Lent 2019: We Are Not Left Alone
March 18, 2019
Dear Allen Temple Family and Friends,
Our Lenten Series continues this week with the theme of Suffering with Reverend Adumasa Adeyemi.
Blessings to you!
Reverend Dr. Jacqueline A. Thompson
Assistant Pastor
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It isn't what happens to us that causes us to suffer; it's what we say to ourselves about what happens. Pema Chodron
We Are Not Left Alone
“Eli-Eli-Lama-Sabachthani”, that is “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”(Matt. 27:45). These are the immortal words shouted by Jesus as he dies on the cross. Jesus’ suffering reminds us of what it means to feel forsaken, without help in a desperate situation. Jesus’ death was not only physical but heightened by his feelings of being rejected and discarded; as a human, he cried out in his suffering.
We too cry out in our suffering, it is a part of our lived experience; none of us will escape it. We will all experience some form of pain; it may be personal relationships, physical or financial; it may be societal as in racism, sexism or injustice. My point is not to be pessimistic but to speak of our human existence as did Solomon in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. I am mindful of a woman grieving the loss of her brother, “His life was not easy and he suffered so long. Chaplain, why does it always have to end like this?” There are no easy answers for these great existential questions.
In the midst of suffering, platitudes, pseudo-empathizing, lesson learners and advice-givers, though well intentioned rings hollow. In the throes of suffering we are often confused, angry, emotional distraught, psychologically exhausted, physically drained and spiritually spent. It is imperative to remember “It isn't what happens to us that cause us to suffer; it's what we say to ourselves about what happens.” It is what we say where our strength comes from, what we say where hope can be found, it is what we say that God is as close as our very breath.
