I thought to share one simple thought that came to me today - thanks to a meditation by Henri Nouwen: Suffering must be looked in the eyes. What do I mean by this? Well, looking something in the eyes is a sort of connection. It is a willingness - whether virtuously or maliciously motivated - to connect with a person on a personal, individual level. This is why we have such difficulty looking someone in the eye when we are lying or distracted: connection is simply undesirable.
Suffering - very often - is uncomfortable to look in the eye. We don't want to connect with it. Instead, we focus our attention on major crisis or far away dilemmas. This way, the suffering right in front of our faces can be dismissed, ignored, or delayed. And yet, the immensity of the far away and/or universality of suffering makes us cringe and become overwhelmed. We do not have the grace to cure humanity - but we do have the grace to face the moment.
When we look suffering in the eye - we see Jesus face to face. It does not require that we do anything or that we fix anything. All that it requires is that we connect with that person and thereby with Christ in His suffering. This simple presence communicated through a gaze bears the fruit of compassion. And in its turn, compassion is what makes the burden light, the yoke easy, and the Way a pilgrimage.
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