed or puzzling . . . or both. However, suffering focuses on the internal challenges and at times misses the opportunities to experience grace.

Granted, this does not mean that suffering is a good in itself, but rather something that occurs in ways beyond our control or ability to stop. This does not mean we have to react in a certain form or not, as it is our reaction to suffering, the way we can reframe or reconceptualize it, that demonstrates how much grace we have or sense we make of difficulty.

This was a difficult message to make sense of in Ram Dass’s Polishing the Mirror, where he speaks of his own stroke, his father’s increasing helplessness and care needs, and how he could only try to make sense of pain and suffering as an opportunity to learn and grow. Taken out of context, this can seem cruel and heartless, yet that is not the intention. If anything, it is the opposite. Taken as the case that one would not freely choose to inflict suffering, the only thing we can do is reframe it as an opportunity to learn something new through reframing it.

This is similar to seeing all challenges as opportunities — what we face may be the same thing, but it is all about how we make meaning of it. Something to consider when exploring what ministry is all about.


This posting is part of my ongoing, shared journaling related to the Formations for Modern Pagan Ministry course I am taking during the summer of 2017 at Cherry Hill Seminary.

You are welcome to join me on this journey!

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