When Jesus told us, “Pick up your cross and follow me” he was not encouraging us to walk a masochistic path. Whenever we can avoid unnecessary suffering, we should do so. However, some suffering is absolutely unavoidable, and if we do not courageously embrace it, it can break us, causing us to become cynical, despondent, or nihilistic. When we courageously embrace unavoidable suffering, it has a way of expanding and divinizing us. Most of you know I have an adult stepson who is paralyzed from the shoulders down. His injury occurred when he was 14 years old, ironically, when he was making snow angels for his two younger sisters. Just a few days after his catastrophic injury, he said two things to his family: “We are not going to focus on what I cannot do, but what I can do. There must be something God wants me to do as a paralyzed person that I could not do otherwise.” Ultimately, it is our faith in God’s loving presence and providence that empowers us to embrace unavoidable suffering. Nothing happens to us, but for us.
Beloved God,
When unavoidable suffering comes,
May I trust
In your divine providence.
