My first experience with Michael Joncas was aural--On Eagles Wings. I cannot put words to that experience. Later, he presided at the Newman Center, where I attended. Between then and now, I have been taken back to his music many times.
Nearly ten years ago, immersed in my own stress, I was aware--vaguely--that he was very ill. I knew little more than that.
By no means to minimize Michael Joncas--his fullness as a human being--my only understanding of him was his music. I love music. I survived the travails of teenage years through music. To this day, music is a refuge I seek. To celebrate. To meditate. To contemplate. Beyond my understanding was how anyone could give more of themselves than all of the glorious music Joncas has composed--has given to us.
Recently, I was called upon to broaden my knowledge of Michael Joncas--Jan Michael Joncas. Beyond a history of his vital statistics--his accomplishments--I was called upon to give voice to what he has said regarding current issues of our day.
Suffering.
Oxford Dictionaries defines suffering as, "the undergoing of pain, distress, or hardship."
Suffering. Much more is laden on the word in society. It is difficult to quantify--to limit by the borders of words. Pity? Separation? Denial?
My experience of "suffering"--the word, not the experience--had been the syrup-laden cocoon assumed by the appearance of a reality I have lived with since the moment my umbilical cord was unwrapped from the five times it constricted oxygen from my brain.
My reality has changed, as has been my understanding of "suffering." However, I could not articulate that change, I could only live it. Enter Jan Michael Joncas.
"I learned that you do not solve the problem of suffering,...you enter into the mystery of suffering. And it does change you, and it changes your world."
