We strain to hear. But instead of hearing an answer we catch sight of God himself scraped and torn. Through our tears we see the tears of God
Interpretation
This quote reflects the struggle to understand suffering and the divine presence in our pain.
In this quote, Nicholas Wolterstorff illustrates the profound connection between human suffering and the divine. He suggests that in our quest for answers during times of hardship, we may instead encounter the raw, shared pain of God, revealing a deeper understanding of suffering. It highlights the notion that God is not distant from our grief, but rather intimately present, experiencing our sorrow alongside us, which can bring a sense of solace and companionship in our struggles.
In practice
This quote can be shared during a memorial service to comfort those grieving.
We have to distinguish between a man as he is in essence, and as he is in ego or personality. In essence, every person is perfect, fearless, and in a loving unity with the entire cosmos; there is no conflict within the person between head, heart, and stomach or between the person and others. Then something happens: the ego begins to develop, karma accumulates, there is a transition from objectivity to subjectivity; man falls from essence into personality.
Six feet of dirt make all men equal.
I do not like Moscow life. You live here not as you want to live, but as old women want you to.
And never have I felt so deeply at one and the same time so detached from myself and so present in the world.
The future belongs to God, and it is only he who reveals it, under extraordinary circumstances.
We're left with so little to go on. Only the present is full enough to seem complete, and even that is an optical illusion. The moment is bleeding off the page. We live on the precipice of our perceptions. At the edge of every living instant, the world shears away like a cliff of ice into the sea of what is forgotten.
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