I heard an interview on Fresh Air with Terry Gross she was speaking with George Carlin said I know there will be bad times and good times will follow and vice versa. I couldn’t help but think about the ebb and flow of the human experience and what I had just written about suffering. I am not inclined to under-analyze my existence that’s for sure but I am inclined to make this ‘experience’ worth something—anything great and good and self assessing. What else could I possible do to help suffering out the door? I knew someone once who would say here’s your hat what’s your hurry and that is definitely my approach to suffering. The thing is we all do it, we all at some point and another will have our own walk to Gethsemane there is no escape. But…but there as Carlin said always be a flow into something greater. My friend Jesus sometimes wears this original tee shirt that says I created been there done that and I always laugh when He wears it because created is crossed out and survived is written above it. I tell Him often, show off and laugh again. He says I’ll make one for you too and we’ll go have lunch together wearing matching tee shirts. I laugh again and think how cool will that be. He asked me once, “Who did you meet during your suffering?” I thought about that question for a long time. Did He mean literally, figuratively, spiritually what? I wasn’t about to ask Him either I didn’t want my friend to think I was an emotional slob, lazy and bratty with my just tell me mentality. Believe me I can fall back on that state of mind as well as the next guy. I had just left one afternoon to get the girls from school and it rightly dawned on me what my friend meant. I had met a few people on that suffering road. The first person I met was Compassion and what she taught me is for a later time but initially it was perfect. I also met along the way, Decency and as you can imagine he was direct, flawless and perfect as well. I attended thier wedding sometime later, it was of course beautiful, but again that is for a later time. I just wanted you to know that suffering, though excruciatingly difficult, has its cake and eating it too in the end. Suffering awakened me to such words as useful and crucial because without suffering I wouldn't love as deeply or care as wildly as I do about the people God has brought into my life.
