this produces hope
Photos: Okras (Abelmoschus) and Passion flower (Passiflora) growing at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Capitol Hill, Washington, DC
I’m looking around and wondering how people are coping at this moment in the disrupted life of pandemic- especially the ones who have never had a moment in their lives where things seemed so precarious. Many have suffered great loss of life, relationship, health, economic means, activities with meaning and connection.
Our many traditions teach us something about suffering.
According to Buddhist teachings,
“our feelings and perceptions cause us suffering.”
Dispassion moves us away from making demands of our existence that we do not have the power to fulfill.
According to the writer sending the early Christian community in Rome an encouraging letter
“…we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”
Rabbi Jacob Staub approaches suffering by asking:
“What is the invitation in this?”
He continues,
“I do not mean that God caused this to happen in order to invite my response. But asking that question at the most inspiring and most devastating times invites me to respond as if I am interconnected with all things, in a unity that I call God.”
Even more so, the experience of suffering teaches us something about suffering.
We must reflect if we want to learn.
As the words written to encourage the Romans express, there is an invitation in suffering to test out our beliefs, our values, our priorities. There is an invitation to hope despite the tragedy arund us. For those who persevere through the suffering, reflecting on our feelings and perceptions, pressing to discover an invitation within the suffering, character is strengthened. “Character,” in the original Greek, refers to something tried and true, tested and proven. Our philosophies, behaviors, and beliefs are tested in our suffering and prove their value. When we have character we have clarity.
Having our beliefs tested and making some adjustments gives us the clarity and confidence to look into the future with hope, to put one foot in front of the other with the expectation that goodness and justice and all that is right and beautiful will win in the end.
