Category Archives: Suffering

A SUBLIME GRACE

Posted on January 9, 2013 by

Valjean had experienced only the harsh and dispassionate force of the law, but he was now the victim of a sublime grace at the hands of a merciful and compassionate bishop. The bishop urged him to use the money from the silver to make himself an honest man. Then the bishop anoints him with these words, “Jean Valjean, my brother, you no longer belong to what is evil but to what is good. I have bought your soul to save it from black thoughts and the spirit of perdition, and I give it to God.” Continue reading →

Posted in Grace, Movies, Redemption, Suffering, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

OPPORTUNITIES IN DIFFICULTIES

Posted on July 3, 2012 by

“I mean that I am blessed to have the opportunity to experience something that not many other people have the chance to experience. I am blessed to have a challenge that not many others get to have. I am blessed to have the capacity to share my experience with others and have the chance to improve the quality of someone else’s life. I’m blessed to be different.” Aimee Copeland, victim of flesh-eating bacteria that resulted in the amputation of her left leg, right foot, and both hands Continue reading →

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BEAUTY FROM ASHES

Posted on March 13, 2012 by

At 2:46 P.M. on Sunday, March 11, horns sounded across the entire island nation of Japan. People everywhere stopped and bowed their heads in a minute of silence. Special ceremonies throughout the country commemorated the devastating disaster that occurred at … Continue reading →

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GOOD FOR EVIL

Posted on November 1, 2011 by

“We saw people that were obviously suffering. They felt a great sense of responsibility for what happened. How could we add to their pain displays of anger or anything like that?” Barry Sullivan, father of Declan Sullivan who was killed in a tragic accident at Notre Dame Continue reading →

Posted in Character, Forgiveness, Grace, Suffering | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

LOSSES AND QUESTIONS

Posted on May 25, 2011 by

I spent Sunday evening and Monday morning researching the damage the EF5 tornado did to my hometown of Joplin, Missouri Sunday. Sirens alerted residents of a dangerous situation at 5:11 PM. Twenty minutes later, a tornado, three-fourths of a mile wide, wind velocities over 200 mph, touched down on the southwest side of town and ripped a swath through six miles of residential and business areas. Continue reading →

Posted in God and Nature, Natural Disasters, Suffering | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

AN EXPLANATION OF SORTS

Posted on April 5, 2011 by

Natural disasters appear to operate outside any system of justice. Serious questions scream for answers after watching innocent victims unfairly selected by an impersonal executioner for punishment. In the aftermath of these tragedies, God is inevitably dragged before a grand jury and indicted on charges of being unjust, unloving, capricious and cruel, if such a God who rules over the creation can even be found to exist. Continue reading →

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CAN BAD MEMORIES BE GOOD FOR US?

Posted on December 7, 2010 by

Is there any tragic or traumatic memory that you wish you could erase? An untimely death of a friend? An accident that still gives you chills when you remember it? A gut-wrenching broken relationship? Continue reading →

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