The Deliverance Ne†work

1. transitive verb

2. :  to accustom to accept something undesirable <children inured to violence>

3. intransitive verb

4. :  to become of advantage <policies that inure to the benefit of employees>

My next obvious thought after reading the definition, was why we had to be ‘inured’ to suffering?  The mystery of suffering is something greatly debated in Catholic circles and I don’t dare to try explain it myself, except to offer my two cents of my experience of it and the changes it has wrought.  Suffering of course can be highly unpleasant whilst we are in the midst of it.  Who would ask for it?

The Little Engine That Could is an illustrated children’s book that was first published in the United States in 1930 by Platt & Munk. The story is used to teach children the value of optimism and hard work.

Many years ago while undergoing intense suffering myself, I remembered a beloved book of my childhood, and I felt compelled to become acquainted with it again.  It was one of two that I loved (the other being “The Little Engine that Could” – boy how I sometimes feel like that little blue engine…).  The book was “The Velveteen Rabbit”.

The Velveteen Rabbit is a children’s book written by Margery Williams and illustrated by William Nicholson. It chronicles the story of a stuffed rabbit and his desire to become real through the love of his owner.

I believe there are many reasons why we suffer, including a natural outcome of our experience of evil.  How much less suffering there would be in the world if everyone treated their neighbour as themselves and loved everyone!    However,  I also believe it is often necessary grace in disguise (yes I said grace).  I believe its effects make us stronger, but more importantly, like the little Velveteen Rabbit who becomes banged up and shabby on the outside (but beautiful, whole and real when he ‘dies’ -, through the love of his owner), sufferings’ effects help us to become more ‘real’.  I have experienced that it truly, like nothing else, helps us to shed our layers of falseness and less desirable qualities.  Sometimes difficult words, illnesses and circumstances help us to grow and change into better people and help us to know ourselves better (as we often don’t want to hear what others say we need to change).  Since I also have the grace of knowing this life isn’t the end, but more like our stuffed rabbit life experience of becoming mature souls that become truly ‘real’ or fully formed by the time of our death, I have learned to trust the often difficult circumstances life and God have sent my way…knowing God knows what He is doing far better than I.

I also liken our lives here on earth (our spiritual/soul formation) to the experience of being formed in the womb.  Anyone who knows a little of the hidden, intense and varied little cataclysms and evolutions and change that a zygote, embryo and fetus undergo to become a human being, can understand what I am trying to get at.  The creation of a human being, when viewed in the womb, can seem quite convoluted and messy (just like our lives can be), but oh what perfection in the immense, extremely intricate formation of a human being from two tiny cells containing the code of DNA!  Would God want anything less for our spiritual formation?  As conscious beings with free will though, we all have a constant choice to cooperate with the little trials of the path.  (I also liken the entire evolution of life on our planet and the human existence to a womb-like growth of the human race, but that’s for a whole other treatise on theoretical physics mixed with theology, and definitely for another time… you can see my previous writing  “Evolution as Creation?” here.)

To round out this little ‘thought’ on the nature of suffering, I leave you with three additional things to ponder.  The first is a dream experience I had two days after the ‘inure‘ sentence.  I realize the symbolic nature of the dream may help explain our life walk and ‘test’ and the ‘negative’ experiences of suffering  that actually in God’s perfect plan may be His intended perfected ‘positive’, but that is only my opinion; the full understanding of it is reserved for the next life:

February 9, 2008 – approx. 5:30 a.m.

Dreamt I was going to take a test.  I saw the test assembled and when I saw it I saw at first a long negative (-) gash in brownish rust blood colour and I said – ‘It’s negative!’  But someone else pointed out to me – “No, look:  You’re not looking at the whole picture” (which was much bigger).  As I followed the “-” symbol on the test it became a long road that I walked down, and the road/symbol of the test was a long road of splintered pieces of reddish wood (negative sign (-) gashes of wood that looked like negative signs),  and it extended out down the road and as I saw the whole thing it actually made it into a long positive “+” sign, but it was in the shape of a cross.  It only became apparent that it was a huge giant positive symbol as you got further down the road of  what seemed a series of negatives…

The second is a purported New Year’s message from Mary from a visionary known as Maureen Sweeney-Kyle, from the website http://www.holylove.org.  The recent message is as follows and the end of it in particular speaks to what I have been trying to convey in this writing:

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Mary, Refuge of Holy Love says: “Praise be to Jesus.”

“It is the hour of assessment as to where the world in general is headed in the New Year. This will be a year of profound trials, as what is deep in hearts and spoken of in secret is acted out in the world. Your reigning president will be tested over and over as to just how weak a leader he is in matters of national security.”

“God’s Permitting Will is greatly tempted to allow even more significant natural disasters worldwide. Each nation’s weakest attributes will become even weaker, for strength is in the Lord.”

“The conscience of your nation and of the world will slowly be convicted of their lack of cooperation with God’s Will, as they become less enchanted with politics and more united in truthful leadership. The Refuge of My Immaculate Heart will become more important to many.”

“Continue to choose the rosary as your weapon against evil, especially the evil of abortion. The Truth that abortion is murder needs to be accepted in hearts before much of what I have spoken of can be avoided.”

“I am your Advocate and Mediatrix before the Throne of God. Your needs and petitions are My own. In all ways, however, we must be ready to accept God’s Will, which is all-seeing and all-knowing. You may not in your earthly life see the immediate value of each cross, but when you reach Heaven all this knowledge will be given to you.“

I leave you lastly with a purported message from Jesus to another visionary, Janet Klasson, from the website http://www.pelianitoblog.wordpress.com. It also (coincidentally?) speaks to the theme that has emerged in my writings today: