First.

a new blog. i've had plenty of them before, but i'm not quite used to the idea of having people actually follow it, let alone form any sort of opinion. in the past these have been purely meant for myself, to act as a preventative step before any form of writer's asphyxiation steps in. so, forgive me in advance if what i produce isn't what you were expecting. i'm also still getting used to the idea of "blogging with a purpose," so to speak. i'll do my best to make some sort of point abundantly clear, but all i am really asking from myself is consistency and challenge.


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lately, for one reason or another, i've been thinking about the problem of "joyful suffering." this may sound a bit bizarre and perhaps altogether impossible. what i'm specifically referring to is this idea that, while on this earth, we suffer greatly on an all-too regular basis. through countless types of loss, personal inadequacies and failures, illness, abuse, abandonment... we all seem to be victims of the world around us.

and all the while i can't help but feel compelled to say that we are still, despite these sometimes horrific circumstances, obligated to joyfully suffer. we are absolutely called to suffer with joy of the Lord in our hearts. we must willfully tolerate the earthly desecration of both our physical body and spiritual self . we do so in the name of our faith, and more importantly in the name of our savior.

"Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels." (Luke 9:23)

this passage is what prompted me to start thinking about the idea of joyful suffering, or if it was even possible. i understand that what i'm talking about is not necessarily the "core interpretation" of the passage, but i still find it completely relevant.

as humans, defining suffering in this way might not make complete sense. i haven't fully established a concise explanation or definition, but the idea of it does offer me some sort of internal peace. in the deepest, darkest of hours, and in the blackest, most barren depths of despair, it is easy to forget the underlying joy that fuels our temporal suffering. the joy of the ultimate truth, the gospel salvation, and the promise that is offered to us if we can just take more step towards Him. and unfortunately, as it stands, we must overcome the distress before we can be given the reward.

in remembering the cross and considering the amount of indescribable suffering that Jesus paid for all of mankind, i have to believe that he did it willingly, and he did it joyfully. the daily trials we face, however devastating they may seem, are not even worthy of comparison. if he did all that for us, i believe that we can overcome the miseries of this life with the knowledge of Truth in our hearts, and quite frankly, we should do it without complaining.

so, from now on:
let us bleed, bruise, and break joyfully!

it is absolutely worth the pain.