Who doesn’t know firsthand a sigh-causing sense of disappointment? Hardly a day passes without some touch of it; sometimes it brings a somewhat gentle sense of frustration. Sometimes it’s downright disheartening, in the truest sense of that word.

I’m reading something right now about experiencing real spiritual community. In the same sentences, I’m reading of disappointment. Besides our struggles to join our lives well with others, we all find disappointment within our own journeys. I can find it in myself long before I try to connect intimately with you, thank you very much.

But what if it’s not that bad?

I don’t intend that question as a minimization of real hurt. What I mean is, “Could disappointment itself fill a role?” Larry Crabb thinks so, and I’m inclined to agree…

“Disappointment… is inevitable. More than that, it is good. Following Christ must take us through seasons of disappointment, because Christianity remakes our dreams before it fulfills them. The process is excruciating. It can include divorce, bankruptcy, accidents, murder, near apostasy–anything.

Christianity promises happiness–that’s part of its appeal–but we will not find it by traveling the route we’ve already laid out in our heads. Disappointment, severe enough to be called death, is unavoidable in a true spiritual journey.”

Comforting? Not entirely.

True? I suspect so.

So what? Not sure. Go and live, and seek Jesus fiercely. And when disappointment hits, react to it slowly enough that the hurt doesn’t automatically create anger and aggravation. You may be more squarely on the right path than you realize.

Here’s a twist on the image we often use of wrestling with God.  Credit Simone Weil…

“Isn’t it the greatest possible disaster, when you are wrestling with God, not to be beaten?”

That’s worth a thought.

If you “win” in your struggle with God, what does that mean?

Your way is better?

He’s really a weaker God than the dust-man who just made Him tap out?

Or what?

I’m all for Greco-Romaning with God.  In fact, that description fits real life for me.  But I can’t help running with Ms. Simone’s thought: When the bell rings, the best possible outcome for me after ten rounds would be to come away with a bit of a whooping.

That’s not abuse; that’s just the reality of one man asking to feel the weight of the Heaviest Being around.  And you don’t get out of such meetings without some marks.

A spiritual seeker interrupted a busy life to spend a few days in a monastery.

“I hope your stay is a blessed one,” said the monk who showed the visitor to his cell.  “If you need anything, let us know and we’ll teach you how to live without it.”