Sweet amid bitter
Fr. Tony’s Paw Prints Message
June 24, 20122
“The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to your own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. I have said this to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation. But be of good cheer: I have overcome the world.”
(John 16:30-33)
The strange thing about this saying of Jesus in John’s Gospel is that Jesus is pictured saying it at the very moment when he knows he will be delivered over to the Romans for death. “I have overcome the world,” right as it seems that the world has overcome him.
This upside down, topsy-turvy take on the world and suffering is reflected in other sayings by Jesus: “your pain will turn into joy” (John 16:20), “to gain life, you must first lose it (Luke 9:23), and “pick up your cross, and follow me” (Mark 8:34).
An old Zen story tells of a traveler who is surprised by a tiger. He runs, the tiger pursuing. Coming to a cliff, the man grabs a vine and swings down over the edge. The tiger waits above, sniffing at the suspect vine. The man looks down: there, far below, is another tiger looking up, waiting to eat him. Then, to make things worse, two mice, one white and one black, start to gnaw away at the vine! The man notices a small wild strawberry growing in the rock beside him. With his one free hand, he reaches out to pluck and eat the berry. How sweet it tasted!
Suffering is hard. It takes patience when all our resources are used up. It takes hope when no more hope is left. Graceful suffering means not regretting what has been lost, instead focusing on what little we are able to do. It means letting go of trying to control outcomes, and only thinking about what next step we must take.
George MacDonald wrote, “The Son of God suffered unto death, not that man might not suffer, but that their suffering might be like his.” Praying to a God who has suffered, and indeed, still suffers, helps us meet what we cannot avoid. Knowing that Jesus is right there on the cross along with us helps us see with him the victory even when things seem darkest.
Grace and Peace,
Fr. Tony+
No comments:
Post a Comment