Loss, Suffering, and Healing

Loss and suffering are inescapable aspects of life. An additional layer of suffering is added to the initial reaction to suffering and loss as we seek to hide our suffering. By hiding our suffering and loss from others, we think that will be saved from rejection, judgement, or censure from others.

Suffering can be redemptive if it transforms us by, for example, making us more compassionate. But this is by no means an inevitable outcome.  Suffering, allowed to fester, generates bitterness.

The affects and influence of suffering and loss are multi-generational.
A church is one of the few places left in our society where the realities of suffering – both our individual and collective – can be address openly, with an eye for transformation.

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