I have been pondering the place of suffering in the Christian life a great deal lately, as I have been experiencing suffering myself with more intensity than usual. How is it that Saint Paul can exhort believers to "rejoice always," when Christ has commanded us to take up the cross? Christ Himself by no means rejoiced on the road to Calvary, after all. I try to offer my own suffering for either the general or the specific needs of others, and I wish fiercely that I might be allowed to know that this offering is efficacious; not knowing causes me to grieve more, in what seems like an endless cycle.
I found
this blog today. It is written by a doctoral student in classics at Oxford, and beautifully explains theodicy, the paradoxical permission of suffering by God, who is nonetheless all good. I am going to be reading this blog regularly, and thought perhaps some of my readers would like it, too.
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3 comments:
This morning's Magnificat has a piece by Fr. Tugwell, O.P., who notes that joy is the reserve by which we endure our sufferings. I read it and meditated on it during my walk.
I read that, TQ, and found it astonishing. I'm going to reread it. Thanks for pointing it out.
A timely post for me... thank you.
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