{"id":27518,"date":"2015-11-16T09:55:47","date_gmt":"2015-11-16T14:55:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sth\/?p=27518"},"modified":"2019-09-16T14:10:49","modified_gmt":"2019-09-16T18:10:49","slug":"holding-pain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sth\/holding-pain\/","title":{"rendered":"Holding Pain"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Dean Mary Elizabeth Moore\u00a0<\/i>
\nAs we continue to receive news of the terror in Paris, I write you with anguish that is too deep for words. I know that you carry the heaviness as well. In these days, I pray that the human community will face the depths of this terror and will seek to understand the violent structures and actions that breed such wanton destruction of precious lives. I pray that the human community will put an end to scapegoating, and begin to see the world more complexly and the call of Love and Justice more clearly.
\nIn the best of Islam, jihad<\/em> is the struggle to bring about good, or striving toward good. In the best of Christianity, discipleship is following the radical love of Jesus Christ. In the best of Judaism, hope is focused on God and the potential of God\u2019s people to contribute to tikkun olam<\/em>, or repair of the world. In the center of Buddhism is compassion. These religious traditions are complex and they are not the same, but we have much to learn from one another and abundant work to do if we are going to walk together through horror and fear, and work together to seek and create hope for tomorrow.
\n\"candles1\"Holding Pain, Suffering, and Fear<\/strong>
\nThe horror is unthinkable \u2013 almost unbearable:
\nSuffering will continue far into the future,
\nFear will endure even beyond the future,
\nAnd suffering and fear will dwell within us.
\nWe mourn the terror in Paris \u2013
\nThe lives lost, the lives maimed, the lives of loved ones left behind,
\nThe lives mutilated by violence,
\nAnd the lives threatened by more violence.
\nWe mourn the violence and suffering in Baghdad and Beirut,
\nIn New York, Charleston, and Umpqua Community College,
\nIn the actions of \u201cour people\u201d and the actions of \u201cother peoples,\u201d
\nIn acts of wretched hate where love and compassion could dwell.
\nCan faith help us now?
\nCan we seek the best in our traditions,
\nand seek the best in others?
\nCan we see the Holy in our neighbors and ourselves,
\nand see the thin threads of life in smoke-filled air?
\nCan we resist the temptation to blame
\neveryone but ourselves?
\nCan we resist the temptation to shrink other religions
\ninto small, tight boxes
\nthat cannot hold their holiness and beauty?
\nAre we able to open ourselves to pathways of love, justice, and peace
\nthat stand at the center of every religious tradition?
\nAre we able to listen closely to others \u2013
\nto hear their suffering and their passions and hopes?
\nIn this week of terror,
\nwe can barely hold the pain.
\nHope will have to wait,
\nbut it will come
\nand it will hold us in the pain
\nand in the horrible sense of loss
\nand in the fear of more loss.
\nHope will bring no simple comfort,
\nbut it will speak to our depths
\nand tap into our compassion,
\ntouch us with Holy Presence
\nand invite our determined action
\n\u2026 \u2026 when<\/em> it comes
\nbut, for now, we wait and mourn.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Dean Mary Elizabeth Moore\u00a0 As we continue to receive news of the terror in Paris, I write you with anguish that is too deep for words. I know that you carry the heaviness as well. In these days, I pray that the human community will face the depths of this terror and will seek to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12612,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[177],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27518"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12612"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27518"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27518\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38591,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27518\/revisions\/38591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}