Bending the back to the burden - we considered an affirmative approach to suffering at our gathering in August 2018 #Unitarians

All lives include pain and suffering, said our president for the day (Rev Martin Whitell).  The trick is knowing where to seek the resources to bear the suffering when it happens, rather than to rail against it and grind oneself down even harder with resentment of it.

It requires a degree of maturity and experimentation to be able to reconcile different pieces of advice regarding how to cope with pain. The Bible, for instance, contradicts itself: James declares we should welcome trials as a means of self-improvement (notably regarding our faith); whereas Genesis makes it quite clear that the suffering and pain of Adam and Eve left them considerably worse off than they were before.

We had readings from Harold S Kushner, a progressive conservative Rabbi who has written the book "When bad things happen to good people," and a poem "Go Boldly" from Unitarian Universalist poet Jean M Olson.  We were invited, like the Jewish psalmist, to seek our help from the greatness revealed to us in the hills; and from the Hindu faith there was a rule that we should act as possible to extract good even from the horrid and even poisonous circumstances we find ourselves in.

We had classical and modern hymns and a well known contemporary song that is rapidly becoming a hymn for many: "You raise me up".

In the mix were our usual periods of silence for reflection on what has been said.  Also, simple ritual, in which participants determine the meaning they personally find in the actions rather than trying to 'believe in' meanings ascribed by anyone else.  There was a period for meditation practice for those who wanted it, and we lit candles for issues of importance to us.

It was delightful to welcome some new faces to our gathering.  We are growing all the time and are ready to adapt and change as the combination of experiences, struggles, preferences and skills flex and flow, depending on who is in the gathering.  We do not expect to be the same month to month; in fact we live in the expectation of being quite changed by new participants.  This is the joy and resilience we take from living and journeying together as a community, rather than being solo travellers.  If you would like to come along and make a difference to us and to yourself we would love to see you.

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The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.  Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter's oven?
  Kahlil Gibran (1883 - 1931)