In the Dark
A student nurse was holding back tears yesterday after hearing the stories of my patients. She asked me, "How do you do it? How do you keep going when all these awful things happen? How do you not get overcome by it?" I gave her the story that I always give, that we are planting seeds, that we try to give them a glimpse of hope, that if one succeeds then it is worth it. But I stopped. It felt rote and didn't speak to her heart. The story was just a story, words trying to give meaning to situations that felt meaningless. I stopped, paused and turned to look at her, so I could give her my real answer. This isn't about the bad things. It really isn't. The things that happen are just part of our spiritual journey. The darkness that descends, well, I tolerate it because I am a Christian. I know that there is darkness because I believe the world is broken. I tolerate the intolerable because I want to ...