A couple is travelling down the road. The wife says, "We're on the wrong road." The husband replies, "That's o.k. We're making good time."
When it comes to understanding pain and suffering, most of us are on the wrong road. We are very hesitant to embrace life as good fortune and to count our blessings.
In Africa they ask, "How are you?" And the traditional answer is, "A bit o.k." It's never, "Great". There is a fear that the devil will say, "Ah, ha! Here is one who is good. I'll fix that."
In the T.V. series Hee-Haw Buck Owens and Roy Clark sang:
Gloom, despair, and agony on me
Deep, dark depression, excessive misery
If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all.
As Christians we are commissioned to spread a message of cheer and hope in the face of suffering. Where does that come from? Mostly it comes from a realization of Christ's message in the New Testament.
"Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say rejoice! Rejoice!" (Philippians 4:4). "Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest My yoke is easy and my burden is light" Matthew 11: 28-29).
Easier said than done! I just recently learned that two of my siblings are doing battle with recurring cancer. It casts a shadow over us, and we reassert our prayers and faith that all is well.
That is hard to say when sickness comes to us. "All is well." It is based on the knowledge that life is eternal. Jesus tells us that. And Jesus tells us the Father loves us. God is not a mean judge, but One who loves us tenderly.
Eternal life is with us now! When we die we make that change to life in the Kingdom. The stronger the life of God in us, the easier that transition when our physical life ends.
Jesus came into a world of darkness and sin, a world in need of mercy and compassion. Instead of condemnation He brought forgiveness: "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do."
Someone observed recently that the church does not do a good job of helping us handle suffering and pain. These are tough areas to accommodate. But Jesus helps us through the Cross, and that is the universal sign in any church. It points to another world, another reality.
Wake up lovers; it is time to start the journey! We've seen enough of this world; it is time to see another. The Persian poet Rumi gives us a challenging wake up call for that time in our lives when we ponder the great mystery that our physical decay is also the beginning of life.
Joy and hope are not lost when our physical strength and beauty wane. Every day brings us one day closer to that union with love and all the saints.
Time is a great mystery. It can seem endless or fleeting. However we experience it, we know that God is outside of time. Whether we now measure time by the hour, by the day or by the year, God is with us, pouring out grace and comfort.
"Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10).
(I have borrowed from two earlier articles: "Being fully alive in the midst of pain and illness" and "From the grave to the sky, our Resurrection journey")
