The Value of Suffering

I don't like pain.  I was not a great football player.
I hate to see suffering, whether man or beast.  I have deep sorrow when I see an animal struck by a car but not dispatched.
I also acknowledge the value of both pain and suffering in experiencing the depths of life available to us on this side.

I have heard good-intentioned philosophers use pain and suffering as some grasping rationale for the non-existence of God. I don't blame them for being disappointed by the conditions in this world in which we live; it is certainly not Nirvana. On the other hand, we were never promised a life without pain or suffering. Look at the way the occupying soldiers treated Jesus of Nazareth-- he was unjustly brutalized to death, and beckons us to follow Him in loving our enemies. That's crazy talk! I understand how some folk see Jesus as a miracle-performing lunatic-- His teaching is all upside down!

There is, however, another perspective as we travel this rocky road. I was reminded of this today by Wonder-Woman (WW) when I remarked that God will never give me more than I can handle. WW was correct when she clarified the context was about temptation, not about suffering. Yet I was referring to my deep-founded belief that: 1) God is good; and 2) my Abba loves me.
You see, the Bible never says we won't have pain or suffering-- the fact is that Paul warns us: "...when you undergo suffering...". Pain and suffering are the backdrop of a joy-filled life that enables faithful followers of The Way, like Paul, to be ambivalent about death. He writes, "...to live is Christ [a great thing] and to die is gain, so whether I live or die [a horrible death likely under the brutality of Nero], it is all good." Something like that t-shirt that reads, "Those afraid to die are also afraid to live."

To not find value in affliction is to ignore the tragedy that becomes the seedbed of powerful art. How often does the painter, the composer, the writer, the poet produce their greatest works in the wake of a tragedy? And in that powerful expression of authentic humanity, kindle joy in the hearts of those of us no longer tantalized by the gilded distractions that trap them in a frenetic race to get the next fix. Somewhere right now a circle of strangers confess their pain to one another and emerge with serenity, knowing their struggle is shared by others.

And so I guess that is the promise we have in the crucified Messiah-- we are not alone in our experience. His Grace is sufficient for me.

What if we embraced whatever moment we are experiencing, holding onto faith's hopeful blessing, yet not missing the valley of the shadow of death? What if my current symptoms give way to a respite, and thus release a deeper appreciation of the goodness of a moment that has diminished pain? It's like these last five years in Houston:  we complained about the humidity until we had two year's of drought that wiped out our forests; now nobody complains when the rains come-- we recognize the balance now.

And I wonder if that might be about a better-lived life. Balance.

I love You, my Abba, and joyfully receive from Your hand what this day's bread tastes like.