finding God in the wasteland (Isaiah 35:1)
"Suffering doesn't need explanation. The experience of it calls for healing not reason because suffering splits you in two, creates a breach between you and your own existence. The rigid stance you take against your personal pain straining to erase your event, and not to include it in your present, makes you your own murderer. …
Continue reading A life of its own
In my last post, I talked about finding strength for the task that God gives us. This post will touch on the subject of finding meaning through suffering. The verses that made such an impression on me regarding these two subjects are found in Matthew 17: But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Rise, and have no …
God, I cannot sleep, Even though I'm exhausted, I cannot sleep because the pain strikes so deep. So deep it pins me to my bed. I want to get up to pray, to touch his suffering skin, but it hurts too much. The sob lies stillborn in my throat as I think about my son …
Yesterday marked the third year since my lovely 18-year-old cousin Anja died. I saw this picture of her on Facebook, and my already-low spirits plummeted. How can death be God's will? When faced with death and pain, so many people piously fold their hands and gaze heavenward and say, "Thy will be done!" as if it really is God's …
In Mercer Mayor's fun book There's an Alligator Under My Bed, the main character is scared and doesn't want to go to sleep, because he just knows there's an alligator lurking under his bed. He devises an elaborate scheme to escape the alligator and returns to lure it out with food he raids from the fridge. …
I'm sorry that you feel rejected, you mean more to me than you'll ever know. I grew among you, wrapped in love, cradled in grace. You laughed with me in my joys, and held my hand through my pain. When my unborn baby died, you brought roses and wept. Then later you dandled my fat, wriggling babies, …
