| A WORD FROM THE DIRECTOR
Rev. David B. Wooster
Several
times during this extremely cold winter I have shivered with the thought
of what it must be like to sleep outside.
I know that I cannot really understand the situation of my homeless
friends. Sometimes, I catch a
taste of their discomfort but I’m limited in my ability to “walk in
their shoes” because I have options that they do not. All winter long
I’ve struggled with the cold. But I have a warm office and a warm home.
I can get away from the discomfort whenever I choose. The
opportunity to escape diminishes my ability to truly empathize.
A
friend of mine pastored a church in
Bermuda
. What a great place to live.
Occasionally he would joke, “I’m just suffering for Jesus here
in
Bermuda
.” Suffering is not
something we like to think about, but we must understand the power of
voluntary suffering. If the story of Jesus, recently dramatized in Mel
Gibson’s “Passion,” teaches us anything, it would be that for some,
suffering is a choice that can transform those around us.
We
do not naturally choose suffering. In
fact, we work to avoid it. We
choose comfort, pleasure, and play over hardship, work and discipline.
We really don’t like discipline.
For example, as millions around the world (and thousands here in
Massachusetts
) struggle to have enough food to eat, the
U.S.
is struggling with an epidemic of
obesity. Recent
reports reveal obesity
in American children has doubled in
the last 20 years and 2 out of 3 American adults are obese.
We choose to eat whatever we want, even when doing so is bad for us
in the long run. Now giving up
Twinkies or super-size fries really isn’t suffering.
But, their popularity indicates how hard it is for us to choose
sacrifice over self satisfaction.
Why would we choose
“suffering”? First, we
need to define what suffering is. An
example of what it is not might help us.
Each generation, culture, and class has its own set of
expectations.
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I
recently found myself getting irritated when my wife forgot her cell
phone. A few months ago she
didn’t even have a cell phone. My inflated expectations led me to
“suffer” when I couldn’t share something trivial with her the
moment it popped into my head. This
is not the kind of “suffering” that is going to make the world a
better place. It is a
selfish suffering that makes the world intolerable.
Voluntary
suffering is choosing to surrender one’s rights to improve someone
else’s situation. For many years, I was a vegetarian. It was a
personal choice to maintain a diet that was designed to be “just.”
I chose to avoid meat because meat production is inefficient.
The multiple pounds of grain proteins used to make one pound of
meat protein could feed many more starving people than feedlot cattle
and pigs. It was also a
choice to make my “diet” an opportunity for discussion of the world
hunger crisis. My choice to
return to having meat in my diet was also a matter of putting the needs
of another ahead of my anti-hunger crusade.
Truthfully,
I do not make many selfless decisions to “suffer.”
That I can point to one doesn’t make me a saint. However, what
I have learned about self sacrifice leads me to encourage others to
consider it. The choices of
Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King have impacted the world. The
selfless choices of those who sacrifice portions of their week to make
food deliveries or help at the feeding program greatly improve the lives
of those they serve. The
sacrifice that others make by donating food and finance to QCC makes our
compassionate efforts possible. Quite literally, there are people who
would go hungry without your sacrifice.
Jesus
taught us to “hunger and thirst” after justice and what is right.
He challenged us to choose suffering to accomplish things of
eternal value. Consider the
plight of others when making your choices and make it a point to not
always choose the easiest or most comfortable option.
Remember the paradox of the rewards of voluntary suffering. Be
generous and your life will be enriched.
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