tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3306627563203710280.post1540968420450094504..comments2022-11-20T08:08:40.149-08:00Comments on hOlybytes: Gospel Text for Sunday, June 20thDebra Asishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11473546155592177064noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3306627563203710280.post-59691114101453293892010-06-18T12:10:15.300-07:002010-06-18T12:10:15.300-07:00I observe a homeless and naked man suffering. Appa...I observe a homeless and naked man suffering. Apparently he was so disturbed and considered so dangerous that he could not be in the city. I don't know if he chose to leave or if he was exiled to live alone among the tombs, a place considered fearsome and unclean. Somehow, in the midst of his torment, the man recognized Jesus as the Son of God, prostrated himself before him and pleaded, "What do you want with me?"<br /><br />In a strange way I am attracted to the tormented man. There have been times when I have felt so beset and afflicted, so disturbed and lonely that all I could do was lie down, face into the floor, and cry, "Jesus, Father, Abba, what do you want with me? I don't know what to do. I don't know how to be. I see no light at the end of the tunnel. My heart feels empty and my life is without joy. What do you want with me?" <br /><br />Who hasn't felt that way sometimes? It seems that suffering is part of the human condition. No one can escape moments of desolation to mind, body and spirit. <br /><br />I look at the world today - ethnic violence in Kyryzstan, oil spill in the Gulf, execution of a Utah man by firing squad - and I must admit a brutal truth, suffering is everywhere. Does that mean God is absent or has in some way failed? NO. God is Present, as Jesus was present with the demon possessed man, present in the very midst of our suffering. In order to recognize God's presence we must stop pleading and crying and struggling against our situation (our metaphorical chains and shackles). We must stop thrashing about and be still. When we finally give up and lie prostrate on the ground we just might hear the whisper of God's still small voice in the heart of our despair.Debra Asishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11473546155592177064noreply@blogger.com