Читать книгу Finding Jesus in the Storm - John Swinton - Страница 10

In John 10:10, Jesus makes an intensely powerful statement: “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Life in all its fullness is certainly not life without suffering, pain, or disappointment. That much is clear as we reflect on Jesus’s own life. Nor is it a life without joy, hope, and resurrection life in the Spirit. The quest for life in all its fullness is not the basis for a theology of glory—one that minimizes pain and looks past suffering.2 Rather, it is the foundation for a practical theology of the cross that takes seriously the freedom and release that we have gained through the death and resurrection of Jesus at the same time that it recognizes that cadences of the cross still guide the rhythm and the tempo of the day-to-day life of the world. Life in all its fullness is life with God—a God who accompanies us on a complex journey within which we live in the startling light of the resurrection but remain intensely aware that Jesus’s cry from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” still resonates throughout creation. Life in all its fullness is not life without tears but life with the one who dries our tears and moves us onward to fresh pastures.3 Such fullness of life is what I mean when I suggest that this book is about the ways in which Christians with severe mental health challenges can live well and live faithfully even in the most disconcerting storms. Mental health challenges are difficult experiences, but they needn’t prevent us from living well, living faithfully, and loving Jesus.