Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist,
in bringing many children to glory,
should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified
all have one Life-Giver.
For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters.
—Hebrews 2.10-11
No, suffering is not good for you.
It doesn’t perfect you,
like a blade ground on a stone.
Being perfected
is not about being flawless.
It’s about being loving.
Jesus’ loving was made perfect
in his willingness to suffer
with those who suffer,
to be one with them,
to let them be
his sisters and brothers.
•
Pioneer of my salvation,
take me with you.
Perfect your love in me.
Give me love so deep
for my sisters and brothers
I am not afraid to suffer
for them, suffer with them.
Pioneer of my wholeness,
be my pioneer in pain;
take my afflictions up into yours;
that in our shared suffering
we may lose our lives in God,
who is perfect love,
the Giver of Life.
•
A breath prayer: My wounds… your wounds.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
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