Suffering in Culture - Part 2

My wife organizes a weekly presentation at our Parish every Tuesday evening, called Spirituality Tuesday. This is a major excerpt from the presentation called Our Experience of Suffering in Culture and in Faith by Sherry Cassedy, which I found to be a beautifully written thought provoking explanation, and exceptionally relevant to our lives. Although my life’s story is different I am grateful to have been present at this presentation, because it so strongly represents my understanding of suffering. Some of it has been edited and some of it hasn’t, but this is her work alone.

We find meaning in suffering by making sense of our lives; by telling a story that makes sense of our past and present experiences. Whether we are aware of it or not, we each have an autobiography that we are constantly revising in light of new experiences. If something like an important death does not make sense, then it is "nonsense." Individuals and communities want to see the world in a way that makes sense, which is why suffering and death force us to see the world differently. When an individual sees the world differently, he or she constructs a new narrative, a new biography of themselves and/or of the cause of their suffering.

After the loss of a loved one, others say in relationship to our circumstances: “I can’t imagine how I could go on”. It’s easy to understand how they can’t imagine what their life would be, because it’s beyond their horizon. Suffering takes us beyond our understanding of ourselves to a new reality that we never imagined. It dispels all notions we have of ourselves and our story, so we find ways to go on, to reconstruct our lives with this new reality at the center as we reorganize our lives around it. We may not be able to see how this mystery is working in us, or imagine a new way of being in the world, but it’s important to recognize that we don’t have to decide everything or know everything. If we try too hard to figure it out, we lose a trusting open spirit. We must learn to trust the path, the next step.

Imagine taking a hike near where you live. The trail is not well marked and in places there is no trail at all. It feels like an adventure as you find your way along the trail; in some places lost altogether only to be found again, stretching out clearly before you. Occasionally, as you are walking and look up ahead all you can see is a seamless field of grass; no path at all, but when you look straight down you can see the path clearly. You may not know where the path is taking you, but you can see the next step. You can trust in the path even without knowing the destination. This can become a life-changing experience, as you learn to let go of knowing where you will be in in the future, simply focusing on the next step in your journey. Remaining a little closer to the present is to be able to breathe into the next moment, to take that next step one day at a time. It allows us to be more comfortable with the mystery, and it allows us to wonder in awe and even in surprise.