Affector, “Harmagedon”

Theocracy, “30 Pieces of Silver”

“have an opinion or a point of view?”
I have lots of opinions.

“favor Jesus’ words over any other narrative”
Is it OK to draw a parallel between Jesus and a lifted up serpent?

John 3:14 (KJV)
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And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

What are 2 claims in your essay you’d like me to accept?

Paul E. Billheimer, _Don’t Waste Your Sorrows: Finding God’s Purpose in the Midst of Pain_ (1977)

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Page 50 — How often one is tempted to question, even mourn the years of disability, invalidism, and pain suffered by saints such as Madame Guyon, Fanny Crosby, Amy Carmichael, George Matheson, and others, out of whose suffering God distilled sweet comfort, healing, and strength for millions of fainting pilgrims.
God’s frequent transmutation of sorrow into blessing for others is beautifully expressed in these lines:

Page 85 — According to our thesis, life is intended to be an education in agape love.
All circumstances, whether of joy or sorrow, which are permitted to come to a child of God are for the purpose of teaching and maturing him in the love which is the prerequisite for rulership in the ultimate economy of God.
This world is a laboratory in which those destined for the throne are learning by actual practice to be governed by the law of love, which principle they will administer in the ultimate social order.

Page 112 — Many excellent writers justify suffering on the basis of its value in time and the contribution it makes to character and the kingdom in the here and now.
There is much to be said for this viewpoint.
Volumes have been written concerning the value of tribulation and sorrow in the building of character and the fashioning of a meritorious life style.
In one of his books, J. R. Miller has expressed this faith beautifully thus:
“We do not know how much we owe to suffering.
Many of the richest blessings that have come down to us from the past are the fruit of sorrow and pain.”

“What a world of privilege evidenced by these quotes! Go tell it to the parents of a child diagnosed with cancer”
Is there “a world of privilege” here?:

Susan Angel Miller, “Loss, Grief, and Post-traumatic Growth” (2019)
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When our seemingly healthy 14-year-old daughter Laura died within days of being diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor, my husband Ron and I were shocked and distraught.

Our sheltered family life in Bayside wasn’t supposed to unfold this way.
We were overcome by the thought of never seeing Laura again and the prospect of raising our two younger daughters in a world we no longer understood or wanted to inhabit;
we struggled with how to react as well as how others would expect us to behave in our new, unwanted identity — as parents of a child who had died.

Thankfully, the world we still inhabited was our familiar Jewish Milwaukee — a community which shared in our disbelief and grief, comforted us, and came to our aid during our darkest days.

Our strength deepened when we were told that Laura’s liver had saved a woman’s life.
We eventually met Trish and have since developed an exceptional relationship with her.
The miraculous impact of our family’s decision to donate Laura’s organs gave us purpose, comfort and a newfound sense of stability.

When friends commented on how well we were managing, I remember feeling bewildered and even a little guilty.
We’d suffered two harrowing incidents, yet we were not only doing okay, but better than okay.
We’d become increasingly more empathetic, grateful for the blessings we still had in our life;
we were determined to live in the moment rather than fearing the future.
We refused to sacrifice our daughters’ lives, or ours, to what couldn’t be undone.

My bewilderment at our doing “better than expected” decreased after learning — quite by accident — about the concept of post-traumatic growth.
Our family was not alone in surviving — and even thriving — following trauma.
The research, in fact, shows that the majority of survivors will experience at least one element of positive emotional growth in the wake of trauma.

Factors such as childhood stability, a positive outlook, sense of spirituality and supportive relationships correlate to a victim’s likelihood of displaying resilience or even bouncing back higher than before.

Survivors, of course, shouldn’t be judged if they don’t experience positive effects on a specific timetable, or even at all.
And, the survivor almost always would never have wanted the bad event to have occurred in the first place, regardless of any subsequent growth.
PTG is not an either/or phenomenon.
Emotional growth and ongoing distress often, in fact, occur simultaneously.
For us, no amount of growth could ever make up for losing Laura.
…
Discovering the prevalence of PTG encouraged me to write a book about my experiences — to dispel the myth that humans are destined to crumble when faced with life’s inevitable adversities.
I truly believe that we’re all stronger than we think — especially with friends, family and community by our side.

Susan Angel Miller is a career volunteer.
She participates in an annual memorial walk in honor of her daughter, Laura.
She leads presentations on post-traumatic growth, personal relationship building skills, and organ donor advocacy.
Susan received her undergraduate degree in political science and MBA from Loyala University in Chicago.
She is married to her exceptionally supportive and resilient husband Ron;
they are the proud parents of Sara, Rachel and their forever beloved Laura.
She is the author of _Permission to Thrive: My Journey from Grief to Growth_.
Author’s Website: ** you do not have permission to see this link **

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amazon.com/Permission-Thrive-Journey-Grief-Growth/dp/173249603X/

hat tip
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