Coughing it up

At the request of Amanda, here is a blog about the joy of suffering.

"We always find that those who walked closest to Christ were those who had to bear the greatest trials."

~St. Teresa of Avila

"The greatest greatest honor God can do for a soul is not to give it much, but to ask much of it."

~ St. Therese of Lisieux

"Suffering is the very best gift He has to give us. He gives it only to His chosen friends."

~ St. Therese of Lisieux

As a senior devil in the Lowerarchy of Hell, Screwtape writes to a junior tempter, Wormwood, with helpful hints on how unsuspecting human beings may be lured by temptation.
One counsel from Screwtape concerns the relationship between body and soul, in particular the relationship between prayer and kneeling. He says: "At the very least, humans can be persuaded that the bodily position makes no difference to their prayers, for they constantly forget, what you Wormwood must always remember, that they are animals and that whatever their bodies do affects their souls."

~CS Lewis, the screwtape letters

I am slowly realizing the profound grace available to us humans in our suffering-- that even if the Divine Will is only good towards us, that that purgative flame surrounding us can often produce a resulting holiness that wasn’t possible to achieve any other way.

There was recently on ravelry’s DAR group a discussion about suffering. (those of you who are ravelers can read the thread here.) I was not surprised to find that in it, many professing Christians felt threatened by the idea that suffering could be redemptive-- or bring joy.

I think the first root of this misconception that is so prevalent among protestants is the idea that there is a fear of "works." We fear that we might be trying to add to what was done on the cross, or somehow say that our suffering is comparable to what Our Lord endured. But I’m the first to say that that, quite simply, can’t be true--- if we love God, we need not fear that by acknowledging our own crosses (and we Christians know that the way of the Cross is the way of Life) we are somehow overstepping our bounds. God knows how we feel about the plights we face. He knows what struggles we are experiencing daily, and exactly how much we can handle. He will not, the scriptures say, allow us to be tempted MORE than we can handle, and and He will always provide a "way out." So no, by saying that suffering can be redemptive, Catholics are most certainly not "adding to the work of Christ." We recognize that what Christ did for us is ALL that was needed... sufficient, and complete. We do, however, recognize that by acknowledging our own "personal" crosses, we glorify the One who was crucified and show ourselves to be His disciples. In other words, we aren’t adding to the Cross, but we are learning to be LIKE Christ, and thus showing obedience and love for Him.

The second problem protestants often face when dealing with the question of suffering is the "prosperity" mentality. Now, we’ve all heard the TBN crowd preaching that God wants to put a ferrari and a golden toilet in every believers’ billion-dollar home, so long as they are tithing to said preachers’ ministry, right? I’m not talking about those scam artists. What I am talking about, though, is a root that is just barely visible above the surface of the protestant, particularly the non-denominational, movement as a whole. That prosperity vision is there, even if it isn’t about becoming a millionaire. The Word of Faith stuff hasn’t completely infiltrated a lot of the Charismatic universe, but it’s still sort of lurking in the corner, if you know what I mean. There is a lot of talk about "our blessing," our "prosperity," our "seed faith," our "abundant harvest," etc. And while most solid, protestant preachers aren’t telling you that God will make you a millionaire if you want it bad enough (I still love Pastor Fletcher telling us that if we wake up one morning and a Ferrari is in our driveway, it is STOLEN. :P) they will, however, tell you that it is God’s perfect will that we be healed, able to pay all our bills, happy, healthy, etc. Sure, to a degree. But what I’m saying is that maybe, just maybe, there is a place called "middle ground" where God might will us to experience something difficult because in His wisdom, he KNOWS that we need to learn something, or perhaps just experience something, because that’s what happens in this fallen world.

I’ve got a lot of friends who, for example, come down with a common cold and immediately start rooting into their "Secret" heart, asking God to reveal any unconfessed sin. I have a lot of friends who question whether I’m (and I quote) " in faith" when I don’t know how I’m going to pay my rent at the end of the month, because SURELY, if I were being a good steward, faithful and repentant, etc, I would have not just money for rent but also a savings account, right?

To which I now feel confident asking: "Why?" Wayne’s mother nearly had a heart attack when she heard that he had taken a vow of poverty and that I would soon do so. You would have thought she had heard us tell her we were mass murderers something. And why is that? Because there is a deep rooted fear there that somehow, some way, spiritual poverty is in opposition to godly abundance. It’s a total forgetting (or willful ignoring) of the beattitude that says "blessed are the poor, for they shall inherit the earth."

I recently had lunch with a good friend who I find absolutely fascinating, who essentially told me she had had her share of suffering. Listening to some of her story, I couldn’t help but sympathize.... she wasn’t lying, to say the least! Yet at the same time, I am able to go back into my self and see the incredible suffering I’ve also experienced and say... me too. And so have you, reader. I know that you can go back and find pain that you can’t even explain. Suffering is a human language. We understand it. And while it doesn’t COME from God, we know from scripture that He uses all things for good for those who are called acording to His purpose.

Which brings me to the extremely Catholic lesson of simply Offering it Up. (In our Tuesday Morning Women’s book study we have a joke about calling it "Coughing it up.")

As Catholics, we know that our priests, from Hebrews 12 (and I’m going from memory on that, I may have to go back and edit for the correct ref) are offering up spiritual sacrifices. That is their main office, their spiritual work. Not just ANY spiritual sacrifices, but particularly the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross.... at the mass, we are brought to Calvary in a spiritual situation that resembles a time warp and we find ourselves face to face with Our Lord on the Cross, His mother at His side, and we offer Him back to God in thanksgiving and as reparation for the sins of all the world. You guys have heard us repeat it just at the consecration, when we say to the priest: "May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands, for the praise and glory of His name, for our good and the good of all His Church."

There is a spiritual lesson there for us. As members of the "priesthood of all believers," we must also exercise this purpose: to offer up spiritual sacrifices. And how does one begin to do this? By offering up his or her OWN crosses. And this brings us back to placing meaning in our own suffering. Not only do we suffer, but it can bring us to a deeper prayer life, a greater union with God, and with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Now that isn’t to say that we should SEEK OUT suffering. Those around us who truly suffer (and I know many of you frequently read my blog!) would tell you that you do not want to exchange places with them. Suffering will come. It’s a part of this system of things, it’s a part of our fallenness. Don’t invite it, but when it comes, embrace it.

So, what is the practical application of all this?

My friend Kathleen blew me away with the realization of what this all meant to a Catholic when she described her labor during a women’s meeting. She had set a number of intentions to her labor pain, and every time she was agonizing through a contraction, her husband reminded her: "Think of your intentions, honey!"

I’ve learned to incorporate this into my own life... whilst reaching for the chocolate bar, slowly pulling my hand back and telling the Lord that I offer it up for the spiritual peace and sanctification of my friend Amanda. While powering up the computer for my morning ravelry session, hitting the "shut down" button and offering it up for more communication in my marriage. While biting my tongue not to respond to my husband’s harsh words with an insult, offering it up for my children’s purity. And as basic, and menial as it sounds, my prayer life has completely changed. It’s as if all these years I knew the spiritual benefits of fasting (heck, I fasted all the time!!!) but I never KNEW the reasons WHY IT WAS GOOD..... and man, I’m telling you, I’ll never look at suffering quite the same.

We talked about optimism and fortitude today at our women’s group. It takes both, in large quantities, to understand our suffering when suffering hits. But in the deepest recesses of my soul, the place where only God and sometimes Satan truly see me, I know that I now hold one of the greatest weapons against self pity and false victimization.... and thus one of the greatest tools for holiness.

Blessed be God forever.