Wisdom School Plenary: A Spirituality of Suffering and Solidarity

Wisdom School 2026-27 Open Plenary with The Very Rev. Steven L. Thomason

How are we to respond to human suffering in our time? What does solidarity with those who are suffering look like? What does compassion, meaning ‘to suffer with,’ really mean in a world that has erected all sorts of diversions—the economies of war, wealth disparities, and constant entertainment? If we are created in God’s image, and if there is so much suffering in the world, then God, too, must be suffering. How else can we understand the meaning of the cross, of Christ crucified? In the person of Jesus, we come to understand more fully the truth that God is always on the side of suffering, wherever it is found — in combatants on both sides, in victims and perpetrators, in friends and foes, as uncomfortable as that may make us. Is anyone beyond the pale of God’s redemptive love, or undeserving of our love?

Program is free; optional community dinner at 6 p.m. ($8/adult; $25/family max.)