suffering
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Growing
What a mess the world is in,filled with sorrow, death and sin,so much suffering, greed and hate,wrathful nature, cruel fate.Why would God allow it so? "Even God has room to grow." Text and image © 2014 by Dirk deVries. All… Continue reading
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Your Own Suffering
Unawareof his own suffering,covering itwith a sticky shellacof bravado,he formed a crustthat buffered him from othersas well as himself,a mantleof insulating indifference. Unawareof his own suffering,unable to touch it,to heal it,it festered,until finally,sickened by the infection,he could no longer pretendhe… Continue reading
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Sermon in the Park, Part 2
The homeless guys,with their parked shopping cartsand scraggly, gray beards,nod as he speaks. "You can cling to the cross,with its dried blood and splinters,or you can come dancing with me." I feel safestwith my face pressed against rough wood,cheeks bleeding.When… Continue reading
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No Warranty
I'm sorry,but who told you,life should be easy? Clearly you have not readthe instruction manual. For the first two years or soit will appear is ifit's all about you,and those around youwill allow you this illusion.But from then on,you'll be… Continue reading
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India, July 31, 2012
670 million people without power1/10 of the world's populationtwice as many people as live in the UStemperatures over 100 can you imagine? count your blessingsyou could live there, not here;it wasn't your choice Text and image © 2012 by Dirk… Continue reading
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Suffering
It may be true,as my father liked to say,that suffering builds character.I'm willing to acknowledgethat suffering can (and has)built something along the linesof patience, empathy and stamina,but I do believe sufferingcan destroy character as well,bringing despair, anger, hurt, confusion,… Continue reading
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To Change the World
To acknowledge life's sadness is not to be conquered by it.One can nod one's head to the inevitability of loss,but turn and embrace grace, compassion, hope, joy… This is the course of those who change the world–and the world yet to come. Text… Continue reading
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Descend, Night
Descend, night,and still our troubled spirits.Dream us to your meadowwhere suffering ceasesand misaligned souls reconcile. Descend night,and heal us. Text and image © 2011 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading
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Voice of the Prophets
Each day around the worldin brutalitysprout the seeds of death,a ghastly gardenwatered by our averted gaze,our lost sensitivity,our lives of distraction. The time to reap approachesand our culture of consumptionshall fall beneaththe harvester's blade. Text and image © 2011 by… Continue reading
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Holy Week
For most of my life, the tender, sorrowful laments of Holy Week, more than the joyous, triumphant hymns of Easter, have attracted me… Continue reading