“There is a time for everything . . . a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.”  Ecclesiastes 3:4

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”  Jesus in Matt. 5:4

“Out of suffering, a lotus flower of happiness can appear.” Thich Nhat Hanh

People are suffering.  I am reminded of this not only in the ever-escalating Covid death toll, but also in numerous recent conversations.  One former pastoral colleague is dying of pancreatic cancer.  A former parishioner’s husband recently died of cancer.  Three other friends told me of people close to them who either unexpectedly died, or are in the process of dying.  Such suffering!

Suffering and pain are not pleasant, but they are a necessary part of life.  Our culture has duped us into believing that somehow death and suffering are out of the ordinary and must be avoided, or at least ignored at all costs.  The result is that we have an unhealthy perspective on both.  It is possible to see the sacred gifts present in suffering and death.  Following are a few of the ways that I’ve found God is present in the midst of suffering.

In suffering God surrounds us with love.  Some of the most precious outpourings of love come disguised as suffering.  God IS love, and God does not abandon us in suffering. Just the opposite, it is there that God’s presence is most profound.  God makes His presence known in the open hearts that come to us to comfort us, not with worn out religious words, but with listening ears and gentle embraces.

In suffering God surrounds us with Angels.  Sometimes those angels take human form.  Jesus was ministered to by an angel in the midst of His intense suffering in the Garden of Gethsemanee.  Angels were present at the tomb on Easter morning to comfort the women and encourage the disciples.  Angels are present with the same disciples as they are placed in prison, and in St. Stephen’s martyrdom.  And angels are with us in suffering as well!

In suffering the Spirit of God provides cleansing and refining.  In nature there is a natural pruning that takes place.  Fires serve to feed the forest floor so that new growth can take place.  Suffering does something similar for us.  We are cut to the quick, but from those wounds come new growth.  O’Donahue puts it this way, “Though it is sore and cuts into us, later we become aware that this dark suffering was secretly a liturgy of light and divine growth.”  One of the gifts that grows out of our own suffering is that of empathy.  It is by experiencing our own pain that we are able to feel the pain of others.

In suffering God unites us with Christ.  Christ’s suffering is our suffering, and our suffering is Christ’s suffering.  This is a repeated theme throughout the epistles, summarized by St. Paul who desires to be united with Christ and fill up in his own body what may be lacking (Colossians). “I have never felt closer to God than when I went through . . .” I’ve heard variations of that phrase come from countless numbers of people.  And I’ve said it myself.  The deepest connection with Christ may very well come as we are carrying His cross, and are being carried by Him.  Just as it was necessary for Christ to experience everything we do in order to be fully human, so too it is necessary for us to experience everything He did in order to be fully Christ-like (Orthodoxy calls it deification).

In suffering God gives us hope.  Somehow.  It takes awhile.  And it can be quite a process. But it happens.  A living hope, and a hope for life.  Eternal.

In suffering we find our humanity.  It is by fully experiencing all of our feelings that we are able to feel what it is to be human, and feel most genuinely for other human beings.

In suffering God gives us happiness.  I’ll leave you to contemplate that one.

In suffering God grants beauty.  My Aunt Lucille is turning 102 this week.  Think of the suffering she has experience during those years.  To look at her one sees incredible beauty!  The beauty of one who reflects the glory of God as it has been given to her in her life.  Again, O’Donahue, “There is subtle beauty in the faces of those who have suffered.  I often think that such people are secret artists of the Spirit.”

Are you suffering?  What beauty do you see in it, and in yourself?  Can you see your lotus flower?