The Circle of Suffering

We have a saying at our house called "The Circle of Suffering."  It works something like this...I tell Joe that we need to go to the store; he tells our boys, "Your mother wants to go to the store.  Be ready in an hour...Circle of Suffering."


Get the idea?!!  Joe considers going to the store to be suffering.  And he wants the boys to suffer along with him.

Of course, what always happens is...we enjoy the outing and enjoy being together.  An activity that we considered a burden turns out to be a blessing.

"The Circle of Suffering..."  

In this life, our suffering began in the garden with Adam and Eve.

...cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life.  Genesis 3:17  

And now, we struggle just to survive and to find meaning in life.  We try to do what's right, but we end up hurting and being hurt by each other.  And we're haunted by failures.  It seems never-ending.
  
Then, as if we're the "joke" in a bad movie, we get old, we get sick...and die.  And, that completes our circle.  The end...

But, it's not the end.  

Every time I hear "Circle of Suffering" I think of Isaiah 53:  

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows...  Isaiah 53:4a

At the right time, Jesus "took on flesh" and "jumped into" my circle of suffering, into the world's circle of suffering.  

In this circle of suffering, Jesus saw it all - anger, hurt, sin, sickness, death.  He was a Man of Sorrows.

Yet, while He was with them, Jesus fed people, healed them, taught and loved them.  The people had hope...or so they thought.

But then, Jesus showed Himself as humble and weak.

...yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.  Isaiah 53:b

And at the cross, Jesus was alone in His suffering - He took the wrath of God.   

But...

What Thou, my Lord, hast suffered
Was all for sinners' gain.*

He suffered because He loves us.  He suffered for the joy set before Him.  

And Sunday morning, the tomb was empty.  What seemed like defeat, was to our benefit.  He is risen!  He is risen indeed!
  
 
*from - O Sacred Head, Now Wounded