Lenten Devotion – Pastor Jim

On Suffering

“While it’s true that some people become more resilient through suffering, and other people become more embittered through very similar suffering, it’s hard for any of us to conceive of a life without suffering. The Christian faith does not remove agony and ordeal from life.”   Peter Marty
Patrick McLaughlin is a tall, affable Lutheran chaplain who served in the Anbar Province in the Iraq war. His toughest job was caring for children who were brought to the combat hospital, which served combatants and civilians alike. When children were dying and there was nothing more the doctors could do besides administer morphine, McLaughlin would take the children into his arms and rock them until they died. At first he’d do this standing. Then he asked the military engineers to make rocking chairs. He would hold and rock the children until they breathed their last breath. American Scholar
For to this you have been called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 1 Peter 2:21
Prayers for us all as we contemplate the suffering in our lives and the suffering of the world.
— Jim H.