love for others

A few weeks ago, in church, our youth group shared their experiences of their recent visit to Tonga.  All the "born here" aussies said how confronting the poverty and scant resources were.  They were not used to dirt floors, cooking fires outside the buildings, basic bathroom facilities and many other inconveniences. They were not used to eating, sleeping and living in a very small house, with only a few rooms.

One young man however, did not feel this.  He was a recently-arrived refuge from Sudan.  He told how the conditions in Tonga made him yearn for his homeland.  He spoke briefly of his homesickness and my heart yearned along with him.  I felt his pain. I felt great compassion for him.  I prayed for God to ease the sorrow of separation he feels for his home.  Perhaps he has family who are still in Sudan.

I have never been a refugee; never had to flee my beautiful Australia;  never had to leave family behind in a beloved, but broken and conflicted land.

Sometimes I don't feel loved by God.  Sometimes, I feel punished by Him.  Yet, when my heart ached for this young man's alienation and sorrow, I knew that this was God's doing.  Of myself, why would I feel another's grief or suffering?  Love is from God, and when we love others, or cry with them because of their suffering, God is there, in that space, with both of us.http://wwuca.unitingchurch.org.au/

I've been watching Miss Fisher's Murder mysteries on the abc.  I love to see the beautiful clothes the main character wears.  I was thinking today, that when I get to heaven, I will be able to wear whatever clothes I like;  they might be made from the finest silk with exquisite design and cut;  beautiful soft drapy clothes with lovely colours and accessories.  And there won't be any pain or suffering in my world there, so I will be able to indulge my penchant for beautiful clothes, to my hearts delight, because there will not be the need to give my money instead, to mothers who have not enough food for their children, or villages which have no fresh water, or fathers who can't afford to send their children to school.

But then I thought that really, the clothes I wear in heaven, will be all the treasures I've gathered on earth;  I will be sartorial in all the faith I've kept, the kindness I've done;  the kind words I've spoken;  the times when I've turned away wrath with a gentle reply;  the times I've forgiven those who have hurt me;  there will be thousands of garments to choose from, all spun from the gold and precious stones which I've collected on my earthly journey. 

God in dark valleys

All of us have times in our lives when we pass through a very dark valley.  Some of us walk them over and over;  some of us have enduring sorrows or illness which impact us every day. We cope in different ways.  In all our dark days, God wants to be there to walk through the valley with us. 

For some, this presence is very real, in the person and spirit of Jesus;  for others whose experience of God has perhaps been overlaid with some kind of alienating experience (often from the organised church or some prattling Christian who offers trite advice and bible verses, without any empathy with suffering);  for these, the presence of God is not so clear.  But God is still there.  It might be in the kind word of a nurse who listens as we endure a long night of pain or bewilderment;  it might be an act of kindness from a stranger;  it might even be through some worldly advice.  I heard recently of a person who was at the end of his own resources being told, “tie a knot in the rope, and hang on”.  God is there in all that, and more.  Lord of compassion, give us obedience today, to deny our own egos and let your love and care, pass to those we meet today. Give us humility, so we can see you in the faces of those who suffer.

quince and orange jelly

I made quince and orange jelly today.  It's quite labourious;  lots of chopping of the fruit and simmering until it becomes pulp.  While it's simmering, you have to skim all the frothy stuff which rises to the surface.  I'm not sure what this is, but if you leave it in there, it stays there when you bottle the jelly and makes it cloudy or sits on the top.  It's not desirable to have this frothy stuff in the jelly.  It's the simmering process brings the impure froth to the top of the syrup and I was thinking that this is not unlike suffering in the life of a Christian, or indeed anyone.  The suffering is what brings the impure dross to the top of our souls, and then God can cleanse it away.... we can see it for what it is and choose to discard it. 

We don't like to suffer, or have bad stuff happen.  But it often does.  But I know, that like when I skimmed the froth off the simmering quinces, so, as we struggle with bad stuff like sorrow, conflict, suffering and anxiety, God is able to skim off the dross of our lives, as we become more pure;  more transparent;  more able to have the light of God's love reflected and discovered in the quickened, clear, rich depths of our soul's house.

That's a good thing;  that's a good thing, coming as a result of a bad thing.  Good one, God.

losing a son

I want to sell Ben's jacket;  his leather one.  It's painful touching it, knowing he wore it.  Too painful to write down.  There are so many pathways to the grief of losing him, and sometimes I'm forced into walking down one of them; like when I look at his stuff.  But I keep rejoicing

But you know, sometimes, while I realize that this can be a healing mechanism, sometimes it's only with my mind I'm rejoicing;  the brokenness of my emotions, my heart, my spirit, my life's drive-wheel, knows no such rejoicing.

In that part of me there is still the savage screaming voice of the embedded grief.  And I don't know how to heal that, except to say to the tortured, suffering Christ "Look on me and have mercy, as you had mercy on the criminal who hung beside you on your cross".

Lord Jesus, live in my heart today.  I discovered after Ben's death it's the only way I can live trimphantly and happily.  The only thing that really enables me to live with the grief and pain is to keep my eyes on the suffering Jesus, knowing he has suffered too, and invite him to my spirit and heart.  He walks with me then, and while the darkest hours, are not kept from me,  I'm sure He knows the ones to stop because He knows when it would be too much - the darkest hours have a light and a peace which co-exists with the sorrow.

The journey of grief is a long one, sometimes traversing through places which I've had to travel over and over.  But it's easier than it was.  I have great expanses of time when I'm fine. 

But I am still sometimes plunged into dark valleys where no sun shines and all I can see is my lovely boy's corpse in it's new coffin.  The myriad distressing circumstances of his death come back to me, and I am assailed again with  grief which breaks afresh on my bowed head.

It's then Jesus, the suffering one, wordless, walks with me.  These episodes always pass and I'm in the sun again.

What helps  is to remember to give thanks for his life - to give thanks for all he was;  the humour, the steadfastness, the love he had for me;  the quirks of personality which made him uniquely him.  It doesn't take the pain away, but it helps to provide a foothold to climb out of the darkness.  Sometimes, the really sad thoughts now act as a sort of warning bell "ding ding.  You're sinking into self pity Suse.  Use the rope of thankfulness to climb out" 

So I'm not denying the grief, or running from it, but I'm not letting it swamp me.  I'm facing it, but in my own time and with much thankfulness.

Susiestarr has a blog!

New for me.  I hope to share my authentic christian faith with a hurting, puzzling world.