fidzbit

Jesus is a spiritual big brother for every Christian. Having suffered in  every way  like us He is able to sympathetically come alongside us with grace to help (Hebrews 2:17, 4:15-16). You have just spent all day with sick people. You can’t remember what time you got up or whether you stopped for lunch. You are so tired you will probably fall into bed without speaking to anyone. When you wake tomorrow it will all start again! Jesus knows how you feel. Mark’s gospel records a day in Jesus’ life when he went to the synagogue to teach. A man who was under a terrible evil influence came seeking help. No doubt this was deeply troubling for Jesus to see and ministering to the man must have been exhausting. Jesus retreats to a friend’s house and is immediately called on to heal a sick woman. As the sun was going down the whole town gathered in the doorstep looking to Jesus to heal the sick and deliver the possessed. Yet early the next morning Jesus got up to pray... and th...

This is the second of several blogs posts written from a definite Christian standpoint and interacting sympathetically and respectfully with the Dalai Lama's 'Time' article:  "' Prayer Is Not Enough.' The Dalai Lama on Why We Need to Fight Coronavirus With Compassion ". The first blog in this series can be read here: https://fidzbit.blogspot.com/2020/04/1-dalai-lama-virus-conversation.html .  The article can be read in full here:  https://time.com/5820613/dalai-lama-coronavirus-compassion/ . The experience of suffering is central to all Buddhist thinking. " Every sentient being " the Dalai Lama says, " is acquainted with suffering and the truths of sickness, old age and death. " From the universality of death, it should be self-evident to us that everything is impermanent. We cannot hold anything as permanent because we do not last forever. Pain and suffering are caused and amplified by the fact that we are blind to this self-...