An Easter Reflection on Suffering, Death, and Resurrection
There is no compassion without suffering, no transformation without death.
No growth without decay, no development without loss, no complexity without danger.
Imagine how it feels for a loving God to know there is no other choice for any of it?
God maybe saddened when the first stars burned out, or the first solar systems were ripped apart by black holes.
But how did it feel when the first cells dissolved? The first aggression formed, the selfishness of viruses found, the graying of once brilliant flowers into dust?
And oh dear God, how did you survive the agony of dying flesh, the terrors of predation, and finally the last horrified gasps of consciousness confronting cessation?
…
There is no suffering without compassion. No death that doesn’t offer transformation into something wonderfully new. Something that shines, something full of creative light for all.
There is no sadness that doesn’t deepen love. And imagine that infinite love, infinity upon infinity, depth becoming unimaginable depths, as the divine heart loved with richer abandon, because of everything, because of each and every one of us.
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And that is a definition of Grace.
I really like this thought: “There is no suffering without compassion.” I once thought of suffering as something to avoid at all costs. But when I surrendered and gave up fighting it, I glimpsed that compassion which is everywhere and always. Just remembering that supports my journey towards whatever is next.