Aug 2007
Don't waste your suffering
650 killed in
flash floods in China. 9 blown-up in Iraq. 6 missing
in a mine in America. 4 killed in a car crash in
Ireland. In today’s world the numbers are made to
matter, or the geography. Yet each tells its own tale
of sorrow and heartbreak. And then there are the
countless thousands whose stories never make the
news: your mother, your son, your brother, your
neighbour, you.
The long claws of suffering reach out and leave their filthy tracks over all of us. Death, disease, deterioration, depression, despair.
Yet just because it is almost universal doesn’t make it any easier to accept. Something deep inside us cries out for a reason – “Why is this happening to me?” – or perhaps not a reason, because a reason would do us little good. Instead, what we actually want is something to give us hope, something that will pull us through.
Some religions teach that we to are to bear it – there is no other course. Others teach that peace comes when we can ignore our suffering and rise above it. Still others teach that it is part of the cycle of karma.
Yet I suspect for most the reality of suffering cries out for a much earthier answer, something intensely real and helpful.
Is it possible to more than simply cope with suffering? Is the best we can do just to fill ourselves up with tablets and put on a brave face?
As a Christian, and as a pastor I believe that there is an answer. The hope that the Bible holds out is deep, profound and practical. The Bible teaches that there is both a reason and a resource. There is hope and there is help. It is earthed in reality and shows that we can more than conquer our suffering. We can take our suffering and triumph over it and see it used for good both in us and around us.
The great tragedy of this world is not that we suffer – that is inevitable. The great tragedy is that people waste their suffering, by missing out on the purpose for which it was given.
More needs to be said, and I will be speaking on Sunday evening 2nd September on what the Bible has to say about, ‘More than Conquering your Suffering’ at Milford Reformed Presbyterian Church, Kilmacrenan Road, at 8pm. Why not come along and hear more?
The long claws of suffering reach out and leave their filthy tracks over all of us. Death, disease, deterioration, depression, despair.
Yet just because it is almost universal doesn’t make it any easier to accept. Something deep inside us cries out for a reason – “Why is this happening to me?” – or perhaps not a reason, because a reason would do us little good. Instead, what we actually want is something to give us hope, something that will pull us through.
Some religions teach that we to are to bear it – there is no other course. Others teach that peace comes when we can ignore our suffering and rise above it. Still others teach that it is part of the cycle of karma.
Yet I suspect for most the reality of suffering cries out for a much earthier answer, something intensely real and helpful.
Is it possible to more than simply cope with suffering? Is the best we can do just to fill ourselves up with tablets and put on a brave face?
As a Christian, and as a pastor I believe that there is an answer. The hope that the Bible holds out is deep, profound and practical. The Bible teaches that there is both a reason and a resource. There is hope and there is help. It is earthed in reality and shows that we can more than conquer our suffering. We can take our suffering and triumph over it and see it used for good both in us and around us.
The great tragedy of this world is not that we suffer – that is inevitable. The great tragedy is that people waste their suffering, by missing out on the purpose for which it was given.
More needs to be said, and I will be speaking on Sunday evening 2nd September on what the Bible has to say about, ‘More than Conquering your Suffering’ at Milford Reformed Presbyterian Church, Kilmacrenan Road, at 8pm. Why not come along and hear more?
Rules of the Road
So we’ve all
been issued with a free copy of “The Rules of the
Road”. Ours arrived in last week, but it was only
today that I got round to opening them.
I’m sorry to see them being issued—that means that I wont have marvel at people pulling onto roundabouts in front of me, or stopping on the roundabout to let me on to it. No more will people think that green means ‘Go’ and red means ‘Go faster’. No more will people think that that fancy little stick on the side of the steering column is for hanging their Magic Tree air freshener on; instead they will use it to let others know what direction they are turning. No more will people ignore the specially prepared place in the middle of some roads where you can pull into when you are turning right, so that you don’t block the traffic.
Alas I will miss the quirks and foibles of my fellow drivers. And doubtless they will miss mine. The ‘Rules of the Road’ will fix it all. A driver’s life will be idyllic and peaceful, even in the traffic jams which snarl up Letterkenny.
That’s if it’s made it out of the plastic wrapper it came in.
Go on, have you opened yours yet? Be honest—or is it still sitting on the kitchen worktop? Sure we all know what’s in it—what would we need to read that for?
It’s funny that no matter how bad a driver we are, the problem always lies with others. In our own minds we think that we aren’t that bad. We can always point to someone who is worse than us—“You think I’m bad, should see my great uncle Horatio!”
That’s the flaw in giving everyone a copy of the Rules of the Road—no-one thinks they need it. I know, because it’s the same with Bibles. Most homes have one, but when was the last time you cracked it open? Is its spine still in pristine condition, like the day you got it? Perhaps it’s sitting on the shelf in a cupboard right beside the “Rules of the Road” which you got years ago when you did your driving test—that special shelf where important-but-never-to-be-looked-at books are kept.
Doubtless if we read it we’d find that there’s part of our lives we’ve been using to hang a Magic Tree air freshener on which instead has a much more important role to play. For example, our conscience. What is that little voice that nags at us and tells us something is wrong? Is it something that we hang a few good deeds on to freshen up our lives a bit, or did the manufacturer put it there for a greater purpose?
Or we’d find that the symbol which looks like a crossroads sign has a significance far beyond anything we ever imagined.
You’ll need to crack open God’s ‘Rules for Life’ to find out.
I’m sorry to see them being issued—that means that I wont have marvel at people pulling onto roundabouts in front of me, or stopping on the roundabout to let me on to it. No more will people think that green means ‘Go’ and red means ‘Go faster’. No more will people think that that fancy little stick on the side of the steering column is for hanging their Magic Tree air freshener on; instead they will use it to let others know what direction they are turning. No more will people ignore the specially prepared place in the middle of some roads where you can pull into when you are turning right, so that you don’t block the traffic.
Alas I will miss the quirks and foibles of my fellow drivers. And doubtless they will miss mine. The ‘Rules of the Road’ will fix it all. A driver’s life will be idyllic and peaceful, even in the traffic jams which snarl up Letterkenny.
That’s if it’s made it out of the plastic wrapper it came in.
Go on, have you opened yours yet? Be honest—or is it still sitting on the kitchen worktop? Sure we all know what’s in it—what would we need to read that for?
It’s funny that no matter how bad a driver we are, the problem always lies with others. In our own minds we think that we aren’t that bad. We can always point to someone who is worse than us—“You think I’m bad, should see my great uncle Horatio!”
That’s the flaw in giving everyone a copy of the Rules of the Road—no-one thinks they need it. I know, because it’s the same with Bibles. Most homes have one, but when was the last time you cracked it open? Is its spine still in pristine condition, like the day you got it? Perhaps it’s sitting on the shelf in a cupboard right beside the “Rules of the Road” which you got years ago when you did your driving test—that special shelf where important-but-never-to-be-looked-at books are kept.
Doubtless if we read it we’d find that there’s part of our lives we’ve been using to hang a Magic Tree air freshener on which instead has a much more important role to play. For example, our conscience. What is that little voice that nags at us and tells us something is wrong? Is it something that we hang a few good deeds on to freshen up our lives a bit, or did the manufacturer put it there for a greater purpose?
Or we’d find that the symbol which looks like a crossroads sign has a significance far beyond anything we ever imagined.
You’ll need to crack open God’s ‘Rules for Life’ to find out.