{"id":20882,"date":"2022-01-04T09:50:06","date_gmt":"2022-01-04T14:50:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=20882"},"modified":"2022-01-04T10:29:57","modified_gmt":"2022-01-04T15:29:57","slug":"it-cant-be-carried-alone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=20882","title":{"rendered":"It Can&#8217;t Be Carried Alone"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/IDWhCaDgd3Y\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Father Richard teaches that we are transformed by our suffering\u2014not by bearing it apart and alone, but by recognizing our universal connectedness with each other and God: <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I am no masochist, and I surely have no martyr complex, but I do believe that the only way out of deep sadness is to go <em>with it <\/em>and <em>through it. <\/em>Sometimes I wonder if this is what we priests mean when we lift up bread and wine at the Eucharist or communion and say, \u201cThrough him, and with him, and in him.\u201d <strong>I wonder if the only way to spiritually hold suffering\u2014and not let it destroy us\u2014is to recognize that we cannot do it alone. When I try to heroically do it alone, I slip into distractions, denials, and pretending\u2014and <\/strong><em><strong>I do not learn suffering\u2019s softening lessons. <\/strong><\/em><strong>But when I can find a shared meaning for something, especially if it allows me to love God and others in the same action, God can get me through it. I begin to trust the ambiguous process of life.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>When we carry our small suffering in solidarity with the one universal longing of all humanity, it helps keep us from self-pity or self-preoccupation. We know that we are all in this together, and it is just as hard for everybody else.<\/strong> <em>Almost all people are carrying a great and secret hurt, even when they don\u2019t know it. <\/em>When we can make the shift to realize this, it softens the space around our overly defended hearts. It makes it hard to be cruel to anyone. Shared struggle somehow makes us one\u2014in a way that easy comfort and entertainment never can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some mystics even go so far as to say that individual suffering doesn\u2019t exist at all\u2014and that <strong>there is only one suffering, it is all the same, and it is all the suffering of God. The image of Jesus on the cross somehow communicates that to the willing soul. A Crucified God is the dramatic symbol of <\/strong><em><strong>the one suffering <\/strong><\/em><strong>that God fully enters into <\/strong><em><strong>with us<\/strong><\/em>\u2014much more than just <em>for us, <\/em>as we were mostly trained to think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If suffering, even unjust suffering (and all suffering is unjust on some level), is part of one Great Mystery, then I am willing\u2014and even happy, sometimes\u2014to carry my little portion. But <strong>I must trust that it is somehow helping someone or something, and that it matters in the great scheme of things. <\/strong>Etty Hillesum (1914\u20131943), a young Jewish woman who died at Auschwitz, truly believed her suffering was also the suffering of God. She even expressed a deep desire to \u201chelp God\u201d carry some of it. [1] Such freedom and such generosity of spirit are almost unimaginable to me. Colossians 1:24 offers a similarly daring statement in the New Testament. What creates such larger-than-life people? Their altruism is hard to understand by almost any psychological definition of the human person. I believe such people have built their lives on the reality of union with God, Reality, or What Finally Is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarah Young\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I WANT YOU TO\nLEARN A NEW HABIT. Try saying, \u201cI trust You, Jesus,\u201d in response to whatever\nhappens to you. If there is time, think about who I am in all My Power and\nGlory; ponder also the depth and breadth of My Love for you. This simple\npractice will help you see Me in every situation, acknowledging My sovereign\ncontrol over the universe. When you view events from this perspective\u2014through\nthe Light of My universal Presence\u2014fear loses its grip on you. Adverse\ncircumstances become growth opportunities when you affirm your trust in Me no\nmatter what. You receive blessings gratefully, realizing they flow directly\nfrom My hand of grace. Your continual assertion of trusting Me will strengthen\nour relationship and keep you close to Me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>PSALM 63:2; I have\nseen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>ISAIAH 40:10\u201311; 10\nSee, the Sovereign LORD comes with power, and he rules with a mighty arm. See,\nhis reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him. ^11He tends his\nflock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close\nto his heart; he gently leads those that have young.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>PSALM 139:7\u201310; Where\ncan I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? \u2078If I go up to\nthe heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. \u2079If\nI rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,\n^10even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Young, Sarah.\nJesus Calling Morning and Evening Devotional (Jesus Calling\u00ae) (p. 8). Thomas\nNelson. Kindle Edition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Father Richard teaches that we are transformed by our suffering\u2014not by bearing it apart and alone, but by recognizing our universal connectedness with each other and God: I am no masochist, and I surely have no martyr complex, but I do believe that the only way out of deep sadness is to go with it [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20882"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20882"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20882\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20884,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20882\/revisions\/20884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}