Can you feel it?

The question can run both ways. Down into the depths and up to the highest heights. Hang in there with me for this because we’re going on a journey.

Can you feel it? Can you sense it? Can you not hear it?

Can you not feel the pain around you? Can you not hear the suffering? Can you not literally absorb it into your being? Can you not perceive it? Do you not have eyes to see it and ears to hear it? Does not your heart ache? Or have you just built up such a wall around yourself that you ignore it all? Do you think you are so separate from everyone and everything else? How can you not feel it?

A quick scroll through the headlines says it all:

The Michigan Attorney General says she was among those targeted in a threat to kill Jewish members of the state government…

Earthquakes in Turkey and Syria killing tens of thousands and causing untold damage…

Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene draws the nation’s attention through comments that the country ought to have a national divorce…

A train derailment with toxic fumes causing health problems for the local population, killing thousands of fish and causing environmental damage all while fingers are pointed as to who is to blame and partisan politicians use it to for their own purposes.  The problems expand as word gets out that there are no requirements for publicly declaring where the toxic waste will go…

The constant drumbeat of politicians and pundits using the label woke, woke, woke for things and people they don’t like…

Controversy over a presidential appointment for the federal personnel agency who have a history of sexual misconduct…

Another Representative is caught lying about his background…

The take over of the board of trustees of New College in Florida by Gov. Ron DeSantis regarding Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion among other public fights over what can be taught in schools the state…

People voting for challengers over an incumbent mayor in Chicago over rising crime…

More shootings across the country…As four Representatives in Congress introduce legislation to make the AR-15 the National Gun…

A report about disruptions and protests – sometimes violent – at school board meetings since 2021 over policies related to masks and vaccine mandates, sex education, LGBTQ issues and teaching about racism.  Including 220 incidences of death threats and harassments against school board members.  

Fights in local schools districts over book bans…

Stories about the Murdaugh murder trail…

Iowa is considering a ban on transgender health care for minors while Mississippi passes a law to ban gender affirming care for children…

Stories about famous people who fear other famous people…

Iowa considers banning same sex marriage…

Stories in entertainment about a major movie that has lost a major lead actor and director…

Rupert Murdoch reveals that Fox News told lies about the 2020 election because all he cared about was making a profit.  And the hosts didn’t personally believe any of it – but told the lies anyway because it would help the ratings…

Story about a school that lost its auditorium in a fire that is now being demolished…

* Pause *

Now take a breathe.

That was a lot to take in.

Posting those headlines has nothing to do with how you feel about them or what you think about them. Social Media and New sites often will post such stories because they know something – they know how to draw you and I in, to get an emotional response. To get clicks, which is what they need to keep advertisers, which pays their bills. To generate anger. To cause fear. To tap into our identities. To make us feel attacked. To get us to say “see, I knew it…” And to get us to come back for more.

But just stop for a moment. Get past the immediate. Do you not sense the pain and suffering in all of those stories? Are you so numb to it that you can’t feel it anymore? Or have you blocked it? Is it just too common any more? Do you not feel the human toll? The weight? The burden? In every single one of these stories, there is great suffering and pain. A burden so heavy that people are crying out for help. Sometimes that cry comes out in projection. Sometimes it comes out as an attack. Sometimes it comes out in lament. Sometimes it comes out in a plea for change. It comes out in other ways – healthy and unhealthy. But the pain is there. It’s unavoidable. And we are exposed to it every day – all the time. We laugh at it. We spin it away. We make excuses for it. We ignore it. We belittle it and dehumanize it. We make it into enemies. We criticize it. We do all sorts of things with it. But how often do we allow ourselves to feel it? And to learn from it? And then to do something in response to it? To try to ease it? To listen to it? To speak to where the pain and suffer is?

When I feel the full burden of that much pain and suffering around me, it can be too much. It can be debilitating actually. It can be overwhelming.

There is a lot of pain and suffering in the world and around each of us, and in each of us, if we are honest.

So we have to start somewhere.

We can’t hold that kind of pain and suffering. We are just earthen vessels after all. We weren’t meant to hold it. We can see it for what it is. We can hear it. We can feel it even to know what it is. So that we can then respond appropriately. But we aren’t meant to take it in and hold it. It needs to be released.

For me, that starts with God. On the days when I’ve taken hold of the pain and suffering from around me and it needs to be released, I have a few ways in which I do that.

Today I listened to one of my go to musical selections that has been with me my entire life. It’s an album called Earthen Vessel by the St. Louis Jesuits. The album is about as old as I am. The song titles are a good contrast to the headlines. Many are based on Scripture. And the songs have always been a way to connect to God, to release whatever is within in to God, and to receive from God what I need to receive. Here are the titles of some of my favorites:

Seek the Lord, while He may be found

Sing to the mountains

Turn to me

Be not afraid

If God is for us, who can be against

Though the mountains may fall

Take, Lord, Receive

This Alone

Trust in the Lord

Earthen Vessels

* Pause *

Take a breathe.

Let that soak in now.

Can you feel it? Can you sense it? Can you not hear it?

Can you not feel the grace around you? Can you not hear the good news? Can you not literally absorb it into your being? Can you not perceive it? Do you not have eyes to see it and ears to hear it? Does not your heart spring with joy? Or have you just built up such a wall around yourself that you ignore it all? Do you think you are so separate from everyone and everything else? How can you not feel it?

Can you feel it? The question runs both ways.