Image Name:Â Sigh
Series Introduction
Hurt can be so deep, so long lasting, so pervasive, so devastating that there are days when being able to get out of bed is in question. We can know our theology. We can state our theology. But we still hurt, bear loss, travail, wail, moan, howl, and scream our grief in suffering. Walker Percy, the great Catholic writer, said it best, “A person can know the meaning of life but still has to find a way to make it through Wednesday afternoon.â€
Life’s pain is woven through the Bible. Scripture is honest. The images in God’s Word are startling, difficult, and specific. Three dozen Hebrew and Greek words for suffering, distress, anguish, pain, torment, travail, and affliction are used in the Bible. In this brief, five-part series, Dr. Mark Eckel will pull back the curtain of biblical teaching woven with the breath-catching, earthly awfulness of suffering.
There are multiple reasons for, causes of, and responses to suffering. The suffering series will be as direct and honest as possible; but there is so much more to say. If you are interested in watching on video, Dr. Eckel is teaching ten sessions at his church which are being captured digitally with embedded power points. You can watch the series on the website of Dr. Eckel’s non-profit The Comenius Institute. More essays on “addiction,†“abuse,†“innocents,†“blame,†“scars,†and a four-part series on “lament†are available on Dr. Eckel’s website Warp and Woof.
If we do not look, we will not see. If we do not hear, we will not listen. If we are not compassionate, we will not care. If we are not willing, we will not give. If we are not changed, we will not act. May Paul’s words be our response, “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another†(Romans 12.15-16).
May our own hurt be the impetus for helping others in their hurt.
[Read more…] about Sighs: Suffering, Part 1 (Scholar’s Compass)