4 posts tagged “suffering”
Bono's yearning lyric, from one of U2's greatest albums, The Joshua Tree, speaks to the most basic human need to discover satisfaction: "I still haven't found what I'm looking for."
We are never told what it is that Bono searches for. But we don't have to be told. Its a poem, and its true enough as it is.
There's something painful in searching and not finding. It is a kind of suffering. What we experience is not what we know we ought to be experiencing. The way things are is not the way things ought to be. We want and cannot have. We have and still want.
Chesterton, good old Chesterton, supposedly once remarked that "every man who knocks on the door of a brothel is looking for God." (I read this quote in a review of Piper's book Sex and the Supremacy of Christ by Mark Hartzell of Harvest in their fall 2007 newsletter.)
Lewis, in his book, Surprised by Suffering, makes the point that heaven is more, not less, than the joys and pleasures of this life. If that's true, then searching for ultimate satisfaction here and now makes no sense. It will ultimately prove to be a fruitless search.
We have to go somewhere else to find what we're looking for. This is a good thing!
In an ode to suffering we all can relate to, John Mayer writes in one of his ballad tunes:
When you're dreaming with a broken heart;
the waking up is the hardest part.
Waking up is indeed the hardest part. Wake up, O Sleeper! Rise from the dead! And Christ will shine on you!
In the spirit of the NFL playoffs, and also taking an opportunity to praise a modern hero, here is Brett Farve, Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year, on his favorite memory in his long quarterback career:
Ask people around Green Bay for their favorite Favre memory, and you'll get countless anecdotes but rarely any hesitation. So many elite athletes captivate with their otherworldly physical gifts, but the common theme among the Favre highlights is the human element.... Ask Favre for his own favorite memory, and he's quiet for a moment. "I've got so many plays running through my mind," he says, finally. "The funny thing is, its not only about the touchdowns and the big victories. If I were to make a list, I would include the interceptions, the sacks, the really painful losses. Those times when I've been down, when I've been kicked around, I hold onto those. In a way, those are the best times I've ever had, because that's when I've found out who I am. And what I want to be.
--Alan Shipnuck, "Sportsman of the Year: Brett Favre," Sports Illustrated, 12/10/07 p. 56.
Reading today I came across an article that described how we can manage trials and changes (most of which come unexpectedly into our lives). The advice given was to have a heart attack at the beginning of each day--i.e., allowing God's truth, God's will, to conform our hearts and desires to Himself.
Besides reminding me that I need to come to my daily reading of Scripture with this kind of expectant attitude, it also reminded me why I like Luther so much, because he quoted Luther's own version of what he called a heart attack: "God, forgive me for the best deeds I'm about to commit."
Ah, Brother Martin, bless you!
