•  traditional view of God
•  big mystery
•  cant be inside yourself…?
• = “conventional wisdom” (Borg)

Who wants to sacrifice themselves?
but we all do it (in some way)
but what is the other option?
- selfishness
- fear of closeness, fear of opening yourself to others

Self-protection mechanism

•  someone else will do it
•  scared of the disappointment of hopes (e.g. Nthn Ireland)
• Can’t enjoy the good times without the bad…?

Acknowledge the reality of suffering

but there are different types of suffering = different causes of suffering

More important is our response – try to do something to reduce suffering

Not try to answer why

(but this is religion’s job?!)

the answer to why is what we do:

good responses: love, compassion, protest

bad responses: doing nothing, judgmentalism, not my problem (denial)

suffering is very important for our picture of the Divine
elements of our picture of the Divine include:
1. inner resources to respond (finding the God within)
2. others who support us

a) cross as a mistake = the senselessness of suffering

b) but fact that Jesus shared our suffering is an important source of strength for many people’s faith lives

a & b) together = integrity of love & forgiveness

******************

Don’t like the Korean fairy story – result more important than the path, it seems to be encouraging sacrifice or giving away what you cannot afford

All dumped onto God – no mention of other people (can we “send away” pain?)

= old models of God being resorted to

Does there have to be a happy ending?

Buddhist acceptance of pain and compassion of people to people

Compassion = when our souls are touched by suffering of others

There is an imprint within us that we can name sacred/divine

“I’ve never come across a baby that was evil!”

types of suffering need to be differentiated:

• torture
• horrific violence
• extreme illness

do we have to say why? E.g. the Cross as senseless violence

some explanations/reasons do not give meaning

can we accept random violence?

Importance of failing

We have choices but different ability to choose

Balance valuing yourself/ego with humility