James 1

Day 5: Grateful for Challenges

Scripture: James 1:2-3  Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds…

Reflection: Rather than becoming a point of failure, conflict and challenge become opportunities for growth. Difficult experiences can help cultivate wisdom. Finding gratitude in difficult times can transform our perspective.

Prompt: On a day when the nation votes, consider this social situation or other current challenge and write down or discuss with someone else what you are learning or how you are growing through it.

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Generating joy and embracing suffering in times of crisis — Brother Phap Linh,
full article: https://plumvillage.app/generating-joy-and-embracing-suffering-in-times-of-crisis/Do you know how to generate a feeling of joy? Do you know how to handle a feeling of pain? If I ask myself those questions, the answer is partly yes, partly no. We can also ask ourselves, ‘How often do I remember that I can generate a feeling of joy? Could I do it more? In what situations?’If you’re with a group of friends and everybody’s in a good mood and something lovely is happening, it’s not difficult to generate joy. So the real question is, ‘Do I know how to generate a feeling of joy when things are difficult or neutral? When I’m feeling restless or distracted?’ These are practices that we have to look into.Another question is: ‘Do I know how to do it when I’m on my own? And do I know how to do it collectively?’ Do you know how to recognize when you are avoiding a painful feeling?This has something to do with knowing how to handle a painful feeling – because we can’t transform it until we recognize it. That must be the first step: recognizing. …

In my approach to the practice, I focused on suffering for many years. I didn’t understand that generating a feeling of joy and being in touch with the wonders of life is a way of handling suffering. So I need to recognize that I may be underestimating how powerful well-being, joy, and simple happiness can be as a response to the situation we are in globally and collectively.

In the 16 exercises of mindful breathing, the Buddha was very clear: generate a feeling of joy and happiness before getting in touch with a feeling of pain. That way, we create an environment where the feeling of pain can be held and embraced, and where it doesn’t overwhelm us.