And I saw the river over which every soul must pass to reach the kingdom of heaven and the name of that river was suffering– and I saw the boat which carries souls across the river and the name of that boat was love.
St. John of the Cross, b. 1542
Suffering takes many forms in the lives of us as individuals and within our world. None of us are immune to its effects. Some of us may experience what seems to be greater suffering, but the degree to which we are touched by it or ravaged by its impact each one of us uniquely bears. This being said, it still remains common to all.
The suffering that we endure as humans, raises many questions. In fact most of us going through suffering at some point ask the question why? Our equilibrium is off. We are experiencing change and pain. None of which we desire to be going through. By seeking the answer, we are looking for anything that we can grab onto to salve our pain. In our desire to cope with it we even compare our suffering to another. Many times we believe that there is some sort of lesson for us to learn or perhaps for others to learn who are observing our suffering and our response.
As people of faith, believers in God and Christ Jesus, we base some of our questions on what we believe about God and God’s care for us. We consider his power, his love, his sovereignty and yet wonder why we are going through this. At different points we wrestle within, questioning all the while why he doesn’t fix it or remove it from us. Why did he allow it at all?
I believe that at any given point we have a set of pattens of belief based upon what we have been taught, learned, or experienced about who God is. It is these beliefs that make up part of how we wrestle with the subject of God and human suffering. Though we have these beliefs, when we are deep in suffering these very propositions get challenged. In the process of our suffering some of them may even change, though our faith remain intact and seemingly strengthened.
In a recent entry, we took a look at Gerald Sittser’s book, A Grace Disguised. This is a prime example of one mans attempt to answer such questions in a time of suffering. Tomorrow we will consider another example that tries to answer the same question.
Have you come to an answer to this question for yourself? Would you be willing to share it?
Picture: Suffering-Peace, by gaijin21mensou
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