Jeremiah 31:7-14: None Shall Stumble
Saturday, December 15, 2018
Marc Adamus: The Cold Journey
Jeremiah encourages the faithful to keep eyes fixed on God, to remember that God is both the source and goal of our being. Our journey here on earth is one of working in the vineyards of the Kingdom, of witnessing to injustices committed against the marginalized, and of waiting on God’s plan in God’s time. Jeremiah tells us that the faithful are guarded and led out of exile. He reminds us that the remnant that was scattered is gathered up in hope and loved with passion. The blind and the lame, mothers and those with child, those who departed in tears . . . all departed in sorrow will return in an immense throng . . . and none shall stumble. This is the best kind of news we can hope to hear.
The daily drone of life wears down our defense against pain. The monotony of waking each morning to hope endlessly in a better day saps our resources. The aridity of the desert dries up the wells we frequent for refreshment. The oases are further apart; our rest stops do not sustain us as they once had. We have difficulty celebrating the good news we know is upon us . . . and it is difficult for us to believe that none shall stumble.
When the life we have arranged for ourselves fails us we have two options: we can turn away from the pain of our suffering, or we can turn toward our grief where God waits to sweep us into waiting arms.
Richard Rohr has something to tell us about this in his book Job and the Mystery of Suffering: Spiritual Reflections (pages 54-55).
“We must go through the stages of feeling, not only in the last death of anything but also in all the earlier little deaths. If we abort these emotional stages by easy answers, all they do is take a deeper form of disguise and come out in another way. So many people learn that the hard way—by getting ulcers, by all kinds of psychosomatic diseases, depression, chronic irritability, and misdirected anger—because they refuse to let their emotions run their course, honor them consciously, or find some appropriate place to share them.
“Emotions are not right or wrong, good or bad. They are merely indicators of what is happening, and must be listened to, usually in the body. People who do not feel deeply finally do not know or love deeply either. It is the price we pay for loving. Like Job we must be willing to feel our emotions and come to grips with the mystery in our head, our heart, and our body. To be honest, that takes years”.
We live in a world of instant replay, quick solutions, smiling gurus, and impatience with suffering. Jeremiah speaks to the faithful who understand that living well is not about covering over or covering up but of delving deep and allowing the fiery furnace of pain to refine us as we witness, work and wait. Job understands the intensity of suffering innocently. Rohr tells us that our pain is not a punishment but an acknowledgement of our eagerness to be one with God. We know that the journey is long and steep . . . we know that our yearning for God means that we are remnant . . . and we know that with God . . . none of the faithful shall stumble.
A re-post from November 12, 2011.
Image from: http://www.marcadamus.com/photo.php?id=37&gallery=desert
The Noontimes 