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영어

Julian of Norwich is the woman mystic who points out that suffering is necessary to be close to God and lead to spirituals growth as well as realizing God's love and truth. For her, suffering is very important motivation to desire God and lead people to be united with God, even though it is painful. Because of suffering due to sin, Julian insists that people can know God's love in which God is powerful enough to bring good out of it, know limited humanity, have compassion for others, and finally, they discover their suffering turn into joy if they are endure their suffering and choose Christ. Her understanding of suffering justifies the suffering of some marginalized people. When the marginalized people suffer, Julian's understanding of suffering may say that they have to endure and surrender themselves to God because it is the ways to experience joy that God gives. This understanding may miss the reality of the suffering of the marginalized and can be dangerous to people who suffer from the injustice structure and reality. However, Julian's understanding of suffering can help people come to have compassion to the suffering of other individuals through suffering as Christ has compassion to humans. Julian's understanding of suffering let us know that compassion can lead people to see other's suffering and to have mind to relieve it.