The sacred ground of suffering
Trauma and suffering find us. We are jarred, devastated, stopped. Child abuse, sexual assault, illness, death of a loved one, poverty, hunger, war. Even witnessing the suffering of others leaves us wounded. And science is teaching us that traumas suffered by our parents can impact us genetically.
Still, we seek to dismiss the effects. But we are highly impressionable beings. Trauma finds ways to get inside, to hang on, to color how we think, act, feel, and perceive. We end up being angry, fearful, suspicious. We succumb to depression, addiction, suicidal ideation.
But this is not the whole story, is it? While we are so aware of the downward forces, the heavy weight of trauma, we are also aware of another force, one that joins us and shows us how to push back with even greater measure. This force challenges our anger and even dares to poke at our fears.
This is the force of God.
Welcome.
I first ran into God when I was five. Every day I passed a Crucifix hanging on the wall. This image lit a flame within me. I was suffering (see About Me), and from what I could see, God was suffering too. I wasn’t sure how this man was the God we prayed to, but that image not only comforted me and strengthened me, it told me I was not alone.
Hundreds of flames were to follow and, like the crucifix, they comforted, strengthened and informed my suffering, for sure but, to be honest, I didn’t connect many of those flames with God, not until much later. I wasn’t taught how to see God.
We are not taught how to see God.
Popular religion tells us the Cross, the Crucifix, is all about our sin. Oh, it is far more than that. It is an invitation from God, extended in a most powerful way when we find ourselves waylaid by trauma and suffering. If we accept this invitation, if we dare to be curious, to come closer, we will learn that trauma and suffering are nothing when compared to the power and wisdom of God. We will learn that they become holy ground, where God is ready not only to heal but to transform.
“… remove thy sandals from thy feet, for this is holy ground …”
— Exodus 3:5
Suffering may be an inevitable part of our lives, but it is far from barren, far from fruitless, far from meaningless. Suffering is, indeed, sacred ground, for it is where we meet God.
Why make this Pact?
Too many of us allow suffering to put a distance between us and God;
Too many of us miss seeing God at work in that suffering;
Too many of us do not hear the invitation from God to participate with God to use that suffering to grow ourselves and the world around us.
How do I take the Pact?
Return here daily, weekly to consider, reflect, and pray;
Recognize, identify, and relate with the God who works with suffering to empower and transform;
Honor your questions and doubts about the images of God prevalent in our culture;
Nurture the ability to see, to hear, and to participate with God.