Surviving the Time of Great Distress
/When I was praying with the readings for this Sunday, the one that caught my attention was the one from the Book of Revelation. I usually resist that book because it’s written in coded language, and the symbols are pretty weird, so I find it hard to relate to. This time, though, when I read the line that says, “These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress,” I came to a full stop.
This feels like a time of great distress for lots of people — in the United States and throughout the world. There’s something about naming it this way that’s helpful to me, as is the perspective of being on the other side of it. The people in this reading have survived the time of great distress, and now it’s over and they’re hanging out with each other and praising God. It’s nice to look to a time when all of this will be over for us and we will have survived, right? The group described here is one “from every nation, race, people, and tongue,” so it’s made up of everyone, a diversity of all God’s people. After their survival, they worship God day and night. And Christ, symbolized by the lamb, “will shepherd them and lead them to springs of life-giving water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
This reading gives us little hints about how the people in it delt with their distress. The fact that God wipes away tears tells me that the people were weeping – a healthy way of releasing the emotions that come with suffering. I haven’t had a good cry in a while, and honestly, I probably should have one to just release my pent-up emotions. The reality is that when we are in a time of difficulty, we have to try and cope with it.
I recently listened to a very helpful podcast about how to deal with emotions. It was an episode of the Hidden Brain in which Shankar Vedantam interviews psychologist Ethan Kross on “How to Harness Your Feelings.” It turns out that projecting your perspective into the future in order to reflect on a current difficult situation is a good coping strategy. (Good job, people in Revelation!) Another strategy is engaging in “selective avoidance,” or what I call healthy distraction. Another is exercise, which is one that I find particularly helpful. The other day I was feeling stressed and sad, and I went to a dance class at the YMCA. I danced hard until I felt some of the sadness lift and a bit of joy and life return. It felt so good to release some of those feelings, and I know I need to be more intentional about doing that more often.
The thing is, though, working with our feelings does help us to cope, but it doesn’t resolve what’s that’s causing the distress, does it? There are some things we can do to change our circumstances, and of course we should work to make the world equitable, just, and peaceful. However, change is long and slow in coming. In the meantime, what do we do beyond managing our emotional responses to difficulty? I think we can go a little deeper, and to do that we need God’s help.
This tiny little Gospel reading offers us some wisdom about that. Jesus says, “‘My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. . . . No one can ever take them out of my hand.’” Christ knows us, and even though God is full-on profound mystery, we do know God at some level. And whether we pray to Christ, the Spirit, or God the Creator, or a more general Higher Power or Mystery or Holy One — however we name God — we can recognize the voice of God.
There is a cacophony of other voices, ones not of God, surrounding us all the time, and that multitude of voices contributes to our distress. Many of those voices clamoring for our attention come from a tiny little handheld device that we can’t seem to put down. Some come from ads on TV or the Internet or our politicians or even some spiritual leaders, unfortunately. But if we sort through the mess of that clamor, we can get to the still, small voice of God. That voice of God is always speaking to us.
Hearing that voice requires some silence. Silence is hard to come by these days, but it’s good for us. I know it’s good for me. Hearing that voice of God affirms how much God loves us. If we can’t give ourselves space to listen for that voice, it’s difficult for us to allow God to be present, to wipe away our tears and to lead us to spring of life-giving water. God is the spring of life-giving water, and when we’re not quiet, we can’t be led to it.
So, for me, the call I hear in these readings is to do the best I can to cope with these times, and also to discern what’s of God and what’s not of God. When I can hear God’s voice, I can allow God to move me toward God. I can follow. It sounds simple, but it’s hard, especially in this time of great distress.
And I do think we can help each other with this. The spiritual life is not meant to be lived alone. A hermit’s life is a true calling, but most of us are not called to that life. Most of us are called to community in some way. And, although this time of great distress is pretty extra, it’s not our first rodeo with oppression. In fact, the first Christian community was persecuted almost immediately, as we see from our First Reading from Acts. We know that humanity has been here before. We, too, will navigate through this time, and as we’re dealing with it all, why not give ourselves over to the comfort of God’s care?
God is with us to love and comfort us through this time. It’s lovely to think about God wiping every tear from our eyes. What a tender gesture. And who knows? Maybe when I’m getting out all my angst in the basement of the YMCA, God is dancing there too, with me. Knowing that God accompanies us and comforts us and shelters us is incredibly consoling.
We, too, are the ones who will survive the time of great distress. And when we’re on the other side of this, we will praise God and celebrate together.
So, let’s pray together in the words of the Psalmist:
Know that God is God;
God made us, we belong to God,
God’s people, the flock God tends.
God is good;
God’s kindness endures forever,
And God’s faithfulness, to all generations. Amen.
For reflection:
When you find yourself in a time of great distress, what helps you to cope with all the feelings that emerge? Do you ever share them with God?
What helps you to get quiet enough to hear the still, small voice of God offering comfort and care to you?
What is God’s call for you in these readings? Maybe you could take some time in quiet with God and see what God has to say.
If you would like to hear an audio version of the reflection, click here. Listen and subscribe to the Providence Podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, YouTube, and wherever you get podcasts!
By Sister Leslie Keener, CDP
Sister Leslie Keener, CDP is the director of God Space, a community-building spirituality ministry in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. She’s a Sister of Divine Providence with a Masters in Ministry and a Certificate in Spiritual Direction and Retreats from Creighton University. She directs retreats, meets with people for spiritual direction, and serves as the vocation director for her community. She enjoys music, dancing, the joy of the resurrection, and Easter candy.