Memory and Pain

We arrived home yesterday from our family trip to Europe, minus three out of five pieces of our checked luggage. One night we stayed at a castle near Salzburg that used to be run by a Bible college. They still had quite a few books that they were selling at a reduced price. Two of them that I have started reading are "The Pursuit of God" by A. W. Tozer and "Prayers Plainly Spoken" by Stanley Hauerwas.

His prayers have a profound simplicity. He would agree with what Timothy Keller said that God understands the language of our pain. Hauerwas in the introduction to his book says, "I figured God could take it, because God did not need to be protected."

I'd like to share one of the prayers, "Memory and Pain".

Crucified Lord, your creation is full of pain. Our lives are filled with pain. We must appear happy, to be OK, to others and ourselves. After all, we know no likes to be around people in pain. So we cannot even be around ourselves. We refuse to remember because memory is just another name for pain - dull, meaningless pain that makes us numb. but you would have us be a passionate people, filled with the Spirit, possessed by memory. We fear that if we remember, the pain will return and kill our present. Give us courage, which is just another name for friends, to stare down the terror in our own and our neighbour's lives, that we may be your joyous people. Amen.

I also wanted to share some things from the message I listened to this morning.
The problem is not with the God of the universe, but with us.
If it was not for the grace and forgiveness of God, we could not survive.
He inflicts wounds that heal, wounds that are for our good and for his glory.
God can give us joy in our suffering.
This was from the series on the book of Habakkuk from www.redeemer.com.