How Can It Be Good?

Tragedy has rocked our world again this week. And undoubtedly we all have our own unique causes for grief or crosses of suffering to carry as we move through Good Friday toward the hope of our own sort of Easter. Yet here we still are today, "Good" Friday, in the midst of it--whatever it is. 

Who in their right mind would deign to call it good?

We know that suffering, and ultimately death are a part of life. But culturally we still tend to keep it hidden away in the shadows, to speak of it in hushed tones because it is somehow 'easier' or more 'appropriate.'

It can be all the more overwhelming, then, when we are thrown out in the open with suffering and death, when these unpleasant realities not only show their face, but crash through our world in harsh and relentless ways like torture and senseless attacks and prolonged suffering.

These realities have not kept to the shadows this Lent. It seems like there is heartbreak all around. More tragedies on a worldwide scale. Death has visited our close friends, extended family, and other loved ones in our circles. Suffering of all kinds ripples through our lives, reminding us how fragile life is. As if we need much reminding these days. These stories fill my prayer book and my heart...and as always, the question of "why" hangs heavy in the air--but doesn't come with ready answers; least of all for those hit hardest by the reality of death and suffering. 

Yes, it is a natural part of life, yet we spend so much time trying not to dwell on sad realities that when they hit, it comes as a shock, and our reactions are searching at best.

But I don't think these reactions are purely from our desire to avoid them; I think there's more to it. I think deep down, we also know, we understand, that we were programmed for good. This truth is written on our very hearts; Something greater than us willed this world, willed us, for good. So when we see the suffering and destruction of good, it wholly contradicts this truth. We know subconsciously-- objectively--that it should not be; but then we are forced to grapple with the reality that it still is. That there is yet another something outside our control, contending with good; scattering evil.

So the news of another person suffering, another death, indeed shocks us and simply does not make sense. It plants fear in our hearts. And we good-seekers are left to pick up the pieces and search for some explanation in our hurt and anger and sadness and heartbrokeness. To wonder: have we done something to deserve this? Will life always be so unfair? 

No. That's not how it works. As the old lady in the commercial says, "That's now how any of this works!"

The level of one's suffering does not equate to a certain amount of punishment, or a certain level of love, or determine fairness or worth. Suffering simply confirms that we are alive, and living in a broken world. And though the "why" behind our broken world remains largely unanswered, the Who surfaces again and again to show us that no--He does not will suffering. Only the forces opposing Him do. He, by his very nature, cannot. He only desires to reinstate goodness and life.

This is the Who of Love. Love who does not will anything but our ultimate, eternal, good. Love who wants to be with us. Who grieves with us. Who suffers alongside us. Love who, in fact, took upon Himself the highest level of sacrifice and injustice and suffering so He could give eternal good. 

The purest, greatest Love in the world, the greatest gift of Life, was not spared suffering and death--but was born out of it.

This Lent has led me to little pockets of this truth, continually reinforcing the bigger truth: though we may not know the why, it is the Who of love--intended to be born through each of us--that matters in these times. I'll let these passages speak for themselves:

"We could say that suffering . . . is present in order to unleash love in the human person, that unselfish gift of one’s "I" on behalf of other people, especially those who suffer. The world of human suffering unceasingly calls for, so to speak, another world: the world of human love; and in a certain sense man owes to suffering that unselfish love that stirs in his heart and actions." --Blessed John Paul II, Salvifici Doloris (On the Christian Meaning of Suffering) 

"God wills only our good; God loves us more than anybody else can or does love us. His will is that no one should lose his soul, that everyone should save and sanctify his soul... This is the will of God, your sanctification. God has made the attainment of our happiness his glory." --St. Alphonsus de Ligouri  [emphasis mine].

"Take heart, Jesus hears even the last echo of our pain." --St. Therese of Lisieux 

"He does not love you based upon your performance. There is nothing you can do to cause God to love you any more than He already does—and there is nothing that will cause God to love you any less. He loves you, even more than you love yourself.
Until now you have probably only experienced conditional love. Conditional love is based upon what you do. Perform well on the job, on the team, or in the relationship, and you are “loved.” 

In opening your life to Christ, you have found total love and acceptance. That may be hard to comprehend if you’ve never felt totally loved and accepted by anyone. But it’s true! Unfortunately, you won’t always feel that God loves you. There will be times when you find yourself doubting not only His love, but also His existence. You’ll feel like giving up. Don’t. 

When God gave you a new life, it didn’t come trimmed in lace and smelling of perfume. Jesus began His earthly life in a smelly, damp stable. He tasted real life, and that will be the flavor of your journey with Christ—no magic, just the promise of His presence with you." --Steven L. Pogue (full article here)  

Sometimes it still feels easier to hide from the realities of suffering than to expose our brokenness and be loved, scars and all. But love cannot exist in a vacuum, and neither should suffering. As JP II says above, the world of suffering unceasingly calls for the world of human love. Indeed, I can vouche for the fact that personally, I most often encounter and experience God through others--through this world of human love. 

And that is our truth for today, on this "Good" Friday: it is not the suffering that is good, but the love born out of it. It is the human good we share which counters the evil of suffering, it is the gift of eternity we choose to embrace that counters the finality of death. It is not a Love that takes away physical suffering and death, but rather conquers their power over us and releases us from the grasp of the evil desperately trying to drag us away from Love. 

It is this love that God wants us to restore in our hearts, to restore in each other through mutual love and goodness, through running to each other and, most importantly, Him--instead of hiding in the midst of the suffering. 

He knows our hurts. He loves most fiercely the broken pieces of our hearts.

May we return His love just as fiercely when we look up at His body and heart, suffering for and with us, breaking out of Love for us.