To live well

As I reflect on this week I feel renewed and encouraged. The irony is that this week I had an encounter with pain and although it hurt, as pain does, it was good. I found that pain and suffering can bring peace. It's in our pain and suffering that we are perfected and strengthend. We are so afraid to face our fears and problems because of the threat of pain. However, it is only when we allow ourselves to feel the pain and sufering and confront our demons that we can begin our recovery. I think many of us have been handicapped by the notion in the church that as Chritians we aren't supposed to feel pain or suffer. Often we are led to believe that we are to always be happy and filled with joy. The problem is that we live in a fallen world. The reality is that there will always be pain and suffering. We can't avoid it, the question is how do we deal with it. Do we bury it and pretend like we don't have problems and everything is fine? Or are we brave enough to be honest and admit that we hurt and that we struggle?

This issue is something I've thought about for awhile but never really done anything with it. Authenticity is something I've always desired but my fear of confronting and feeling the pain in my life has kept me from it. This week I had an experience with the pain of my life and it was a revelation. Was it hard? yes. Was it worth it? absolutely. Accepting the pain and being willing to walk in it allows me to know and accept who I really am. It's only when I'm willing to be broken and deal with it head on that I can live authenticly and be able to give myself away, my true self. When this happens there can be true intimacy with my wife, my friends, my family and everyone in my life.

I'm sure I will have more to say on all this in the future but I'm just flushing out what I have learned and felt this week. I'm on a journey and can only pray for courage to face my life with honesty and to live more authentically with those in my life.