Chaplain's Corner

October 2004
 

“The human spirit can endure a sick body,
 but who can bear it if the spirit is crushed?”

Proverbs 18:14

After brain injury, there is nothing easy about maintaining a sense of well-being. Many times, the physical aspects of recovery are easy compared to the long-lasting mental, emotional and spiritual wounds. Forgetting, not understanding, difficulty communicating, black and white thinking, no longer fitting in with old friends, feeling far from God; these are just a few of the day-to-day problems which must be overcome in order to live with some degree of peace and contentment.

The bad news is that life is never going to be easy. Brain injury or not, we have all suffered and will continue to experience pain of some sort throughout our lives. And, while those who haven’t suffered from brain injury can never completely understand the losses associated with it, there is Good News.

The Apostle Paul, a man who suffered greatly in the first century after Jesus’ death, wrote the following: “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”

There is a direct relationship between suffering and receiving the future blessings of God. That connection was made real by Christ’s death on the cross. And we are called, each of us, to follow Him into that suffering.

This is not to say we should be excited about brain injury or any other type of trial we must endure. What Paul is saying, I believe, is that as we have faith to trust God in the midst of suffering, like Jesus Christ, we will one day be raised up into heaven with perfectly working bodies and minds to enjoy eternity in the presence of God who is love.

For me, this is Great News!!!!

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