Ch 5. Suffering and Healing

Necessary Losses

without these we cannot grow

Give 2 examples of necessary losses involved in growing up

- Leaving the security and familiarity of your home and parents attention when going to school

- Leaving behind friends for another school

Natural Causes

mother nature

- lightening, earthquakes, fires

Moral Choice

choice humans make to harm other people

Disintegration

loss of integration

Why does great suffering feel so destructive to a person?

- We feel that everything including ourselves is coming apart

- Sense of disintegration

Two sources of suffering

From the Cycles and Processes of Nature

From Human Choice

ex: From the cycles and processes of nature

a drought kills livestock

ex: from human choice

- Can be caused by people's apathy, hardness of heart, greed, and decisions to harm or neglect others

- Domestic violence, child abuse, murder

Shoah

Holocaust

Elie Wiesel

-writer and Nobel Peace Prize winner

- was a teenager when the Nazis took him and his family to concentration camps and death (survivor)

Book of Job and suffering

- Job is an exemplary, successful man who has led a blameless life and seems blessed with every good thing.

- Job eventually loses everything and his friends tell him he must've done something wrong.

- God is clear that Job did not bring on his misery by doing something wrong

- We don't really do things wrong and get punished.

Book of Job perspective

God does not make things happen for a reason; suffering is not always a consequence of sin

What does the Bible say about whether God wants us to suffer

God does not will our suffering

- urges the Israelites to end suffering

- moves Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt

- inspires commandments that will bring harmony to the Israelite community

- Prophets are chosen to warn people away from their evil deeds that lead to suffering

How does Rabbi Kushner answer the question, why do bad things happen to good people?

- Being human leaves us free to hurt each other and God can't stop us without taking away the freedom that makes us human

- God can only look down in pity and compassion

- the earthquake is not an "act of God"

- the act of God is the courage of people to rebuild their lives after the earthquake, and the rush of others to help them

What is the more significant question about suffering, according to Sister Thea (Franciscan Sister)?

- not why it happens but what we do with It once it happens

Conclusions

1. Suffering is a mystery

2. God does not will our suffering

3. God promises to be with us in our suffering

4. Suffering is not always a consequence of sin

Suffering is a _________

mystery

Does God will our suffering?

No

God promises to be with us when?

in our suffering!

Is suffering always a consequence of sin?

no

Redeemed

saved from sin and the power of evil, and destined for glory forever

Christian approach to suffering has what at the center?

the paschal mystery

Christians believe that through this mystery we are...

redeemed

Give 2 examples from Jesus' life and teaching of his compassion for those who suffered.

- Jesus restores the withered man's hand to health to show that charity comes before any other consideration

- Jesus makes caring for suffering people a prerequisite for having eternal life.

---he tells his disciples in the story of the last judgment that they must care for the sick and the suffering

God with us:

Emmanuel; Jesus is one with us

With what attitude did Jesus face his own suffering and death?

- He freely accepts his death with love and not bitterness

- He did not try and escape from it, and he forgave his executioners.

What is the meaning of suffering for Christians?

For Christians it can be the means of our redemption

---Through suffering we can be transformed to full humanity

---If we unite our suffering with Jesus and believe Jesus is with us through out darkest moments, our suffering can change us into more loving and deeper people.

We may not have control over some causes of our suffering, but we can...

make choices about our response to it

Grief

the process of mourning and recovering from a significant loss

Healthy Grieving

1) We must acknowledge the loss: we can't grieve it until we acknowledge it or else it will eat us away

2) Express our feelings: bottled up grief can turn into anger and violence, God created us with emotions

3) Take action to move on: we need to take the steps that will allow us to move ahed with the rest of our life

In what ways can a person be transformed by suffering?

-We can find out what really matters to us and embrace the goodness even in our difficulties

-Suffering can bring out the best in us: compassion, action for peace and justice, and healing

Dr. Kubler-Ross: 5 Stages of Grief

1.Denial: "this can't be happening..."

2.Anger: "Why me?"

3.Bargaining: "If only..." or "What if..."

4.Depression

5.Acceptance

Misconceptions

1. Forgiveness is easy & given quickly

2. Forgiveness means forgetting

3. Forgiveness is a weakness

4. The only one who benefits from forgiveness is the one who is forgiven; the forgiver gets nothing in return

Compassion of Jesus (wounded healers)

•Compassion he has for outcasts, helps us know that Jesus has compassion for us

•He went through everything that we did, so that we can go to Jesus with our pain

Redeemed (wounded healers)

•We are an Easter Sunday people, Jesus redeemed us so that we can have eternal life

Transformation (wounded healers)

•Jesus dies but through the resurrection, the new life open to us, we can be transformed

When do we go through a transformation

when we go through acceptance stage

Process of Forgiveness

- Acknowledge hurt

- Decide to forgive

- Be patient

- Recall models of forgiveness

- Forgive yourself

- Recall feelings of being forgiven

- Pray for courage to forgive

Number 70 symbolizes:

perfect spiritual order

7 symbolizes

completeness

490 symbolizes

spiritual perfection