PROOF POSITIVE

  Transforming Suffering
An Interview with Basil Pennington

By Mary Nurrie Stearns

Basil Pennington is a Cisterian monk whose worldwide ministry focuses on bringing contemplative practices into the lives of spiritual seekers. He is a spiritual retreat leader, lecturer and author. He is most known for his work in the Centering Prayer movement, which is how I was introduced to his ministry. He resides at St. Joseph’s Monastery in Spencer, Massachusetts.

Upon the recommendation of a friend, I read his recent book, Lectio Divina, a description of the meditative practice of praying with the Christian scriptures. I came to understand more deeply how sacred texts can bring us to union with the divine and how contemplating inspired words can ease suffering. Realizing that he had a depth of understanding on suffering, its transformation, and the use of meditative practices in easing suffering, I arranged to interview him by telephone. His spiritual presence and depth of understanding were apparent during the interview and are present in the words that follow.

Personal Transformation: Let’s begin with the question: What is suffering?

Basil Pennington: First of all, it is important to distinguish between pain and suffering. As the Buddhists make very clear, suffering comes from wanting something and then not having it or feeling that you can’t have it. Pain causes suffering because we think we should not have it. We think we should be free from pain, that we should be filled with pleasure. Suffering is when something is going contrary to what we want. That is why some Buddhist schools say the way to get rid of suffering is to get rid of desire. We Christians believe that we are made for God. St. Augustus says, "Our hearts will not rest until they rest in you, O Lord." There is always going to be desire, but happiness can be found in knowing either we have what we want or we are on the way to getting it. We can want to participate in a certain amount of suffering and pain, and find a deep joy, because we have what we want. For example, when a little child suffers terribly, the mother and father want to be with that child. Even though it will cause them to suffer, they want to be with their child in that suffering

PT: If suffering comes from desire, and there is a difference between pain and suffering, do young children suffer or do they have pain?

Pennington: From a very early age, not to want to have pain is there. Pain is alien to us, so there is probably some suffering, but not the same kind of suffering we have later in life. There is suffering because we instinctively do not want pain. Only somebody more mature can see a value in pain or can transcend pain so that it does not cause them suffering.

Children suffer, but not as much as somebody older who has a reflective consciousness and suffers not only the immediate desire to be away from that pain but also suffers from the frustration of their desires.

PT: Let’s go back to the example of the parents wanting to be with the child when the child suffers. The parents want to suffer with their beloved.

Pennington: When you willingly enter into suffering, a lot of the suffering is relieved, even though suffering is very much there, because not wanting the suffering increases the suffering. When Christians speak of suffering we think of the crucified Lord and the tremendous sign of His Love for us. He said, "Greater love does no one have than He lay down his life for his friend." Jesus laid down his life in this graphic and dramatic way as a sign of His love, His concern for us. At one level, He suffered a great deal. Part of him did not want to go through that pain and suffering, and there was suffering because he took on all of our sins and stood before the Father in that sinful state. He suffered, but in the end He said, "Not my will but Thy will be done." Love conquered. The Beloved, His Father, wanted Him to go through this as a sign of love for us, and so He went through it. His love and concern kept overcoming his suffering. He was concerned about his executioners and forgave them, He was concerned about those being executed with him and promised them eternal life, He was concerned about His mother and saw that she was cared for. Even while He, at times, on the cross, prayed, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?," He went on to triumph. In the end He gave a magnificent cry and had such a victory over suffering and death that the centurion said, "This must be the Son of God." Suffering can be very much there, but love constantly overcomes it when one embraces that suffering because she wants the fruit that that suffering can bring about.

A MEDITATION ON
FINDING MY LOVE   

Thus all that friends have to do is to go on a scavenger hunt for Our Love that dwells within them 24/7. They can hunt anywhere for us.  We are fully alive in the world of man. Searchers of Us find that we remove the scales from their eyes and they see Our Love in all things.  This is not unlike what happened to St. Paul when Annanaius went to him and prayed with him after Paul had been blinded by Our Light. The scales fell from his eyes.  He then became a zealot for us and spread Our Message of Love throughout the known world of that generation.  In fact, he did the unthinkable. He spread the Good News of Salvation to the Gentiles.  What an uproar that caused! What a revolution that produced!  What a delight such a revolution was and still is to Me. 

You are not unlike Paul. In your own way in your quest for truth and Love, you uncover bread crumbs of Life Eternal through the inner experiences that you have of My True Presence in you especially after you receive Timeless Love physically in the Eucharist. 

That is no coincidence. That is a direct confirmation from Us of Our Love saving you daily and protecting you from harm.  Love is the cornerstone of Our Salvation being played out within you in your daily life.  It is a rousing crescendo that grows into a trumpet blast in your heart, your soul and your mind.  There is no way for you to deny this Truth.  There is no way that you wish to deny this Truth. 

We touch you daily in ways that are surprising to you. We touch you in ways that are in accord with your unique personality.  You think you are “finding Our Love.”  In essence, the moments that We are describing are those moments in your time when you discard your old ways of viewing life, and putting on Our Mind for you. We share Touches of Wisdom in the insights that We share in you each day.  

I do not wish to break your bubble.  You do not find us.  We stand still and allow your being to catch up to Us.  We allow Our Love to be observed as being fully alive in you . You merely uncover the bread crumbs that we leave for you so that you may follow Our Trail from temporary to Forever in Love.

 My friend! I come to your awareness. I enable you to experience My True Presence in you. I know that such experiences, while fully peaceful, confuse you. You pray for discernment. I reinforce the reality that I am Jesus the Messiah who speaks in you with the assent of the Father through the Power of Our Mutual Love - The Most Holy Spirit.

I blow away your human logic. I do as I do on purpose. I defy your nice, neat, intellectual perceptions about Me. Let Me add. If I did conform to your comfortable intellectualizations about Me, that would make you Me. That is impossibility.

Thus you are stuck on the horns of a dilemma. Are your conception of Me is Truth or are your internal experiences of My Love fully alive in you are proof of the Truth that I dwell in you?

I tell you now. You cannot have it two ways. That is being lukewarm. I vomit you out of My Mouth if you are lukewarm. You are either for Me or against Me. You know that scripture quite well.

If you are with Me, nothing will prevail against you. I befriend you. I protect you from harm. I inspire you from within. I fill you with My Peace. I nourish My New Life in you.

If you are against Me, I do not know you. I honor your choice not to befriend Me. The crux of the problem for each friend lies in the ability of each person to discern if the experiences of My Love internally are from Me or from some other false god.

I give you this rule of thumb. Ask Me. Say, "Are you truly Jesus?" Then get out of the way intellectually. I will respond somehow to your honest question.

As you wait, come to the Eucharist. Be in Communion with Me

Pause

You just received My True Presence in the Eucharist. At least that is what you believe. It does not make any sense intellectually. Does it? Yet, you step forward in faith and surrender intellectually to your belief in Unseen Truth. You cannot explain why. It just seems to make sense in ways that defy human reason. That is because your human mind defers to My Divinity.

Can anyone disprove your logic? Sure! They laugh at how naïve you are. They certainly make sense. They say, "How can a man dead for over two thousand years dwell in a piece of bread and in a cup of wine?"

The answer is quite simple. "I believe that Jesus is both fully human and fully Divine. As such He can do anything. I believe when I receive His True Presence in the Eucharist, I allow Divine True Love to mix physically with My
humanity. If I am wrong, which I am not, then what harm do I do? I have not lost anything. If I am right, which I am, I cross beyond human reason into the world of Timeless Love. I have gained everything. What have you lost?"

In answering this question about Eucharistic True
Presence, I answer your questions about whether you truly experience Me internally or not. I love killing two birds with one stone.

Love,

Jesus

A PAPER TRAIL TO TRUTH

Where does all this internal talk lead? Why do I bother leaving a paper trail to a foregone conclusion? My friend, in so doing I answer not only your questions but I also answer the questions of so many others. You do not have the market cornered on skepticism. Your questions are so simple in comparison to those questions raised by hearts of stone. I love answering any or all questions from believers and non-believers alike.

You see. Questioning is the first step toward redemption. Questions denote curiosity. Questions leave room for a response from Our Most Holy Spirit. I am more than capable of fielding any question. Even if My Response leads to other questions, that is okay too. It shows the questioner is not dead spiritually. Thus your paper trail of letters becomes one piece of My Responses to critics and cynics alike.

I am Objective Truth. I am God the Most Holy Spirit. I am Divine. I am. I need not say another word.

 Love,

 The Most Holy Spirit

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