Sister Sharon
Personal
Suffering
This
past December I had the experience of having my right knee replaced. I
suggested to Richard that we take on the topic of “Suffering.” The topic came
to my mind very quickly and I wasn’t quite sure why, but if I had to summarize
my year (2014) in one word, most likely I would choose the word “suffering.” My
suffering was partly physical, as my knee was barely working, and I was denying
the pain I was experiencing. In addition to the physical pain, I began the year
with personal loss as a result of the passing of a very close friend of
thirteen years, who happened to also be my boss at the time of her passing. In
April I then lost my feline friend, who was my constant companion for the past
24 years. In short, it was a very tough
beginning of the year. Then I left my position, which lead to the tedious job
searching process, so, the year was riddled with multiple job applications,
interviews, and rejections. I tried to remain faithful to prayer, and taking
care of myself, but my personal life continued to kind of crumble around me. I
found out that a few individuals who I thought were my friends had a hard time
allowing me to emote, and distanced themselves. Suffering seems to be a good word to summarize
my experience of the year, and yet, I am uncertain what I truly mean on a
spiritual level by this phenomenon.