this world is full of suffering
There is a whole lot of pain in the world. Piles and piles of pain I can’t even begin to imagine. Today my heart strings are being pulled out to all those who are suffering.
Hunger for food, hunger for love, hunger for acceptance.
Regret.
Rejection.
Unfulfilled dreams.
Fear.
Loss.
Heartbreak.
Divorce.
Anger.
War.
Rape.
Abuse in all its many twisted forms.
Exhaustion.
Wayward children.
Hopelessness.
Guilt.
Shame.
Terror.
Confusion.
Loneliness.
Physical pain.
Deception.
Lack of trust.
Sorrow.
My heart fills with heartache at the pain people are going through. The person next to you at the grocery store has a story of pain and suffering. That cute little family next to you at church has a different story. That child whimpering with hunger pains in a back alley of Ecuador has a story all their own. And yet, every story is hard. Every person needs our love. My love.
Through this injury I have come to see the world through different eyes. Eyes of more compassion…not always, but more than I used to. I am coming to see that my very public injury, my very public showings of weakness and pain are visual demonstrations of the human condition. We are all weak. We are all hurting in some way. We all have secrets in our closet we don’t want anyone to uncover. This injury puts my pain front and center in people’s minds and yet, I still try to cover it. I still try to reassure people that I am okay. I still try to carry on my normal life and grin and bear it. We all do. And there is value in that, don’t get me wrong. We need people to work and love and serve and fight for the truth and live for God. But we also need to be real. We need to let our weaknesses show and share our pain so that others won’t feel alone in theirs. We need to allow our humanness to connect with others’ humanness and build relationships built on the realness of me and the realness of you and not some sideshow we put out there as the truth of our lives.
Every time I collapse in public and need to be rescued I am learning lessons. Lessons of being real, of allowing others to serve me, of being completely dependent on the person next to me to take care of me while I am unconscious. It is scary, but it is also valuable. I am learning it is okay to be weak. It is okay to need help. It is okay.
I want to wave my magic wand and erase all the pain in the world. I want to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and heal the broken hearts, but I can’t take it all away. The suffering in this world is bigger than any of us can hold, any of us can comprehend. The only antidote is Christ. He is enough. His love is enough. And some day, the healing will come. Until then, let’s be His hands and let’s be real.
I'm Tracy, a mama with big dreams, crazy ideas, loads of laughter, an insatiable desire to learn, and enormous piles of laundry.
Tracy, what beautiful thoughts!
<3 Hard is hard. And we all have our own strain.
I agree – and we can all handle our own strains…. Love you Trac!
I love the line in the hymn that says “…in the quiet heart is hidden sorrow that the eye can’t see.” I know that is true in almost everyone’s lives. I think the older I get the less judgmental I become. Good thoughts.
I love the last line. When I think about my hands, I realize they are mine as a gift to employ in alleviating suffering and creating beauty. Our Creator gave us hands, inner light, will, energy, breath so we will do for others. That’s real. That’s his plan in the first place.
Task #1 is to care about the suffering, and he can’t make us do that.
I love you. Think on!
Heather, oh, how I love you. Thank you for visiting me here at WOK. It’s kind of like I invited you over for peppermint tea and you are here in my living room sipping it with me and sharing your beautiful soul with me. Seems much more personal than facebook for some reason. Let’s be God’s hands together.