It’s September which, as every Chinese auntie knows, means ghost month is over but the suffering of the long year has just begun.

In this episode, Matt and Dan slip into the bitter oolong of theological reflection and sip slowly on the paradox of suffering: the kind that doesn’t go away when you pray harder, and the kind that doesn’t get prettier when you quote Romans 8 at it.

Framing the conversation between the minimisers, who deny the pangs in stoic detachment, and the maximisers, who build Chinese altars to their affliction, we look at suffering as an inevitable and indispensable dimension of the Christian journey. What does Christ’s victory on the cross actually do with our pain – and what does it very much not do?

Matt and Dan warn the Christian against making a fetish of suffering or pretending it doesn't exist at all. Instead, they suggest something stranger and more relational: suffering as a place of encounter. A furnace, yes, but one where another stands with you.

So boil your tea, light your incense, and prepare to get awkward. Suffering is on the table in this double episode bonanza, and maybe, just maybe, grace is hiding in the steam.

Resources

John Paul II: Salvifici Doloris