Getting Comfortable

OK, I forgot about item 3. That is simply that I have been reading through the book of Job for the last several days. Now there was an unhappy guy! Job had some friends. And with friends like these . . .

These friends have been the origin of a term, “Job’s Comforters.” That’s not something warm and thick and cozy on a bed. May heaven keep us from ever being a Job’s comforter. That is someone who manages to say all the wrong things at just the wrong times in just such a way as to add to the sufferer’s woe, rather than supporting and strengthening them.

Now, where am I going with all this? In 2 Corinthians 1:3, the Bible says: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort . . .” God is the God of all comfort. That seems to fit with the idea that God wants us to be happy. When we are unhappy, we seek comfort. Does that move us toward happiness? So I want to look first at a definition of comfort, then look at the ways some of us seek comfort.

A Definition of Comfort.

Here are a few words I usually use in my wedding sermons, when I talk about the vows that a couple makes as they marry.

Comfort - The promise to comfort implies that there will be some hard times ahead. That is the nature of life, that there are difficulties as well as joys. To comfort another person does not mean to make them feel good, but to be with them when they hurt. It means to acknowledge the things important to your spouse, and make them important to you as well. Comfort can be a caring embrace, it can be a listening ear. Comfort can be gentle words of affirmation when an ego has been bent and bruised. Comfort can be a blanket and aspirin when someone is ill. It can be that hot bowl of soup when someone is cold. To comfort someone is to remind them that they are precious in your eyes, and in the eyes of God. Rarely are we able to take away another's pain. Often we can be with them in their pain. This is comfort.

I get this from the origins of the word, comfort. The two syllables come from Latin, com, an intensifier syllable, and fortis, meaning strength. Comfort means “to strengthen completely.” I believe that this happens through the presence of another. The wondrous promise in scripture is that God is with us. That very presence is what gives us strength. Notice that the original meaning doesn’t seem to have much to say about feeling better. Yet, that still seems to happen.

I remember when I was a little kid and would get the stomach flu. That was no fun! What a lousy way to get out of school! I would be lying sick in bed, absolutely miserable. Then my mom would come in to check up on me, perhaps laying her hand on my forehead to check the progress of my fever. Somehow, the cool of her hand, the presence of my mom helped me. I was still sick. I still had a fever. My stomach was still in violent revolt. But I was helped. I was strengthened. I was comforted.

The ultimate comfort is what preachers like to talk about at Christmas time, Emmanuel. God with us. God promises his presence to his people in Joshua 1:9, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” Jesus repeats the promise at the ascension, “. . . And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 19:20b)

So, comfort has more to do with strength to endure than it does our ease. We gain that strength, when others are with us during our struggles. Next, I will look at ways many of us seek comfort, and what the results can end up being. (It’s not good . . .)

Getting Comfortable

Recently, Rev. Mark D. Roberts completed a series on Happiness. It should be read, it is excellent, as is everything I have read on his blog site. In fact, this blog has begun because he has been encouraging pastors to be blogging pastors.

In summary, Rev. Roberts asserts and defends the proposition that God does want us to be happy. What exactly happiness consists of is a part of his series. I do not disagree with him, but his series has coordinated in my life with a few other items that lead me to go into an investigation of my own.

Item 1.

Just this morning, Cinemax replayed the movie, Shadowlands, starring Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger. This movie is the story of C. S. Lewis and Joy Gresham who meet, marry and then fall in love. Gresham, it turns out has cancer which takes her life. At another level, this story is about a Christian intellectual who becomes a Christian human being.

Lewis was a popular lecturer and writer, particularly in the post WWII era. Early in the movie, Lewis is portrayed as giving a lecture, talking about the place and value of suffering. He is passionate and firm, yet strangely uncaring. As the movie progresses, his lecture changes bit by bit, until, at the end of the film he understands suffering in a new way. Suffering is no longer a philosophical or theological abstract notion. It is now part of his life. Interestingly, he understands suffering as being a part of happiness. This is a lesson that he has learned from Joy Gresham. “The pain then is part of the happiness now,” is the phrase used to explain the relationship between happiness and suffering.

Item 2.

Once upon a time, several years ago, I had reached a peak weight in excess of 430 lbs. OUCH! I wasn’t fat as a kid. I just added on a pound or so a month for over 20 years, and boy, does it add up! Where did it come from? Why was weight such a struggle for me, and for so many? And of course, does my faith have anything to say about this, and if so, what?

Now I weigh a fair bit less. I am genuinely struggling now. My true weight problem before was that I wasn’t struggling, I was just growing. I have lost a lot of weight. I’m not where I want to be. I have lost some ground over the last year, but now am beginning to move back in the correct direction.

So what have these two completely unrelated things have to do with each other? Well, one thing I learned about myself is that I eat for comfort. I don’t need comfort foods, food is comfort. But then, some foods are more comforting than others. For me, that is part of the problem. In learning this, I have been doing some studying about comfort. That is the direction I want to go in this blog until I decide to go in some other direction. What is comfort about? Why is it important? Where does it come from? Why can it sometimes backfire?

It seems obvious to me that comfort is related to happiness. That is why Rev. Roberts’ blog has moved me to look at comfort more closely. I invite any and all who wish to follow along on my little pilgrimage!

Just Getting Started

What's this blog about? Like any other blog, it's about whatever strikes me as worth sharing a thought about. It will not be completely thought out, and I reserve the right to change my mind at any time.

Hopefully, over time, it will reflect thoughts and ideas regarding life as a Christian in this modern world. I am forever challenged by C. S. Lewis' "Chronicles of Narnia," where in the final book, The Last Battle, Aslan invites everyone to come further up and further into the new kingdom. I believe the Christian should always be seeking to move further up and further into the Kingdom of Jesus.

I doubt that this blog will be updated daily. Even if no one else ever sees it, at least it will help me think through things and try to communicate more effectively, whether in the pulpit, in individual conversations, or here, on the web.

I am calling this The Plodding Pilgrim, because like so many others, I am just plodding along in my Christian life. I am not where I think I should be, but I am sure trying to move a little further up and further in each day. There are a lot of preachers out there that seem so much more spiritual than I feel. I just have to rely on the idea that feelings aren't everything, and seek to move as best as I can, with God as my help. I suspect that I am not the only Christian or pastor that feels this way. Perhaps this blog will be a help to those who are plodding along . . .