What Is In It For Me? Others?

Dear TSJ Peeps,t

I am wondering . . .

Have you ever had a very bad day or gone through a very bad time in your life that surely seemed to make no sense (at the time anyway)?

Of course you have.  And it may not even have been personal to you, but it could have been something like a natural disaster or some form of evil that hit “close to home”and stirred you to tears of sadness or outbursts (wails) of anguish or anger.

Such experiences and reactions are as old as creation itself, I think. Reading biblical stories convinces me of this!

How about you? How have you handled life’s moments, hours, weeks or years of suffering?

Is your first reaction to ask, “What is in it for me?”  Not likely!  But it may be a good question after all.

I can share with you I have known several periods of suffering in my own life.  I have even lived long enough to look back and see a bigger picture that contains personal meaning in my suffering.

But I still do not easily ask, “What’s in it for me?”  Or even “what’s in it for others.”  Not while I am actually in it. 

For example, right now I am not very inclined to ask that question.  My heart aches as we we face Tom’s cancer journey.  Each day he is well is a day we no longer take for granted. 

Clearly, there are no quick fixes for times of life’s unspeakable troubles–be they natural events or evil.

There obviously are no easy or satisfying answers to our suffering. In fact, I must admit that even telling you that my faith in the One Shepherd of us all makes me fearful that it sounds like a platitude.  Who likes platitudes when they are in the midst of sadness or fear or anxiety?

Yet, it is the one thing that has always rung True for me on Planet Earth. God is the I Am.  Always now. Always present.  Always active. And that connects us all in a web of love.

How do we equip our children for those inevitable times of loss or pain or illness?

Maybe building a web is one answer.  They too need a web of community and an inner web of spiritual strength.

After all, a strong spider web holds up in the rain.  

A web is like a safety net that can soften our fall from faith, like a net around a trampoline or under an acrobat performing at staggering heights. It is grace in action for us in tough times.

Because I have been teaching a Sunday School class of delightful, well loved (or well shepherded), wonderful (wonder filled) sixth and seventh graders, I find myself immersed in wonder.

This week as I pondered the story of Joseph from the book of Genesis, finding meaning from bad times, even suffering, became my focus.  I wonder, with only two more classes left..what message do I most want them to get?

Our theme has turned out to be something we made up:  “Life is not always fair, but God is always there.”  Hmm.

Maybe we will think about Joseph. From the book of Genesis.

Who would have thought that this favored child (remember the coat of many colors?) …. would go check on his brothers who were watching the flocks one afternoon, only to be captured by them, stripped of his robe, thrown into a cistern, then sold to become a slave in  Egypt ….. would end up saving thousands of lives in a time of serious drought.  Joseph knew bad days, suffering, and tough times.

What was in it for him?  Certainly not freedom from tough times!

But the story is filled with the staying power of faith in God and his faithful adherence to governing his own behavior before the One God. Ultimately it meant him forgiving his brothers.

What was in it for others?  

God blessed others through Joseph’s faithfulness, forgiveness, wisdom, and honor.

So, if we ask ourselves “what is in it for me?” It may be a good question after all.  More than likely there are mercies and blessings to be discovered.

What is in our suffering for others?  We all know many stories that point to the compassionate nature of the human being to help each other in tough times.

This WW is coming to you late but Tom explained to “the boys” that I had to be away and they would have to “cool their jets” this morning.  They waited and this is what they wanted me to share.

They say, “Find a faith in your Shepherd. It will sustain you so you can play in the pastures with a peaceful heart.”