Whenever suffering enters the life of one we love, then it alters the path we walk as well. This happens as a byproduct of love, weeping with those who weep and suffering with those who suffer. This path is thrust on us without choosing it. We do choose our reaction to it. At first we may want to deny it, reject it, or be angry about it. We come to a place of acceptance when we walk through it as a way of following Jesus the Way. The path of suffering needs to develop patience and endurance in us. It becomes part of our growth and spiritual formation.
“If we are being afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation; if we are being consoled, it is for your consolation, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we are also suffering. Our hope for you is unshaken; for we know that as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our consolation.” 2 Corinthians 1:6-7 (NRSV)
