Transformation

Richard Rohr has written a new book called, "The Naked Now." I haven't read it yet, but I have heard him speak, and some of the ideas in the book were introduced to me when he spoke in Portland, OR. I want to share this with you, because it so perfectly relates to, and explains, the way it felt to be plunged suddenly into the world of pediatric cancer with our previously healthy, 11-and-a-half year-old daughter (with an unknown carcinoma, stage 4) and the daily living of suffering through the horrors of illness, treatment and its effects.

"Question of the Day:  What have I done with my pain?


"Great suffering opens us to transformation in a different way. Here, things usually happen against our will—which is precisely what makes it suffering! Over time, we can learn to give up our defended state, but it is never easy. This is surely what we mean by spiritual warfare.


"The situation is what it is, although we will invariably go through the stages of denial, anger, bargaining, resignation, and (hopefully) on to acceptance. The suffering might feel wrong, terminal, absurd, unjust, impossible, physically painful, or just outside of our comfort zone. We must eventually learn a proper attitude toward suffering, because many things every day leave us out of control or outside of our comfort zone (even if it is just a stop light).


"Always remember: if we do not transform our pain we will surely transmit it."

Excerpted and adapted from “Opening the Door: Great Suffering and Great Love” from The Naked Now: Learning to See as the Mystics See

Now the work is to continue, daily, to try to transform the pain- to let it be transformed by God- into something that can bless. I certainly don't want to live my life transmitting pain into the world.