Suffering

…:as long as I was stuck in my own suffering,

I  couldn’t see anybody else’s.

                                                          Joanne Friday, quoted by Thich Nhat Hanh

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We all suffer

I suffer, you suffer

Hilary Clinton suffers

Donald Trump suffers

We may not be in touch with our suffering

It may feel like rage or anger

We may run from it like jackrabbits in the sagebrush

But we all suffer

And when we suffer, we tend to make other’s suffer too

We are called to embrace our suffering

Notice it, understand it,

That we might then touch it with compassion

See in it our longing for something not satisfied (TNH)

See in it the genesis of those thoughts, actions and words

That wound and destroy

And seeing our suffering

We will see the suffering of others also

And perhaps with the mind of love

(empowered by the Sacred Seed within)

We might transform our suffering

And who knows?

Perhaps the suffering of others too

After all, happiness and love are contagious