Richard Rohr says that suffering is an integral part of the spiritual journey.
(This is a bit of a bum.)
He defines suffering as anything which causes us to recognise we are not in control. He says it’s necessary.
(Buggeration.)
In fact he says that we can’t embark on the second journey of life, without there being some kind of falling apart in the first.
“So do not waste a moment of time lamenting poor parenting, lost job, failed relationship, physical handicap, gender identity, economic poverty, or even the tragedy of any kind of abuse,” he says. “Pain is part of the deal.”
(Hmmmmmm.)
Richard says that the spiritual journey is about stripping away illusions, letting go of pretence, exposing the false self, breaking open the heart. He says it is difficult to do that when everything is hunky-dory. (Actually, I think he says it’s impossible.)
“All we can really do is get ourselves out of the way, and honestly we can’t even do that,” he says. “It is done to us through this terrible thing called suffering.”
(What more can I say? Arse?)
RICHARD ROHR
Falling Upward (Jossey-Bass)
Next step: Crawling on hands and knees