Human suffering anywhere concerns men and women everywhere. from Night
02568 – Human Suffering
read more
02149 – Grief & Gratitude: Hand in Hand
The work of the mature person is to carry grief in one hand and gratitude in the other and to be stretched large by them. How much sorrow can I hold? That's how much gratitude I can give. If I carry only grief, I'll bend toward cynicism and despair. If I have only...
02071 – Nothing is More Important than Empathy
Nothing is more important than empathy for another human being's suffering. Nothing. Not career, not wealth, not intelligence, certainly not status. We have to feel for one another if we're going to survive with dignity.
02067 – Americanized Christian Values
The values, priorities, and character traits Jesus calls for in what's known as The Sermon on the Mount don't align well with much of what drives Americanized Christianity today. Merciful? Pure in heart? A thirst for righteousness? Hardly. Peacemakers? Willing to...
02026 – Not Knowing What the Poor Suffer
One great reason why the rich, in general, have so little sympathy for the poor is because they so seldom visit them. Hence it is, that according to the common observation, one part of the world does not know what the other suffers. Many of them do not know because...
01958 – Spectators, Not Victims?
It is hard not to conclude that the main reason [Western] theologians have said little that can be used in the struggle of the oppressed is due to the fact that they have been only spectators and not victims of suffering.
01931 – This is a Dark Time
This is a dark time, filled with suffering and uncertainty. Like living cells in a larger body, it is natural that we feel the trauma of our world. So don't be afraid of the anguish you feel, or the anger or fear, because these responses arise from the depths of your...
01885 – Journeying
And I saw the river over which every soul must pass to reach the kingdom of heaven and the name of that river was suffering: and I saw a boat which carries souls across the river and the name of that boat was love.
01875 – How Did Jesus Respond to Suffering?
On a small scale, person-to-person, Jesus encountered the kinds of suffering common to all of us. And how did he respond? Avoiding philosophical theories and theological lessons he reached out with healing and compassion. He forgave sin, healed the afflicted, cast out...
01760 – God is Not Punisher-in-Chief
With the mistaken view of God as a Punisher-in-Chief that most Christians seem to hold, we think our own violence is necessary and even good. But there is no such thing as redemptive violence. Violence doesn’t save; it only destroys all parties in both the short and...