June 15, 2024

Grievances

I am looking forward to reading Frank Bruni's "Age of Grievance." 

Grievance, I think Bruni is arguing, is defining our common life. I find that argument compelling. We all seem to have grievances, often based on our sense that we are victims. Victimization is real. Victimizers are real. We can't dismiss either one. But sometimes victimization becomes a way for some to create a poor-me syndrome. It's a way for us to express our neediness. Neediness is not humans at our best. Grievance is often what neediness becomes. The Christian faith promises an identity that is much larger than our neediness or grievances, an identity that promises us that we are "more than conquerors." Getting stuck in grievance generally is not healthy.