The scandal of the gospel is that Christ came simultaneously as a sufferer and for the suffering. And at that and to make matters more confusedly interesting, most suffering is senseless. Even pain at the expense of a hot stove is senseless. Although we can derive meaning from it -- that we should not put our hand here or there -- it is senseless nonetheless.
This idea, that suffering is senseless, is kind of counter linguistic, for the phrase "senseless" implies that what is at stake is something without sense. Yet, as we know, suffering is far from sense-less. In fact, it is full of sensuosity. Instead, what we mean by this phrase "senseless" is that suffering is outside of the pale of normal human endeavor. As sensuous animals, we do not try for it (unless of course we are pathological). In other words, suffering, as such, is not a sense for which we try to grasp, but rather the very thing for which we try to avoid.
"No pain, no gain."
A voice from the crowd chimes in, right at this moment in this blog post, to get a rise. I say that the adage doesn't approach what we mean by suffering. No one sticks his hand on a stove to grow. No one chooses cancer.
No, it is counterintuitive to embrace suffering. It is a scandal to our human appetites. It is upside down.
It is God hanging on a tree. Dead.
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| SUCCESS |
And if that Successory poster was not enough for you, watch the history of His followers unfold. Upside down versions of above, boiling vats of oil, death in childbirth, short lives. Sign me up, right? We don't sign up. Just turn on the television, to find out what we prefer:
He's like way awesome.
And we wonder why western civilization sits at the dawn of its extinction.
So what spurred this post? Two things.
First, all of my children are or have been sick. Throwing up. It has been miserable. Work has been good, honest, but grueling. It has been raining. My knee hurts on and off. Now, I don't mention all of this to complain. I'm not complaining. I'm telling you what motivated me to write this post. Remember?
Second, I'm reminded of my conversion to the Catholic faith. It is almost four years now. It was a conversion, despite my already converted heart to Christ. In a way, it represents my complete and total conversion to Christ. Why?
Because the Church holds up suffering as she does. She holds it up high, as high as her founder held it. She reminds all of us that the cross is both our history and our destiny. That the kings of this world have it all wrong, and that the king of this world had it all right. Yes, he asks us, "Will you live for me?" But unless that grain of wheat die, it can never live.
So I return to my opening theme.
Will we turn away from suffering disgusted? Or, will we see something more? As Catholics, the Church asks us to see something more. To see our connectedness, not only with each other, but ultimately with the One for whom bore the marks of our temporal suffering to make those marks fill up an eternal scale.
I struggle to succumb to my human appetites. I want to turn away from suffering. I thank God for Mother Church -- and for Her Lord that will never lead her away from the cross. Even St. John noticed a lamb slain in heaven. Let us not forget.
Amen.
