Companionship in Suffering...
Several weeks ago, our Lead Pastor asked if I would like to preach at the Maundy Thursday Service. While I was excited to have the opportunity to preach, I knew from the start it would be a challenge for me. The thought of focusing on one of Jesus' most difficult nights in his journey didn't necessarily thrill me, and preaching on The Garden of Gethsemane had suffering written all over it. I've never really loved suffering...but then again, who does? I guess it's because when I allow my eyes to see it, something breaks inside of my soul in a way that I'm not really sure what to do at times. It happened the first time I stepped foot in a government run girls orphanage in Honduras, one that housed teenagers who had been abused, neglected and abandoned. It happened when I stood in the middle of a city dump in the Dominican Republic and watched human beings not only rummage through our garbage, but then attempt to live in it. It happened when I sat at the be...