Читать книгу Hear the Ancient Wisdom - Charles Ringma - Страница 65

February 26

When Things Suddenly Change

While we may wish we could be safely cocooned in life, this is not the case. Unfortunate and even terrible things can happen to all of us. Trials, therefore, are also the important transition points in life.

There are those, of course, who have a sunshine theology. Only bright days ever come their way and only good things ever happen. They seek to live a fair-weather gospel. Bad things only happen to bad people, never to those who are good.

Such a simplistic vision of life has nothing to do with the biblical story. In that story even God’s only and beloved Son is cruelly put to death.

Therefore, to reframe the above, we must say that all sorts of things can happen to all kinds of people. Loss, ill health, and suffering also come to the good. And Christians are not immune to the pain and difficulties of life. They too face the whole gamut of weakness, life’s difficulties, and the pain and brokenness of our world.

Meister Eckhart, regarding these matters, points out, “A man who has been well-off for many years, loses it all. He ought then to reflect wisely and thank God for his misfortune and loss, for only then will he realize how well off he was before.”57

The point Eckhart is making is clear. There are lessons to be learned in goodness and in times of difficulty. It is both joy and difficulty that shape our lives for the glory of God. And difficulty in particular can help us make transitions and can make us more thankful for what we have been given, even when these are taken away.

Thought

Loss invites us into reflection, and reflection can lead to transformation.