In one of John Travolta’s earliest movies, he was a teen with an auto immune disease. He couldn’t breathe outside air. He had to live, very literally in a bubble otherwise he would die.
Many of us feel this way. We feel like are in a bubble and that nothing bad should ever happen to us. After experiencing a tornado, people will often say, ‘you never expect it to happen to you, and then it does.’ And what do the rest of us think at that moment?
Yeah, right. It’ll never happen to me.
That you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven, who makes his sun to rise upon the good, and bad and rains upon the just and the unjust. ~Matthew 5:45
I remember once listening to a speaker, a woman who was married to a very godly man, a minister. She explained how one day she realized that she had never really suffered in her life. Her family was healthy, her kids were good kids, her husband was great.
Living through what anyone would consider a very difficult marriage, I remember thinking to myself, When people were signing up for what kind of life they would have, I must’ve been in the wrong line.
She proceeded to tell the story of how terrible is was when she broke her arm and she couldn’t do anything for herself for three months.
Three months! That was the extent of her suffering? I thought to myself. If only!
The truth is no one can avoid suffering. It’s what we do with that suffering that makes the difference.
As a general rule, at least in the several different Protestant expressions of faith that I experienced, there is no place for suffering. In fact, some believe that if you suffer at all, you’re in sin. That is a hard place to be.
And Jesus passing by, saw a man, who was blind from his birth, and his disciples asked him: “Rabbi, who hath sinned, this man, or his parents, that he should be born blind? “
Jesus answered, “Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents; but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.” ~John 9:1-3
In the Catholic faith, however, suffering has a significant role in life. Not only for the person suffering, but also for that persons loved ones on this earth and for the larger reality of the realm of the spirit.
It’s a hard concept for me to wrap my head around but I think of it like the talents in the story of the talents in the Bible.
Our suffering has worth. We can make the worth of our suffering grow, whether it’s a short trial, like this minister’s wife, or long-term suffering, like cancer or a life-long disability.
Or we can bury it in the ground by acting like a spoiled brat, kicking and screaming, complaining to everyone how put upon we are.
When we join our suffering with the sufferings of Christ, He uses that value in several ways, not the least of which is for our own good. Suffering gives us the opportunity to grow in holiness.
Who wants holiness, you might wonder? I would answer, anyone who wants to be happy. Holiness can only lead to happiness.
Just ask anyone who is chasing after money, fame, sexual pleasure if they are happy, truly happy, deep down inside. These are the people who commit suicide because they are never satisfied and have no hope of ever being satisfied on their current trajectory.
How we handle suffering is the key to living a naturally supernatural life.
