An Uninvited, Unwanted House Guest

Awhile back I wrote a post about Much Afraid's companions, Sorrow and Suffering..., her strong helpers on her way to the Kingdom of Love.

Today along the same theme, I want to share about an uninvited and unwanted guest that has come to visit me. This guest's name is Pain - physical pain in my case, but she can come dressed in many different outfits. I'm struggling to learn how to host this guest who has moved in to live with me in spite of many and long-term efforts to remove her; most days she stays relatively quiet murmuring in a back room but there are days when she comes rushing into the front room, making a fuss and messing up my plans and hopes for the day.

Being a normal human being who doesn't want Pain hanging out with me, I've done what I know to do about her through medical channels and through prayer and physical therapy, etc. All of this helps keep her in the back room for part of the time anyway, but none of my efforts have succeeded in expelling her from my home altogether and so I live with her for now.

To tell the truth, I haven't been a very good host. I was not expecting her when she showed up and I certainly didn't expect her to hang around so long, and I have cried and complained about her presence. But I've noticed something happening to my heart since she moved in, an enlarging of my heart. I find myself less judgmental of others and more willing to give people the benefit of the doubt when I see or hear of situations that I would have quickly judged as "wrong" in the past. My heart is soft and tender towards others' suffering and the desperation to find relief; I'm more patient. I love God more as I think about how he became human and allowed himself to feel the suffering that we feel as humans.

I'm beginning to conclude that Pain, like Much Afraid's companions, has come to help me in my journey to the Kingdom where God's love rules. And lately I'm becoming aware that while Pain herself is a good helper, others who sneak in the door with her are not very helpful.

Next I will share a few thoughts about these others who are easily confused with Pain but who are toxic companions...