A Note from the Pastor
As I began to consider what to write for the Pastor's article, my thoughts turned to my second tour in Afghanistan—a time that marked one of the most difficult chapters in my spiritual journey. When I thought I had lost everything and that there was no point in moving forward, God sustained me in a profound way. Through a series of writings, He empowered me to live out certain spiritual imperatives that, quite literally, saved my spiritual life.
In a spirit of grace and humility, allow me to share with you one of the spiritual imperatives that I learned, and lived by, during my time in Afghanistan. It became, for me, both salt and flesh—something that gave flavor to life and grounded me in truth.
The Imperative: Move from pain to the pain
Your pain, deep as it is, is related to specific circumstances. You don't suffer in the abstract. You suffer because someone hurt you at a particular time and in a particular place. Your feelings of rejection, abandonment, and worthlessness are rooted in the most concrete events. In this way, all suffering is unique.
This is eminently true of Jesus' suffering. His disciples abandoned him, Pilate condemned him, Roman soldiers tortured and crucified him. However, as long as you continue to focus on the specific, the full meaning of your pain will elude you.
Yet, paradoxically, as long as we remain focused only on the specifics of our own pain, we may never grasp its full meaning. We may begin to believe that if only this person hadn’t done that, or if only circumstances had been different, we wouldn’t be in pain. While that may contain some truth, it doesn’t reach the deeper reality.
The deeper truth is this: your pain is the particular way in which you have encountered the universal condition of suffering. Your story is your entry point into the shared experience of a broken humanity. And healing comes, not by trying to erase your pain or seek vengeance for it, but by recognizing that it connects you to the pain—the suffering of all people.
When you make this shift, forgiveness becomes possible. Mercy takes root. You begin to live as Jesus did, who, in the midst of His own suffering, prayed: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). His suffering, as personal and real as it was, became the suffering of the whole world—and in that, He brought healing.
May we, too, learn to move from our pain to the pain—and in doing so, walk the path of healing, forgiveness, and Christlike mercy.
Pastor Nick Camacho
In a spirit of grace and humility, allow me to share with you one of the spiritual imperatives that I learned, and lived by, during my time in Afghanistan. It became, for me, both salt and flesh—something that gave flavor to life and grounded me in truth.
The Imperative: Move from pain to the pain
Your pain, deep as it is, is related to specific circumstances. You don't suffer in the abstract. You suffer because someone hurt you at a particular time and in a particular place. Your feelings of rejection, abandonment, and worthlessness are rooted in the most concrete events. In this way, all suffering is unique.
This is eminently true of Jesus' suffering. His disciples abandoned him, Pilate condemned him, Roman soldiers tortured and crucified him. However, as long as you continue to focus on the specific, the full meaning of your pain will elude you.
Yet, paradoxically, as long as we remain focused only on the specifics of our own pain, we may never grasp its full meaning. We may begin to believe that if only this person hadn’t done that, or if only circumstances had been different, we wouldn’t be in pain. While that may contain some truth, it doesn’t reach the deeper reality.
The deeper truth is this: your pain is the particular way in which you have encountered the universal condition of suffering. Your story is your entry point into the shared experience of a broken humanity. And healing comes, not by trying to erase your pain or seek vengeance for it, but by recognizing that it connects you to the pain—the suffering of all people.
When you make this shift, forgiveness becomes possible. Mercy takes root. You begin to live as Jesus did, who, in the midst of His own suffering, prayed: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). His suffering, as personal and real as it was, became the suffering of the whole world—and in that, He brought healing.
May we, too, learn to move from our pain to the pain—and in doing so, walk the path of healing, forgiveness, and Christlike mercy.
Pastor Nick Camacho