suffering

As I'm standing here watching the Broncos beat Minnesota I find myself shaking my head in that, after a season of messing just about everything up, the Broncos are now working on messing up a sure number nine pick in the draft (they'd be the only 6-10 team, but a whole slew of teams could finish 7-9).

At the same time, I can't help but see hope in all this, but it's coming from unexpected places. As this season began, all of the talk was about guys like free agents Travis Henry and Daniel Graham, or the trade for Dre Bly. These big money veterans were supposed to take an "on the verge team" to the next level. However, the guys that are playing strong and beating the Vikings are guys like Selvin Young, an undrafted rookie free agent, and second year guys like tight end Tony Scheffler, wide-receiver Brandon Marshall, and defensive end Elvis Dumervil. So, while the quick fix isn't helping, the foundation for the future is looking strong.

Like always, I look at everyday things like this and see connections to other times and situations in my life. Typically it involves me entering a new phase or season in my life with incredible expectations, only to have it be much more of a struggle. However, in the midst of the trial, when I look back there is always a silver lining and I can see how God was using what I expected to be a time of strength to shape me for something to come.

Of course, as I stand on the edge of a year where the elemental life will be published, where the accompanying eLife podcast will launch, where the Super Average Podcast (SAP) begins (look for episode 1 on Monday the seventh), and of course when the Fishbowl finally launches, this idea of a time of promise becoming a time of trial isn't all that encouraging.

Then again, as I typed this the Broncos have given up 16 points and the game is now tied ... maybe my analogy and my fears of a rough '08 don't really matter.

In the spring of 2006, Lutheran Hour Ministries (LHM) in St. Louis published a booklet I wrote titled "Where's God in All of This?". As the title would suggest, the booklet explores what C.S. Lewis once identified as the problem of pain, namely, how a loving and gracious God can co-exist with all of the suffering in the world.

The back cover of the booklet reads in part: "Suffering comes in so many different forms, but the all drive us back to that age-old question, 'Where's God in All of This?'"

You can order copies from LHM here, or you can download a pdf version here.

In the Spring of 2003 one of my co-workers at Lutheran Hour Ministries (LHM) asked me to try and write a pamphlet on the issue of suffering. "Discovering Hope" is the result.

This short pamphlet asks, "Where do you turn when the waves of life come crashing in against you?" and invites the reader to "Discover hope amidst turmoil in the one true anchor you can hold onto - the solid, safe anchor that will never let you go!"

Copies can be ordered from LHM here.