In chapter nine of the book When God Weeps, Joni hits on the primal cry of a sufferer’s heart when she says that it’s intimacy (first with God, second with others). This chapter alone is worth the price of the book.
“Reasons reach the head, but relationships reach the soul. It’s the relationship of God reaching out to us through our trials that draws the bottom line of suffering” (126).
“Suffering has no meaning in itself. Left to its own, it is a frustrating and bewildering burden. But given the context of relationship, suffering suddenly has meaning” (127).
“Intimacy happens as two souls rub together. It’s what we long for more than anything else. To know and be known. Even in the best relationships, we are still left aching for someone to comprehend our world and enter our struggle—to embrace us with a passion that seizes and melts us into a union that will never be broken. God answers that ancient longing.” (128).
1 response so far ↓
lrp1 // December 25, 2008 at 2:15 pm
I am going to go out and buy this book tomorrow!! Relationships do reach the soul for good or bad, which is why we long for connection but also fear it, for the fear of pain and emptiness is just as real as the longing for love.