Dear friends,
There is a lot of talk about suffering within Word Made Flesh (WMF). It is one of our Lifestyle Celebrations. We see a God who left his throne, became poor and took on the suffering of humanity. Our calling, as we understand it, is to follow this God into the suffering of the poor around us. After a few weeks in Nepal, I think I am just beginning to understand the ramifications of such a choice.
Henri Nouwen, a favorite author among WMF staff, writes about this suffering in his book Compassion. Explaining that compassion means to “suffer with,” he writes, “Compassion asks us to go where it hurts, to enter into places of pain, to share in brokenness, fear, confusion and anguish” (3-4). In my learning process, I have understood compassion to refer to being with the poor and hurting in their poverty and pain. I believe there is much truth in this. We move into relationship with the suffering and oppressed and say, “I am with you in this. I am here with you. You are beautiful. You are loved by God, so I choose to love you and be with you.” This way of living speaks truth and love into the lives of those who have lost all sense of dignity, humanity and worth as a beloved child of God.
As tends to be common when we choose to follow him, Jesus is taking me deeper than this. Though this ‘being with’ is good and right, there is more to this idea of entering the suffering of the poor than I had anticipated. There is real suffering that we experience. Not only am I in this with the poor, but I too will suffer. I will choose to be in a place where I am susceptible to miserable diarrhea, acquire bacteria that causes me to puke my guts out (if you’re out of the loop, this was my experience about one week after I arrived…check out the archived blog posts for the details). Sure, I might decline that sausage on a stick the next time my Nepali friend offers it, and I’ll drop some cash to visit the clinic and get some meds to put an end to the most violent puking I’ve ever experienced. At times I will (I think reasonably) do what I can to avoid and end such pain. But I am here. And I will stay here. I will choose to stay in a place where there is a strong likelihood that I will go through that again. Or I will get scabies or lice. Maybe a worm or two. But I will stay. I will be in this. I will choose to follow this Jesus who suffered with us.
I was recently inspired by some friends in Kolkata. For them, the suffering goes deeper than the physical pain and illness (though they experience those too). These women work in the brothels with some of the most oppressed and exploited women on earth. They live in a city where they daily deal with disgusting comments from passing men, and are often grabbed by those men. They are daily dehumanized. They choose to live in Kolkata where their oppression is incredibly real and unavoidable. And even in their frustration and anger, their hearts break for their friends in the red light district whose oppression is so much greater. The degradation of these Nepali and Indian women goes deeper and lasts longer than my North American friends’ daily experience. But they choose to suffer with their friends.
Even as I write about this choice to enter suffering and oppression, it doesn’t seem to make much sense. But this is the Jesus we see. This is the Jesus we follow. This is the way of his Kingdom and, I believe, the way he is choosing to restore this hurting and broken world.
Please pray for us as we continue to learn what it means to follow Jesus, to enter into the suffering of the poor and oppressed around us, and to walk with our friends into restored relationships with God, with others and with this world.
For more details on the day-to-day life in Nepal, check out my blog (see address below).
peace to you,