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Blessed Are the Suffering
The God who suffers is the god of wholehearted love
I used to think that God had nothing to do with suffering…
In my non-religious spiritual days, tapping into God was tapping into the things of happiness and success. God was this energy of sorts that flowed through life awarding people who thought positively with health, cash, and prizes. When you were suffering, you were out of alignment with God. You’d lost your way (started thinking bad thoughts — gasp!) and God would only return once your thoughts took on a more positive tone.
This was great when I was in a good mood. Or when I was in a season that brought in more money, etc. But when times were bad, I’d look around and God would be nowhere to be found. God had moved on to those who were ‘more aligned’.
It’s a helpless, anxiety-inducing place to be, spiritually.
I want to share with you a few lines from 18th-century German writer, Heinrich Heine that I stumbled across the other day.
(Read this one slowly, one sentence at a time, like a meditation…)
“So all day long until the sun went down
they spent in feasting, and the measured feast
matched well their hearts’ desire.
So did the flawless harp held by Apollo
and heavenly songs in choiring antiphon
that all…
