On Suffering

But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; * I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.
Yesterday I read an interesting article written by Puco Iyer entitled 'The Value of Suffering.' In this article he recounted a trip he took with the Dali Llama shortly after the tsunami hit Japan. The Dali Llama visited thousands of suffering and traumatized people. The crowds would ask him what they should do. He would tell them to persevere, to help one another and to do the best they could with what they had. Iyer explains: for Buddhists like himself, he pointed out, inexplicable pains are the result of karma, sometimes incurred in previous lives, and for those who believe in God, everything is divinely ordained. Yet, given his belief that he couldn't have prevented what happened he was deeply affected by the suffering and as he, at one point, left the crowds Iyer noticed he was weeping. Ordained? But still  transformed by the suffering.
The Latin roots for suffering are the same roots as the word passion. In today's reading from Mark 15 we hear of the suffering and burial of Christ. In the church we call this 'The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ.' Theologians have discussed and agonized over whether the suffering of the Christ was 'ordained' or whether it was a series of bad choices that could have turned out differently at any one turn of these events. Truthfully, we will never know in this lifetime. What I do know is that we, like millions of others, have been affected, transformed and changed by the death, suffering, burial and Resurrection of this man. What it means is that in the midst of any of our suffering there is hope for new life and a possibility that our suffering may have meaning and purpose.
i don't believe that suffering, disaster and trauma are pre-ordained. Yet, at the same time suffering is a part of our existence. from little things to devasting traumas we have little control over events that break our heart and shake our soul. Yet, we do have control over what is brought forth from the suffering, lonliness and abandoment of the suffering we share. Our choice, nay, our calling is to look into the deep dark chasm of the sometimes frightening realities of life and through faith in God see the message of hope and new life.