Buechnerisms pt.4

"the preacher must somehow himself present this silence, and the mystery of truth by speaking what he feels, not what he ought to say, by speaking forth not only light and the hope of it but the darkness as well, all of it, because the Gospel has to do with all of it." The darkness is easy to name at times...tragedies like Katrina and the tornadoes that ripped through the U.S. last year. Still darkness comes in sickness, heartbreak, cancer and even death. To speak what I ought to speak about the darkness is to say that it cannot overcome the light, but that doesn't seem to be true when you face cancer With a loved one. To speak what I feel is to be mad as all get out that I won't have my dad around anymore. The light and hope is that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. The hope is the promise of the resurrection of which Christ is the firstfruits. The Gospel is big enough to hold together what we ought to say and what we feel, both of which must be expressed as we experience life in community. I know that God is in control and that his mercy and grace will be sufficient...it still doesn't take away the hurt...