Dealing with Loss (4 of 5)

Dealing with Loss: Suffering and Spirituality                    Five-part Series (4 of 5) by Rev. John Adams

Some of the Christian theologians use the Scriptures to relate the Institution of the Eucharist (Mark 14: 22-24) to obtain meaning from human suffering. “This is my body, this is my blood,” the words spoken of His own  body, is the bread being broken and the bloodshed. This suffering was not what He deserved as punishment for sin but done for the sake of others (Ehrman, 86). According to Mohler (65-67), the wheat is crushed, the dough kneaded, and the bread broken before it is consecrated -- all of our limitations, our sinfulness, our challenges and sufferings merge in death and in it we find Christ also in Resurrection and renewal.  Just as with the two sets of tablets (see Series part one, Two Sets of Tablets), one broken set of tablets, the other whole, our Lord’s broken body makes everything, complete, whole and new. Being made new is what we strive toward in our suffering, in our loss, in our pain.

     The Paschal Mystery which we celebrate in this Easter Season is especially seen in the figure of Christ Crucified. In His self-giving, Jesus is the emblem of hope for many Christians, helping them to find meaning in suffering, redemptive suffering (Rego, 7).  As we know, all of experience is subjective. People’s experiences are influenced by a variety of sources such as community, culture, background, and the degree of tolerance for mental and/or physical challenges and pain.  And, since much of sin and evil occur based on human free-will, the world will contain many responses to a variety of extreme atrocities and to the more discouraging or less catastrophic situations. Human beings are vulnerable to being wounded these wounds can be direct and immediate such as through a loss such as death coming in the form of evil such as that perpetrated in the killings in the city of Buffalo last weekend, or in the country of Ukraine this year. These killings are a result from the evils of oppression and control and the lack of respect for life. Our sorrow and anger of loss of life can come from the shocking deaths of the unborn resulting from nothing short of infanticide in our own state of New York as a child in the womb can be aborted up and until birth. Within our community of family and friends, death can come as a loved one passes on whether from a lengthy illness or from more immediate causes. But also, human loss and relative death can be experienced and then can impact us greatly through an assault to our daily living or routines when unwanted change occurs resulting in direct or indirect distress and feelings stemming from disappointments or discouragements (Reynolds, 108).  All of these life events often caused by someone or some situation outside the person will interact can exert influence upon those lying within the person to affect how suffering is experienced.

Since many factors affect a person’s sense of loss, pain, suffering, and ultimate healing, including the response from the Divine, human suffering is seen by many as indescribable and as deep as any other human encounter (Callahan, 8) for in suffering is contained the greatness of a specific mystery (John Paul II, I:4). In trying to reveal this mystery, the Bible itself contains many and varied attempts at explaining the problem of why there is suffering in the world – however, many of these answers are at odds with one another and at odds with what people contemplate today (Ehrman, 15).  Given the psychological, social, physical and spiritual aspects of loss, pain and suffering, suffering has become a pastoral issue and spiritual issue and not solely a theological or religious one (McGrath, 15).  The philosophical and theological problem of evil is one thing; however, the wrenching reality of actual suffering is another, and the more we see of it, the harder it gets for the modern person to understand God in connection to it (Wright, 17). In the modern world, people look for rational explanations of the happenings in their lives or they become skeptical about the difficulties of life and ways presented to deal with them. The skepticism that individuals now have is often guided about doubts concerning the Christian faith, in particular, and in part, the wider disillusionment with any attempt at framing a larger world view (Billings, 22). It appears that not much has changed in hundreds of years. People will still find the lack of solid, concrete support as a reason for a lack of belief.  And importantly, when loss, pain, and suffering are intense and underserved, a problem of suffering becomes a problem of faith even for those that believe (Ehrman, 3). We as Catholics, in common with all other Christians, can hold onto the belief that obedience and trust, developed through the unbroken communion with God, enables people to cope with and through suffering and death (McManus, 4). Henri Nouwen had the belief that all of us long for wholeness and are longing to be loved, accepted, valued and understood which helps create spiritual wholeness (O’Rourke, 137). We are able to help each other take our journeys through suffering and pain. Stanley Hauerwas found irony in that “our neediness is also the source of our greatest strength, for our need requires the cooperation and love of others from which derives our ability not only to live but to flourish (Reynolds, 107).

Our losses and subsequent pain and suffering motivate us and others to act on behalf of a specific cause or to relieve distress, correct a social injustice, or cope with our or another’s pain. Suffering can be seen as redemptive in that it is found as a part of the salvation of humanity by Jesus’ passion and crucifixion as a freeing agent from sin and death.  Pope Saint John Paul II viewed human suffering also as redemptive.  John Paul II affirmed within the context of the Paschal Mystery that suffering has a mystical and positive significance. He indicated that suffering has special value in the eyes of the Church. It is something good before which the Church bows down to in reverence. As Christ opened Himself from the beginning to every human suffering and constantly does so . . . The essence of Christ’s redemptive suffering is that this Suffering requires it to be unceasingly completed (Richard, 4; Rego, 6). We suffer in the purpose of Communion with Christ in union with God.     
                                               
In our post-modern world, however, secularism (the outright rejection or indifference to religion) has helped develop a change in the attitudes of people toward religion and the use of faith to solve problems. Religion is no longer seen as an authoritative influence in the communities within secular society. Individuals, however, use the term spirituality more often but in a different manner than in years past. In this context, modern perspectives of religion and other practices of faith can be seen as incorporated into one’s overall spirituality. In today’s society, individual and social interaction models and methods have been used to help alleviate suffering. The earliest records of civilization have shown that there have been various responses to fighting afflictions; some have been spiritual and others natural (Onyinah, 117). Various cultures are seen as attempting to cope with suffering in unique ways. For example, Onyinah (123) described healing centers that are popular in Ghana and other parts of Africa where government officials and street vendors are both seen seeking relief through fast and prayer. The alleviation of suffering is the goal of much of the general world populace when faced with loss, pain and suffering. And different ways of how to reduce suffering and provide comfort and consolation have been researched and used.

        An important development in the post-modern era is that the mind, including thought, contemplation and emotions, are now respectable topics of research (Callahan, 150).  The psychology of emotions is a key area of scholarly study when addressing both suffering and spirituality. Part five of Dealing with Loss: Suffering and Spirituality will conclude our series with methods that affect both the awareness of the suffering process and the coping and alleviation of suffering that have been found helpful. While we may not have the ultimate solutions to life’s problems including human suffering, this does not mean that we cannot have a response to it (Ehrman, 278).

My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, . . . 
know the testing of your faith produces endurance,                                                             Let the endurance have its full effect, so that you may       
be mature and complete and lacking nothing”                                                                     -James 1: 2-4