The Struggle is Real
Author: Father Cody Williams, Holy Cross Church
The Struggle is Real
Father Cody Williams
Holy Cross Church
“Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.” Kahlil Gibran. Life is full of suffering and challenges. We all struggle with the basic necessities of life: from finances to friendship, from love to pain, from illnesses to anxieties. No one can avoid the struggle which is living. The American author Kahlil Gibran, whom I quoted above, represents one of the most common ways through which people explain the sufferings of life. We are all marked with scars from the battle and emerge from them stronger. These words fall flat for most people. Why haven’t I emerged stronger? Why am I not like those great characters from history? Why am I still caught in the struggles and sorrows of life?
We want answers. We want the pain to go away. We want to emerge from these challenges into a place of light and peace where we can simply live and enjoy life again. Yet, some sicknesses rage on, some challenges seem insurmountable, and sometimes we feel like surrender is the only option. So we ask ourselves, what are our options? Why do we struggle? What is the point in all of this?
We need to realize the reality of the struggle. Everyone struggles, everyone faces challenges, everyone experiences defeat. But we try to hide it. We want people to think that everything is alright. We force an image of ourselves that life is good and that we are not the ones suffering. We want to convince ourselves that the end is just around the corner and then everything will be fine. Just hold on a little longer.
What’s the solution? To be honest. We need to be honest with ourselves that we all struggle. We need to be honest with each other that the only true support in the midst of our challenges is someone who cares. We need to be honest with ourselves that we will struggle throughout life. Only with these truths as our defense can we begin to understand and appreciate the struggle. The struggle that makes us know our priorities and values. The struggle that teaches us about our own strength. The struggle that brings us to the care of the people around us. The struggle that teaches us about life and the value of struggling together. We don’t need to be alone in our struggles, but to overcome it means reaching out and showing our pain.
On Friday, February 6th, Holy Cross Church is hosting a night dedicated to bringing the struggle to the light. The event is at the Lodge starting at 6 pm with dinner. With examples from our local community members as guides, we can struggle together and find support in the midst of our challenges. We need to be honest with ourselves: we need others to help us in the struggle. We need to accept the truth that we all struggle, but that we don’t have to struggle alone, hidden in the darkness.
