Reframing Suffering

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Today, I have mostly wiped the schedule. So much planned, including a badly needed haircut, but my throat is scratchy and my head is achy. I am staying put, taking vitamins and letting my body rest.

There is an idea that we must forge on when our bodies are not well, or when we are lagging behind. Shake it off. Push through it. It’s just a cold etc.

We’ve been told from various pulpits that we must override the weaknesses of the body and not give in. In some religious circles, suffering is recognized as a kind of badge of honour. Maybe this is a nod to St Paul who complained about his unnamed affliction, but continued his missions into foreign and often hostile territories. I have friend who offers her suffering to assist those in Purgatory.

I find all of this confounding, this dislike of the flesh, this denial of our unique beauty. We are made in the image of the Creator. We are all sparks of the Divine. God delights in us and wants us to be joyful and creative. God wants us to be like Christ.

Oh. And Jesus suffered. Jesus went to the cross for us. So we must suffer too? Cue the record scratch.

Let’s be clear. God does not throw down thunderbolts at us. God does not cause us to be ill. God does not wish for us to bear heavy emotional burdens. God does not want our pain. Jesus took that on for us. Willingly. He did it to free us so that we know the LOVE that God showers upon us every minute of our lives.

That got twisted along the way. christianity1