Suffering

I was reading a story about Henri Nouwen, a writer and chaplain who taught briefly at Harvard Divinity School, my alma mater. In a set of essays about his time there, this quote from Nouwen stuck out for me:

Many people don't think they are loved, or held safe, and so when suffering comes they see it as an affirmation of their worthlessness. The great question of ministry and the spiritual life is to learn to live our brokenness under the blessing and not the curse.

What caught me, first, was the idea I think hidden in many of us that if something bad happens to me, I deserve it. Or at least, that no-one cares about me. What an amazing reminder--that suffering doesn't mean any of that! That instead suffering can bring blessings, and deepen our attachment to God. That we are held safe, we are loved, and so trouble in life is just that: trouble. God's love persists, always; even in the face of suffering.