The reality of suffering

"It is what it is", we hear. and even as we struggle to resist the inevitability of suffering, reality insists itself upon us.  A devil's bargain:   feel little, of either joy or sorrow; or  feel so unbearably much of both the best life can offer and more pain than we believe we can bear.  We die young, or we live long enough to see others leave us.

There is no fairness, no sensible story I can make of some of what happens in this world. In a critical care waiting room, strangers become intimate through the worst of life circumstances.  A young woman's family gathers praying for miracles after a skiing accident; a small town high school football star tries to live up to his tough image as his 48 year father recovers from emergency brain surgery.  A 19 year old boy dies from injuries sustained in a car accident despite the full house church members praying fervently he be spared.

Tragedy is not all life offers, but it is part and parcel.  We are called to be big containers.  We bear more than we believe we can, and sometimes all we can do is breathe in, breathe out, and love.  If nothing else, we can love-- scared, small as we feel.  We offer what we can-- our ear, our car, our dollars, our arms.  We can accept that we are part of this big family, do our best to be kind and stay conscious, and keep walking toward that place of love.