Should we EVER let tragedy define us?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Maxirad
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Maxirad said:
Is it ever a good idea for tragedy to define us?
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As a Catholic, I choose to be defined by who I am in Christ. Everything else – good and bad and boring – are just the tools by which to grow in holiness (or at least try :o)

Of course, I cannot control how others define me.
 
Well, as Catholics we are somewhat defined by the tragedy of the Crucifixion.
 
This is a very vague question. I think all of the above posters’ answers are adequate. Would the OP like to zoom in on a more specific query?
 
Until we experience OR cause a tragedy, this is too hard a question to answer fully.

It is hard to see how we can go through a reasonably long life without experiencing tragedy of one kind or another. Thus, we should expect the likelihood of future tragedy and try to prepare ourselves to deal with it when it happens. But in reality, no one can know how they will react when it happens.

Still, tragedy can throw anyone off their game for quite some time. It’s hard to see how one or more tragedies would NOT become part of who we are from then on.

But, while it seems likely to become a **PART **of our definition, it need not become our PRIMARY definition.

Hopefully we will remember that God is in charge. We may not know the reason for loss but God is with us and we can and should rely on Him as we go through the process of making peace with the tragedy.
 
It’s actually kind of a ridiculous question. The tragedies that befall anyone are viewed through their minds. And depression, even despair, can accompany them. In such cases those people may be unable to escape the constant mental torture they go through. In the case of others they may be able to move on, though I doubt even they don’t think about it every now and then.

It’s a very difficult issue. The only thing we as Catholics can do is offer our compassion and prayers. And maybe a shoulder to cry on if need be.
 
friardchips said:
If we overcome a tragedy it is acceptable to allow such a happening to define us? Are you referring to Catholic faith:
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No, I am not referring to the Catholic faith, but to plain old, fullbodied human life.

We are human before we were Catholic.

Really, it depends on what is meant by a tragedy. Some tragedies though marking the memory forever, do not shape the remainder of the life; others do.

ICXC NIKA
 
GEddie said:
No, I am not referring to the Catholic faith, but to plain old, fullbodied human life.

We are human before we were Catholic.

Really, it depends on what is meant by a tragedy. Some tragedies though marking the memory forever, do not shape the remainder of the life; others do.

ICXC NIKA
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Okay, thanks. So, my response to the thread, then, taking into account how you have answered, is that I don’t think it is ever okay to let tragedy define us. This seems to be an unfeeling opinion, I know, because how would one one feel in someone else’s shoes who has been seriously affected for life by some tragedy. That said, I don’t think the word ‘define’ is right. If one has God, then one is defined by Him. That is not to say, that a tragedy in one’s life cannot be so severe, that it becomes the physical (and spiritual) means through which we have to offer up daily our plea in need for God. Because, God is close to the suffering, in a special way. IOW, it is God who defines us, but it is our suffering that is our own personal cross, or one of them, with which we need help from God, in order to carry, and this carrying of the Cross might well simply consist of just about managing to deal with whatever the tragedy is throughout our life.
 
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