The Problem of Pain

Why another post today? I read about a woman named Eddie who recently lost one of her most cherished “possessions” {her home} just before Christmas. The story is amazing. Today is her birthday, and on her blog readers are posting messages for her to graze upon as she and her family begin to rebuild their lives and grieve their losses. I can relate to that pain and to that task. I wanted to share some of her quotes that have whispered to my heart....

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It’s looks on the outside like I’m functioning. I’m eating but not tasting. I’m existing but not living. I do the bare necessities. But everytime I close my eyes, I go to a lonely helpless place. I sneak off to my bedroom to cry and call my sister. I have been in constant prayer just to hold it somewhat together. I know it will take time.  And I trust in His every provision.  I don’t want to be alone but I don’t want to be in a crowd. This is perhaps the most helpless feeling I’ve ever had. And yet it’s also the most loved and cared for I’ve ever been.

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Your calls and messages mean more than you could know. There are brief moments when I can hope for the future. But in the loneliness of the night, I wonder if it can  ever really be the same? Will everything always be tainted with little tiny pieces of devastation?  I know that God knows our groanings and He calms our fears with promises from His word, which can never be destroyed.

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The human spirit will not even begin to surrender self-will as long as all seems to be well with it. Now error and sin both have this property, that the deeper they are, the less their victim suspects their existence; they are masked evil. Pain is unmasked, unmistakable evil, every man knows that something is wrong when he is being hurt…..And the pain is impossible to ignore. We rest contentedly in our stupidities…..and can even ignore our pleasures, but pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains; it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.

from C.S. Lewis’ The Problem of Pain chapter 6

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And this song which she shared at the beginning of the year (2010) in which she said:

The song is about the life of David but more deeply is a song about suffering, love, repentance, doubt and longing.

I've been listening to it the last few days, and it's beautiful... I like this version best.






Happy Birthday Eddie... I’m sorry for your loss.

At least your family is still together as mine has been ripped apart. At least my home is protecting me while yours has been torn asunder. But our spirits will survive these trials.

I’m grateful, as are you, that your whole family is OK. Mine is too, safely wrapped in the love of God, family, friends and strangers.



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