Today is the saddest day in the Christian calendar and in three days, we will be celebrating the gladdest day. It is where sorrow meets joy, where pain meets blissful healing. Compassion, which is derived from the term "suffering with" is the empathic bridge to balancing the paradoxical feelings which impact our thoughts as we try to understand the layers of meaning behind the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is compassion which allows us to envision in our hearts that His sacrifice, painful and bloody almost beyond comprehension, was out of love and forgiveness.
Grief and sorrow provides the gift of love and forgiveness......
We all suffer.............as Dostoevsky stated......"to live is to suffer........" I don't believe we could ever grasp the purity of gladness without the true understanding of suffering. We wouldn't know if we had nothing to compare it to would we? This weekend, we are offered the clearest connection to this life realization all within a couple of days. Not only that, we are offered a chance to recognize the gift of life, to speak the word of gratitude and to hopefully take the next step in our personal journeys towards a life filled with acts of love and kindness.
I can't help but perseverate today over the many many suffering spots in this world, where poverty, violence, oppression and killings are a way of life for millions of human beings. I read a diary post of a missionary living in Malawi this morning which touched me deeply. I listened on the radio to a man who lost his whole family in the killings in Rwanda, and how he has reclaimed his life and his joy piece by piece while living here in Canada. And I watched some of the secretly taped videos that have slipped out of Tibet, listened to the journalists describe the situation in the small villages which have never erupted in anger before. I watched the Dalai Lama as he spoke out against the violence by threatening to resign. There is such suffering in oppression.
Good Friday may be a Christian holy day, but today it feels as though it embraces the multi-hues of faith, and the many human beings who are on the hurting side of grief and sorrow.
And the only thing I can think to do is pray. I wish I knew how.
8 comments:
it is almost incomprehensible... so often prayer is all we have, I wish I knew how too Dana, and I wish it were enough...
Beautiful, bittersweet post my friend. Wishing you and yours a Happy Easter. xo
As always, your posts are the spiritual peaks of my day. Thank you for this. You type and the Spirit speaks!
Katie....i do find it overwhelming when I take the time to stop and think about the conflicts all around the world.
Tara...thank you. Happy Easter to you and David as well.
Under....Thank you so much. There are definately times when that is exactly how it feels. This week, I've been on a roll again when it flows like a river from a place beyond me.
I think this post is a prayer.
This is a wonderful post, Dana....And I hope I don't offend you by saying, I have no true understanding of the TRUE spiritual significance of this weekend. Oh I know the facts, of course, but because my religious upbringing which did not include Jesus or Christianity, I have no frame of reference for the belief in what took place and which is signified this entire weekend, culminating in Easter Sunday.
I certainly understand the terrible things that are happening in the world and right here in our own backyard right here in The U.S, and of course have a close relationship to what happened in Germany and Poland, and Lithuiania, etc., etc., etc...in those terrible dark years of Hitler and the so called "Final Solution"...What I do know is: The way one can make a difference in the world is in finite ways---that is, being caring and loving and understanding on an every day basis to ones neighbors and friends and reaching out one-to-one to help someone else in need---I don't know how the worlds problems can be solved any other way....I believe God is in each of us. What we do; How we behave towards others; all this has God in it, if one has nurtured The God inside....I always site Jesus as an example of a truly loving non-judgemental all accepting man...And often wonder how so many people who profess deep belief in Jesus can "act" in such un-Christ-like ways....I find this difficult to understand. So many people act in such Un-Christian-Like ways, all the while shouting about their belief in Christ and Christianity. A cunundrum, isn't it?
I wish you a really Blessed Easter Weekend Dana, and hope that as we move along in this life and in this world, that more people will be enlightened to the Joy of Great Acts Of True Kindness and True Love and Acceptance of their fellow men and women.
I echo Naomi's sentiments exactly, in fact, I couldn't have put it better myself.
I also wanted to wish you, Jamie and your beautiful family a very Happy and Safe Easter Dana. God bless you for being the wonderful, caring person that you are.
Naomi....that was beautifully expressed and I wholeheartedly agree. thank you for writing it so beautifully.
It's only been recently that I have even put a great deal of thought into Easter since I was an adolescent. There is a tremendous amount of mystery in it all, and it takes a big leap of faith in me to try to accept and grasp it all. I'm still in a place with respect to my acceptance of a religious journey where I can't quite let go of my hesitations and questions. Though I believe it's very important to keep questioning, I still am sitting on the doubting fence and I don't know when or if I will ever jump off and embrace it all.
However, I'm really ok with that, and am in no hurry as I have always believed that for me, my religious journey will take my lifetime and perhaps beyond.
One of the important aspects that I have accepted and makes me feel grounded is the Sermon on the Mount.....the life directing lessons are truly what I believe we should strive to grab hold of.
Gypsy......:) Thank you......I'm so glad our virtual paths have crossed. Stay in touch! Happy Easter.
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