The Gift We Don’t Want
Some kind of falling, what I call “necessary suffering,” is programmed into the full journey. All the sources seem to say it, starting with Adam and Eve and all they represent. Yes, they sinned and were cast out of the Garden of Eden, but from those very acts came consciousness itself, development of conscience, and their own further journey. It is not that suffering or failure might happen, or that it will only happen to you if you are bad (which is what many religious people often think), or that it will happen to the unfortunate, or to a few in other places, or that you can somehow by cleverness or righteousness avoid it. No, it will happen, and to you! Losing, failing, falling, sin, and the suffering that comes from those experiences—all of this is a necessary and even good part of the human journey. As my favorite mystic, Lady Julian of Norwich, put it in her Middle English, “Sin is behovely!”
—Richard Rohr, Yes, And…: Daily Meditations
Some kind of “necessary suffering” is built into every human journey. Scripture and experience both affirm it—loss, failure, and pain aren’t rare accidents, but inevitable parts of life. They are not punishments reserved for the “bad” or the “unlucky.” They will come, and they will come to us.
While we may resist this truth, God can use these very experiences to grow our conscience, deepen our awareness, and move us forward in our journey. As Julian of Norwich wrote, “Sin is behovely”—necessary—because through it we discover our need for grace. In God’s hands, even our falling becomes the ground where transformation takes root. —DH
—David Hoskins, Founder & Care Guide, Sanctuary Clinics