#suffering

The Upside Down World ~ The Blog

Jun 11, 2014
1 min

Things to Say to Someone Who Is Suffering

I’m so sorry you’re going through this. It makes me sad/angry to see what you’re going through. You deserve better. It won’t always be like this. It’s OK to be broken sometimes. Not everyone could handle this with as much grace/bravery/whatever as you. Sometimes all you can do is get through the day and that’s enough. I know it’s overwhelming right now, but I believe in you. Tell me how bad it really is. What do you wish someone would say to you right now? Can I pray for/over

Jun 4, 2014
1 min

Your Daily Cud

A random thought to ponder: A full understanding of the depths of human suffering removes any desire for vengence. Pass It On! Tweet Email More Print Share on Tumblr WhatsApp #life #suffering #vengence

May 21, 2014
7 min

I See Rich People. They Talk to Me. . .

The mouse on my computer broke. So now I’m back to writing on my kindle. Which is a marvelous bit of technology, but it has all sorts of quirks which can easily double the time it takes for me to do a post. And the spacebar for the keyboard is gimpy. But since I don’t even have money to replace the mouse, I’ll just have to limp along the best I can. I’ve been thinking a lot lately that when I finally break free of all these obstacles, I’ll astound everyone. It’s like I’ve bee

May 14, 2014
3 min

Churches Don’t Like You When You’re Suffering

Now, I’m not sure if I agree with what this person thinks that the church should be doing for people. I’m actually kind of a fan of doctors, safety nets and mental health services. But this really does capture the way the church deals with the suffering. I haven’t been involved in a church for a few years for a number of reasons. But probably the biggest obstacle for me was that I dread what happens once I can’t hide just how screwed up my life is. Just the thought of having

May 13, 2014
4 min

New Age Stuff Drives Me Nuts

Since the 80s at least, brave Christians have been noticing that there is some syncronicity between the mystical practices and teachings of Christianity and New Age theories. Being a fairly adventurous sort of mystically inclined Christian, I understand the allure. But in the end, I would strongly warn people against delving in too deep. Many Christians warn against New Age teaching primarily because getting involved with New Age teachings is so frequently associated with lea

Apr 29, 2014
4 min

When the Cost is Too High

I knew a Christian man who had an employee who did something dumb and illegal without his knowledge. She was caught and arrested at his place of business. The woman had small children at home, a drug addicted ex and her kids would end up in foster care if she went to jail. He had seen what can happen to kids in foster care up close and was sick at the thought of them going through that because of something foolish their mother did. So he prayed over it and decided to take the

Apr 24, 2014
4 min

All About Pain: The Toughness Fallacy

I don’t know what the weather is like where you are, but it’s cold, rainy and windy here by me so I’ll use that as my excuse for being a Debbie Downer here. Cuz we’re going to talk about pain today. Then again, if you are the sort of person who only wants to read about unicorns making skittles droppings, you probably aren’t reading my blog. So just another day here in The Upside Down World. It seems to me that when Christians talk about pain they talk about it either very exi

Mar 22, 2014
5 min

When Complaining Is Ministry

I’m one of those people who you should only bring your ideas, plans and dreams to if you’re looking for a solid critique of them. Otherwise I’ll probably give you a seemingly unenthusiastic word of support. Not that I won’t support you, just that I’ll be using all of my self-control biting my tongue because I know you need my support and not my advice. It’s hard to show how enthusiastic you are while biting your tongue. Strangely enough, this is a trait my husband doesn’t alw

Nov 1, 2013
3 min

People Are People

This week we’ve been looking at common reasons that God doesn’t answer our prayers. Today we’ll look at the problem of people. As in other people. When people refuse to cooperate, refuse to change or follow God’s leading, prayers tend to go unanswered. Sometimes it can be a matter of people who God would have serve as answers to your prayers not taking up the call. Other times it may well be people who are behaving in ways which are harmful and hurtful and you’re praying for

Sep 23, 2013
7 min

How the Dark Night of the Soul Is Like a Juice Cleanse

Recently one of my friends on facebook did a 10 day juice cleanse. Now, I’m always a bit sceptical about this whole concept of a cleanse because I want to believe that I can eat all the chemical food I want, in moderation and be just fine. Plus I’m really, really bad at fasting so it must be unnecessary and probably bad for you, right? But I know a lot of people swear by them. Anyways, while doing the cleanse my friend felt pretty crappy for a while. First she was achy and t

Jun 1, 2013
10 min

The Gift of Delayed Grief

My early twenties weren’t exactly a stellar time. Within a short period of time I was raped twice. I found out I was pregnant shortly after I decided to take Jesus’ words that it’s better to enter the kingdom maimed and had broken up with then boyfriend. The people around me didn’t exactly rise to the occasion. One woman I told about one of the sexual assaults told every-freaking-body. A man she told became so belligerent towards me that I had to interrupt his screaming rant

May 30, 2013
6 min

I Guess Jesus Was Telling the Truth

There’s a saying that you should never put a period where God has put a comma. But as my readers know, there does come a time when one has to wonder how many commas can fit into one damn sentence. Which is where I’ve been for the last few months. I’ve allowed comma after comma to be added to the ongoing story of my life until it just seemed ridiculous to continue thinking that somehow, this story was going to work itself out. So I decided that this time, I would put that peri

May 8, 2013
3 min

“Me Too”

Late last year, I read an amazing article about a pastor who became friends with the notoriously disgraced Ted Haggard. (For those of you who don’t keep up with such things, Ted Haggard was a prominent conservative Evangelical pastor who had been caught hiring a male prostitute to join him at hotels for “massages” and crystal meth.) After his scandal broke, Haggard had gotten counseling and then restarted his ministry. Most of us watching from the outside scoffed at the idea

Feb 9, 2013
6 min

Psalm 73 ~ A Meditation for the Weary, Bitter, Stumbling Soul

These were the words I needed this week: Psalm 73 Surely God is good to Israel, To those who are pure in heart! But as for me, my feet came close to stumbling, My steps had almost slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant As I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no pains in their death, And their body is fat. They are not in trouble as other men, Nor are they plagued like mankind. . . They mock and wickedly speak of oppression; They speak from on high. They have

Jul 9, 2012
4 min

Suffering as Service

I don’t know why, but from the time I was a kid, I have had this idea that there is a certain amount of pain and suffering in the world that gets distributed across humanity. Like suffering was an actual thing with quantity that could be measured in cups and miles. Or maybe tears and hours of agony. Some people are dealt a larger portion of this suffering than others. The way to reduce the amount of suffering in the world is to process what comes to you and let it go. Pain an

Jun 4, 2012
3 min

Suffering and Stories

“Then it was you who wounded Aravis?” “It was I.” “But what for?” “Child,” said the Voice, “I am telling you your story, not hers. I tell no one any story but his own.” ~ The Horse and His Boy, C.S. Lewis This will probably sound absurd, but there have been times that I have found myself seriously affected by the suffering of people I have never met and could do little or nothing to help – sometimes to the point of sitting up at night crying. War crimes victims, tsunami survi

Feb 10, 2012
6 min

Why Christians Have a Moral Obligation Not to Have Sex Outside of Marriage

Bibledude.net has a series of posts on the issue of fatherlessness that you can check out by clicking this picture I cribbed from him. Everyone has a theory to explain the breakdown of the family: culture, government policy, the sexual revolution, poverty, racism, global trade, etc, etc. A few days back, I shared my theory: unresolved trauma from often horrific life experiences. I said I was going to write about what I think Christians have a moral obligation to do in respo

Oct 19, 2011
2 min

Christians and despair

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” – Jesus “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?” – David (Psalm 22) How long, O LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save? – Habakkuk 1:2 Why did I ever come out of the womb to see trouble and sorrow and to end my days in shame? – Jeremiah 20:18 But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me, the Lord has

Jun 26, 2008
4 min

Our Suffering and the Cross

Jesus Creed, a regular comment box writer who goes by RJS has been doing a series of posts on a book called The Reason for God. It has been a great series, but for whatever reason, today’s installment particularly struck me. It discusses Chapter 13 of the book, which is The (True) Story of the Cross. IMO, there is a tendency on the part of evangelical Christians to view the cross as simply a matter of forgiven sins and little else. OTOH, there is a tendency in some progre

Jun 4, 2008
4 min

Book of Job Chapter 3: Ever Wanted to Die?

Chapter 1 here Chapter 2 here At the start of Chapter 3 of The Book of Job, we find Job, having sat in silence with his 3 friends for 7 days, ready to talk. (Text of Chapter 3 here.) What comes out of his mouth is one of the more heartbreaking of the laments found in scriptures. Job does not curse God or Satan or even his misfortune. Rather, it is his very existence which is the subject of his lament. One of the notable things about Chapter 3 is that it is where the Book