Posts Tagged ‘Suffering’
Forgiving God Excerpt
This is how I ask the question of suffering now. I used to ask about theories, about how God’s goodness could square with God’s love, how different properties of God made sense in light of suffering. I used to read books about suffering and cry and wonder, in a safely academic way, how these stories…
Read MoreLove That Overcomes Darkness
In the Chinese language, the word for good is made up of two parts: the word for feminine and the word for son or child. I am considered thoroughly lucky and blessed to have borne a daughter, followed five and a half years later by a plucky son. 好 It is good. It was good,…
Read MorePrayers for When Your Child is Sick
1. A Breath Prayer The easiest prayers for a sick child, to pray at their bedside as you keep vigil while they are suffering. Pray one line as you breathe in and one line as you breathe out. Inhale: Heal my child, Lord. Exhale: Heal me, too. Inhale: You love my child. Exhale: Help me…
Read MoreA Prayer Before a Child’s Hospitalization
Help me remember, O Lord, That nothing surprises You And no need is too great For Your mighty hand. O Lord, I ache to fix things, To heal my child, To protect them from suffering. And though I wish I were in control, I’m fighting to trust that You alone are God. As they prepare…
Read MoreA Prayer for When Your Child is Suffering
God of goodness, How could you let this happen to my beloved child? Watching them in pain Brings the deepest pain I have ever known. I wish I could step in and take their place So I could suffer instead of them. But I know that you know Human suffering from the inside out. That…
Read MoreGod’s Fingerprints On The Hardest Days
“You need to leave from here and go directly to the hospital. He needs to be admitted tonight, and he will need surgery.” There is so much I don’t remember about this moment. Was my 8-year-old son Andrew in the room with us when the orthopedist said these words to me? He must have been,…
Read MoreMystery and Motherhood: Your Turn
This Week on Mothering Spirit Rachael’s essay invited us to look at ordinary moments of motherhood with fresh eyes, to see the beauty within the mystery of God’s love. Rachel’s prayer spoke deep truth to weary bones, that we are always beloved. Resources to keep reflecting For more writing from this week’s essayist, read Courage, Dear Heart and The Quiet…
Read MoreHow To Hold Your Bones
Here is how to hold your bones, how not to leave the skin you live in how not to forsake the flesh that fails how not to scorn the cells that kill. Here is how to dig yourself out from deepest, darkest grounds and graves: You, the caged bird that you are, will sing and…
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