Contemplating Deeper Questions

Over these past days, I have been confronted by the stories of individuals being escorted out of the workplace because their positions were eliminated and the fears that this evokes.  I have felt confusion surrounding our Texas and national budget decisions. I have sat with people on chemo and watched the body’s reaction to this foreign substance.

“Why do bad things happen to good people?”  “Why do we undergo such suffering?”  “What does all of this mean?”  “Is there or can there be any deeper meaning within all of our questions and questing?”

I found myself going back to a 16th century mystic, John of the Cross.  For me, he has always held a way to integrate the psychological issues of life and the spiritual meaning within life.  Where is God – the life giving Spirit – within all of life?

To even ask that question implies faith.  John believed God was and is the Source of all of Life.  It was his faith stance that said: God holds all things together as life challenges us, stretches us, polishes us.  In the moments of darkness we are truly confronted by our beliefs, our attitudes, our value systems.

With John, I believe God is indeed holding all things together in Love.  My job is to sit with the questions without answers believing in a ‘power greater than any diminishment’ sustaining each of us as we journey through the challenges of life.  It is indeed a ‘dark night’, but within the Night a Light already shines.