The wholeness of life. Holy wholeness. Being willing to go deep into our pain and suffering.
Why do we think this is depressing, dark, and not a healthy thing to do? This week’s blog is not very long, as for myself, I am pondering one thing. How difficult it is to be with what is. To be willing to even get swallowed up and have to live in the belly of a whale for three days. Knowing, or maybe not knowing, we will be transformed, we will not be the same person when we are finally spit out on the ground. The road back from pain, abandonment, betrayal, moral injury, and addiction is a long road. The road to Nineveh is a long, difficult road for Jonah (Jonas as Thomas Merton writes).
The broken pieces are beautifully put back together and are even more beautiful than before being shattered. I witnessed this transformation in the Veterans I had the privilege of serving and caring for at the end of life.
With all of the new knowledge we have that we didn’t even have fifteen years ago, the diseases of despair are increasing, life span and longevity is decreasing!
With advances in life saving interventions, from cancer, to heart diseases, we are suffering from the consequences of these interventions. Cancer survivors are living, they are living lives with chronic diseases.
How can we do things differently? How can we each as individuals expand our capacity to serve and understand others? To deepen our personal capacity to to make the passage into unitive life.
The joy is in the journey. Who are your companions along the way?
