Bearing the World
A friend and mentor of mine had a framed poster on her wall entitled, The Seasons of a Woman’s Life, which featured a circle depicting the lifespan of a woman. I spent many hours contemplating this poster as I sat with her and reflected on God’s working in my life. I’ve been thinking about these seasons, especially the third one, bearing the world.
The circle was divided into four quarters. The first quarter was childhood and adolescence, the second was childbearing, or bearing others, the third was bearing the world, and the fourth was bearing ourselves.
Thankfully, I’m not into the fourth quarter yet where all I can do is bear myself with as much grace as possible. I’m done with child rearing. This drops me into the third quarter, bearing the world. What does it mean to bear the world?
Bearing the World on Aching Shoulders
For most of my adult life, starting in my thirties, I’ve had issues with my neck and shoulders. That was where I carried the tension in my body. Massages now and then helped, but nothing completely relieved the tenseness. Now I have chronic neck and shoulder pain, limiting my ability to write and read for hours on end. It seems I am carrying the burdens of the world on my shoulders.
This doesn’t mean that I am slouched over and miserable under this burden. Rather, part of bearing the world is bearing it with dignity. Accepting it as our role in this world, our way of giving back.
Some people avoid all news coverage and social media because of all of the negative, upsetting messages there. I’ve chosen not to do that though I limit my time lest I fall into the trap of doomscrolling. It’s a challenge, but sometimes we need to look squarely in the face of all that is going on in the world and hold it in prayer.
Power and Control
One of the reasons we don’t want to deal with this is because we feel powerless and out of control. We don’t like that. There is so little we can do in the face of so much suffering and evil. So, we search for something, anything within our power to do.
It doesn’t necessarily mean that we go out on the streets protesting or that we move thousands of miles away to a third world country to help those who are suffering. Some women, though, freed from the role of active child rearing, may embrace the opportunity to go out into the world and try to effect change.
It does mean we are in the world yet not off the world. That we confront our own powerlessness and trust in a greater power. We can become prayer warriors and everyday mystics.
Mystics
Cloistered monks and nuns do not retreat from the world to avoid the world. Rather they are engaging the world, bearing the world, bearing the pains and suffering of God’s people.
Mystics, such as Julian of Norwich, were aware of the state of the world. Julian lived during the black plague. No one was unaffected by this scourge. “Considering that, at the time, the citizens of Norwich suffered from plague and poverty, as well as a famine, she must have counselled a lot of people in pain.” (Who is Julian of Norwich – Friends of Julian of Norwich)
Yet Julian was able to reassure us that all will be well because she was aware of a greater reality.
Thomas Merton spoke out against war and injustice. He was very aware of the world from his hermitage and actively prayed for this world. In his chilling poem, Chant to be Used in Processions around a Site with Furnaces, Merton exposed the horrors of concentrations camps as a way to bring about a change of heart in those who read it.
Bearing the World
Bearing the world means we hold all of the suffering in the world in prayer. Raising these prayers up to God, we call upon God the way that Abraham did when he challenged God to save Sodom and Gomora. We aren’t afraid to stand up to God when we don’t understand. We cry out in lament. Then we place it all on God’s powerful shoulders, trusting in God’s great love for us and our world.
This is our source of hope and joy.
What burdens are you bearing? I would be happy to pray for you, as I hope you pray for me.
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