Tuesday, November 26, 2002 "The Suffering and the Wonder"

" The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light " Matthew 4:16a

At a conference entitled "Spiritual Formation in a Broken World: How Then Shall We Live?" Susan Deloz Parks was one of the presenters. The focus of the Conference came as a response to the events of September 11, 2001. Presenters and conference participants sat in Trinity Episcopal Church, Wall Street, some three to four blocks from Ground Zero on Manhattan's south side. Most of us had never sat in a place of such darkness.

The radical change in how we experience life, imposed upon us by September 11th, was evident, though sometimes impossible to articulate. The searching for a firm foundation in which to drop the anchor of one's soul amid this unimaginable storm appeared common to all. How then shall we live in such encompassing darkness?

Dr. Parks invited us to do two things. The first was this: Stay close to the suffering. Her words call us to step next to those who sit in darkness. She calls us to listen. To just stand. To walk beside. To weep. To feel. In so doing we have the hope of being "burned through to compassion." The second was this: Stay close to the wonder. Her words call us also to rejoice. To see the flower above the debris and dust. To be awed by the sunrise. Stay close to the suffering and to the wonder.

To avoid one and cling to the other will give us frivolity unseasoned by the sorrows of the human heart; or, we will fall to the depths of despair and finally apathy.

The One whose coming we rehearse in this Advent season will keep us close to the suffering. Of this we can be sure. But fear not, for wonder as of a star-lit night is ours to behold as well.

Janet Ellinger


All contents copyright 2002 by the Wisconsin Chapter of the Methodist Federation for Social Action. Permission is granted to United Methodist congregations, individuals and groups to reproduce and distribute this devotional without charge. All other use requires the advance permission of the editor.