Feeling What There Is To See

 "God is the presence that spares us from nothing, even as God unexplainably sustains us in all things. God depends on us to protect ourselves and each other, to be nurturing, loving, protective people. When suffering is there, God depends on us to reach out and touch the suffering with love, that it might dissolve in love."

James Finley, Center for Action and Contemplation, August 4, 2023

    

So many people I know receive Richard Rohr's daily posts that sometimes I fear being redundant when I quote them. However, this idea of touching suffering is staying with me. I find myself thinking of St. Francis, and all the great healers of the world, including the chaplains, pastors, doctors and nurses and others who step into rooms filled to the brim with suffering. While yes, there is training that can be utilized, there really is no formula that can be relied on. We must first rely on God's love to carry us, and then we must be willing to carry that love.

  

I am going to probably poorly paraphrase a story I read a few months ago. I can't even remember where I read it.  A woman told her story of sitting in a doctor's office as the doctor was telling her that she had cancer. When the doctor paused, she asked him if he realized that he had not once looked up from his paperwork to look at her. Only then did he raise his head. He did seem a little embarrassed, and then quietly said, "Well, I have all this paperwork." That was a room full of suffering, both hers and his. 

  

There is a lovely hymn entitled, "Touch the Earth Lightly". Yes, I agree that we must begin to touch the earth with a more gentle touch. However, touch it we must. We are of the earth. As the saying goes, it is in our bones. And every other little bit of us. We must dare to look. We cannot heal what we do not see.      

  

image: It is dahlia season here in San Leandro. It was overcast when I went out yesterday morning, so the light was a little flat. Yet, I could not resist their cheeriness. They always make me smile, and for a moment or two I know what it is to be healed.