On Degrees of Affliction, a Reflection from C.S. Lewis, and an Invitation to Grace
A Note from Me
As I’ve learned to sit with my own affliction, I’ve come to realize that it’s not a one-size-fits-all kind of thing. It wears many masks. It has many degrees of intensity, each revealing something different. Just as a bruise differs from a break, affliction presents itself in different depths, each one asking something unique of me.
There are those small, almost laughable irritations, and then the kind of hardship that settles in for a season, and sometimes tragedy strikes. This realization led me to create a more nuanced way of thinking about affliction, eventually dividing it into three layers or degrees—maybe naming them could help me hold them:
Irritation, for me, represents the everyday annoyances that disturb me…
Hardship refers to the challenges that persist for a season…
Tragedy is the kind of affliction that alters life in a way that cannot be undone…
Recognizing these degrees of affliction has given me a framework to better understand my experience of purgation and how to respond to it. Because affliction, in and of itself, doesn’t transform us.
It’s not the tragedy, hardship, or irritation that shapes us; it’s the opportunities they present and the grace that meets us right in the middle of it.
*From Chapter 3 of my first book Dwelling in Christ: Discover the Threefold Path of Spiritual Transformation
A Voice from the Past
“God has not been trying an experiment on my faith or love in order to find out their quality. He knew it already. It was I who didn’t. In this trial He makes us occupy the dock, the witness box, and the bench all at once. He always knew that my temple was a house of cards. His only way of making me realize the fact was to knock it down.”
—C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed
A Question to Carry
What irritations in your week might be small invitations to grace?
Until next week,
—Jon
The further I go on the journey, the more helpful it is to question my irritations! It's not easy, and I don't do it perfectly, but I'm paying attention more than I used to. And that's growth.
Here's a little more from the book that I can share ... I hope it offers a little more explanation:
"Affliction, in and of itself, doesn’t transform us, as Anne Morrow Lindbergh wisely wrote:
'I do not believe that sheer suffering teaches. If suffering alone taught, all the world would be wise, since everyone suffers. To suffering must be added mourning, understanding, patience, love, openness and the willingness to remain vulnerable.' Yes, it’s not the tragedy, hardship, or irritation that shapes us; it’s the opportunities they present and the grace that meets us right in the middle of it. Affliction provides an opportunity—not a guarantee—for transformation. By choosing to mourn, to wait, and to stay open, grace finds room to work within us, bringing about the change we long for in ways we could never engineer on our own."
The moment before I opened this, I was thinking on an irritation that had just happened. Reading here actually helped me to set it down and question why it even matters, because compared to tragedy, it is inconsequential.
What I am really pondering is your statement:
“Recognizing these degrees of affliction has given me a framework to better understand my experience of purgation and how to respond to it.” I would love to hear more explanation.
I am very grateful for your clear concise division and description of affliction. It resonated deeply…