12/50: Faithful and Honest Suffering
Carrie Newcomer sings to paradox.
“O God, thank you for your revelation
about death
and illness
and sorrow.
Thank you for speaking so plainly to us,
for calling us all friends
and hovering over us;
for extending your arms out to us.
We cannot stand on our own;
we fall into death without you.
We fall from faith, left to our own.
We are really friendless without you.
Your extended arms fill us with joy,
expressing love,
love caring and carrying,
asking and receiving our trust.
You have our trust, God,
and our faith,
and our bodies
and all that we are and possess.
We fear nothing when with you,
safe to stretch out and help others,
those troubled in faith,
those troubled in body.
Father help us to do with our bodies what we proclaim,
that our faith may be known to you
and to others,
and be effective in all the world. ”
All the best answers are a paradox because life is paradoxical and when we’re talking about ultimate things like suffering and God, we are in the territory of Mystery. But that doesn’t prevent us from trying to pin things down. There is a sense of satisfaction in taking one side or another. When it comes to suffering, there are two ways to take sides.
First, give into randomness. It’s tempting to follow the logic of the writer of Ecclesiastes: “Eat and drink and find find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of the life God gives us; for this is our lot.” (Ecclesiastes 5:18). This position has integrity, but it alone doesn’t allow for something bigger than us or a deeper meaning to our lives.
Second, insist on meaning without acknowledging random suffering. In this frame, everything has a reason and nothing is out of God’s control. I know many who hold the perspective, but my sense is that it favors the privileged and those for whom things turn out okay in the end. It doesn’t have much to offer to the victims of tragedy except a future promise it will all work out in the end.
There is a third option, which is to stand in the paradox — to hold meaning and randomness. This is where I aim to stand, but it involves four movements:
Separate the goodness of results from the badness of events. I spoke about this earlier, but when we can see the meaning that comes despite randomness, it allows us to affirm the goodness of God without denying random suffering.
Redefine the way we understand God’s power. In a Christian perspective, we look through Jesus to define God. In Jesus, we see a distinct form of power. Jesus affirms meaning and beauty by celebrating life, embracing children and revealing injustice. And Jesus suffered. He wept. He died. His power was in being with the world, not being over the world. This is an old debate, but when I look at Jesus, I don’t see a power that overrules human action and randomness.
Resist random suffering. Again, we see Jesus healing, loving the unlovable, calling out authorities who misuse power. Standing in the paradox with Jesus requires us to also resist random suffering by insisting on mercy, justice, kindness, compassion and truth-telling.
Lastly, hold paradox with faith. Any theodicy requires faith since we are speaking of Mystery. Even in paradox, I put my faith in a larger reality, trusting that life goes beyond death and that radical suffering does not have the last word.
This is how I’ve put randomness and meaning together. It hasn’t prevented me from suffering, but it has helped me hold it with honesty and integrity. May it help you find your way through the beauty and pain of this world as well.