Took a bit of a break from blogging. I got distracted from this hobby. But I miss it.
There doesn’t seem to be a whole lot politically to comment on right now. News about Trump indictments vs investigations into the Biden family continue, as part of the ongoing political war between the Left and the Right.
The war in Ukraine grinds on indefinitely always escalating to a new level. The economy hasn’t crashed yet. Still no hyperinflation or $10 a gallon for gas. Yet.
Yet there is no reason to believe God’s great chastisement of the world is up in the cosmic air, but rather still unfolding and approaching us one day closer until it is unleashed on the globe. Our Lady’s prophesies will come true
My thoughts instead of late have rested upon more existential and mystical questions about the paradoxes of life. The endeavor is to see this valley of tears from God’s perspective, and less my own.
After all my years on this planet, I’m still peeling back the scales from my eyes to see clearly reality. As the saints saw it. I’m still endeavoring to rise above my own fallen nature darkened by original sin and my own sin, which tends to see reality in an unclear and shadowy way, but instead rise out of the shadows and see the divine panoramic view of life that God shared with us in Revelation (Sacred Scripture + Sacred Tradition), that is clear, bright, and ever hopeful.
That this life is ultimately a mere means to eternity, the one and only test of our eternal destiny, that every last bit of our daily life is a means to the ultimate end, and not a good for its own sake.
I’m mystified by human suffering, by the harsh realities of life, all while under the Providence of an infinitely good and loving God. From the human perspective, it is difficult to reconcile an all good God with some of the most unimaginable sufferings He allows many to suffer.
Yet through the lens of faith, accepting the teachings of Scripture, according to God, all suffering is for the good of every person, for their salvation.
So when a child is sold into sex slavery, imprisoned in the dungeon of some satanic sadist billionaire, who he raped every night when he comes home work, even to the point the child always resists him, resulting in being amputated of all limbs to prevent resistance (this is real), still God allows this for the salvation of that child.
It is a test for the child to trust in God and not despair.
This is one of the most extreme examples I can think of, but there is a nearly endless list of harsh human tragedies that the good God allows.
Except for the souls in hell, punished without end with never anymore mercy, all tragic suffering in this life, before each person is judged after death, is God working for our redemption out of love, to save us.
That is a great mystery to me, the more I taste myself of the agonies of life that Christ Himself experienced in the garden of Gesthemane, the more suffering is a mystery. When things go south, when there is severe hardship, trial, or even tragedy in all its forms, it is like entering into a cloud of unknowing.
You know by faith that God is all just and everything you experience for the worst in this life He Himself orders ultimately for our own eternal good, but by reason itself apart from faith the purpose is unclear and uncertain.
This is why I am thankful for the gift of the Christian, Catholic Faith I received since my baptism as a newborn. To have the teachings of Christ as to why we suffer, as to its purpose, as to how to embrace our cross, is a light in the darkness.
For every pagan or nominal Christian today, when life gets rough, and I mean really really rough, the kind of trial Job endured, or the imprisoned sex suave child, or the deaf and mute paralytic, or the parent who loss a child, you name it, there is little reason to keep on going without the knowledge of Divine revelation explaining the divine plan of suffering.
So there you have it. I’ve been ruminating and reflecting on the subject of the mystery of redemptive suffering. And I may continue posts about this subject Time will tell.
May I, may we, embrace our cross, stand up straight, hold it on our shoulders, and move forward in our own passion to the very end.
Good to be back.