October 23 – Wounds that Become Our Calling

Gregg’s Reflection 

Looking back over my own life, I can see how much of my calling was shaped in the crucible of suffering. Out of the wreckage of failed projects, the fear of financial collapse, and even physical weakness, I slowly began to realize that God was doing something deeper in me than I had planned for myself. My wounds, though painful, became the soil out of which compassion and clarity began to grow.

I remember my spiritual director, Mark Ritchie, asking me after a particularly painful season: “Was the learning worth the pain endured?” At first, I resisted the question—how could failure or loss ever be worth it? But as I began to see the fruit that emerged—the humility, the ability to walk with others in their struggles—I found myself answering yes. Without the wound, I would not have the tenderness of heart to accompany others in theirs.

There is a mystery in the way God works: what we most want to hide—our scars, our failures, our shame—often becomes the place where His glory shines most clearly. The cross itself is the great reversal: suffering turned into salvation, wounds transformed into life. If Christ bears His scars even in resurrection, perhaps our wounds too can become signs of hope for others.

When I think about my deepest pain, I also see the birth of my vocation. Out of brokenness came a calling to serve, to coach, to companion. In God’s hands, nothing is wasted. Our wounds can indeed become our offering, our passion, and our path of service. 

Scripture

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation, who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God.

2 Corinthians 1:3–4

Ancient Quotes

The Christian way is to embrace our wounds, not to become embittered victims. The wounds in Jesus’ hands, feet and side are still carried in the resurrected body. Our wounds become our honor.

Julian of Norwich, quoted in Richard Rohr, On the Threshold of Transformation, p. 135

Modern Quotes

The place of our wound becomes the place of our greatest gift. Grace enters precisely where we are broken.

Henri Nouwen, The Inner Voice of Love, p. 37

If we do not transform our pain, we will most assuredly transmit it. If we cannot find a way to make our wounds into sacred wounds, we invariably give up on life and humanity.

Richard Rohr

Journaling Prompts

• What wound in your life has shaped your calling or passion?
  
  
• How might you begin to see your scars as signs of God’s work rather than marks of shame?
  
  
• Who has walked alongside you in your pain, and how might you do the same for others?
  
  
• In what ways is God inviting you to transform pain into service and compassion?

Go deeper into this week’s theme:
Read the full Week 43 Reflection: Suffering/ Death & Dying