Surrendering to the Mystery
When we face the world's pain head-on, without running, we undergo what can feel like a crucifixion. It's a pain of discomfort, physical or emotional, but suffering often arises from our resistance to it.
We must walk through this suffering to ascend higher, go further, delve deeper, or endure longer. The saints spoke of such suffering as deaths, nights, darkness, spiritual trials, or simply doubt.
This necessary suffering is essential for growth, but it's a growth that mostly happens in secret, known only to God who guides it for our good. Trying too hard to understand it can halt the process or lead it astray.
Reality seems to have a cruciform shape with conflicting intentions, paradoxes, and cross purposes everywhere. Jesus hangs amid them, not balancing perfectly, but simply holding them. This is a profound realization beyond mere philosophy or theology.
Hope, ironically, grows from the ability to suffer wisely, calmly, and generously. The ego craves success to survive, but the soul thrives on meaning. Hope somehow brings its own kind of meaning in a mysterious way.
The Gospel gives meaning to our suffering by linking our pain with that of others, and ultimately, with the pain of God. Have you ever considered God as suffering? Most don't—but Jesus revealed this truth.
Contemplation is a gradual immersion into divine fullness, where hope resides. It's living in a unified field that breeds a deep, mostly non-rational yet calmly certain hope—a delightful surprise.
A contemplative life, a life of inner union, is like practicing for heaven in the present. God lets us bring "on earth what is in heaven" whenever we can accept, receive, and forgive the conflicts of the moment. This acceptance allows a degree of contentment amidst life's battles.
It appears only God can reconcile life's apparent opposites and contradictions. In God, we can do the same. But we are not the Doer.
Hope emerges from suffering, and in this suffering, we find a profound connection to God and others. It's not about understanding, but about surrendering to the mystery and allowing growth to happen, even in the midst of pain.


