Suffering is sacred ground
Richard Rohr wrote it in his book The Divine Dance…
“Dissolution is the only thing that allows the soul to go to a deeper place.”
Oh, my heart resonated with this. This is why I call suffering sacred ground. We can use it to go to that deeper place, the place where meaning is, where all things precious are, where wounds can be exchanged for wisdom, joy, peace. Suffering, as dissolution, as a falling apart, is the very thing that allows us to contemplate this Christmas-thing, this baby in a manger, this God coming to us, and see it as it is meant to be seen!
How? Oh, come on! See how suffering strips away the trivial. It is ruthless in its identification of all things that do not cut it — alcohol, drugs, work, shopping, gambling, cynicism. These do not ease our pain in any kind of lasting way. They do not address the underlying wounds. This we have learned from our suffering. Now, train this keen eye on God. Sit here under the Juniper and watch! Let your bitterness, your questions just roll down the hill for now and look. Look with that suffering eye, the eye that knew
how you were being treated as a child was wrong;
how the adults around you were behaving was wrong;
how the pain of being picked on, cast out, harmed was wrong.
That eye is wise! Cast that now toward God and breathe deeply…
“Show me the way I should walk, for to you I lift up my soul.” (Psalm 143:8)
“The Lord is near to all who call upon him…” (Psalm 145:18)
“In my distress I called upon the Lord and cried to my God; From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.” (Psalm 18:7)
God, in his mercy, uses our suffering to strip away all that does not matter and points us toward all that does!
Reflection
In what ways has your suffering proven to be sacred ground?
Prayer
Dear God, yes, suffering has taught me many things. But, Lord, it is still so heavy. I am not who I want to be. Come, Lord, continue to work with me to ease this burden and use it to not only transform how I see, but who I am. As I prepare to celebrate Christmas, help me to bring my suffering to You so it can be sacred ground.
