suffering – Red Letter Christians

Jesus, Justice, and the Suffering of the Marginalized

July 28, 2021

Yet, where we see suffering, we often see Jesus. Jesus’ arrival in the Gerasenes shows us how he breaks into the marginalized areas of our societies where those who are suffering have been left to languish.

Struggle is Faithfulness: Thoughts from Inside Chronic Illness

Jenna Wysong Filbrun

May 25, 2021

General, Theology

However, is God directly responsible for one person’s healing while another suffers or dies? When God gets credit for the first outcome but not the second, it leaves the second person (and/or their loved ones) invisible, insignificant, and clearly excluded from God’s circle of care.

Come to Me All You Who are Angry

Esther Sparks

May 10, 2021

Church Life, General, Theology

Sketch drawn from a photograph in the Associated Press. A woman in the crowd lowers her mask to wail when she hears the grand jury decision regarding the death of Breonna Taylor.

Sunday Words on Weekdays

Marianne Abel-Lipschutz

February 15, 2021

Church Life, Family and Parenting, General

The loved one is in prison, the hospital, hospice, quarantine, or serving abroad. Some extended families face all of these circumstances at once right now. Yet the scriptures don’t avoid the expectation to feel joy.

Look for the Helpers

Paul Demer

February 13, 2021

Art, General, Practical Justice

What can the "look for the helpers" advice do for us in these times? I suggest that, while it doesn't diminish the painful realities of our corporate life, it does offer us one path through the valley of cynicism.

An Inheritance of Suffering: A Review of ‘This Too Shall Last’

Sue Fulmore

July 28, 2020

Books, Church Life, General

She becomes a loving whistleblower uncovering the ways the church has failed to embrace suffering as part of its inheritance, and how the suffering ones have been left on the scrap heap of success-driven Christianity.