Pain And the Sea of Life

Everybody has some kind of suffering to deal with in life. The death of the innocent, accidents that happen to those that are living an upright life, and the unfortunate situations that afflict us. We don't ask society but God—Why? In a diocesan bulletin, a professor of spirituality gives the readers some of his thoughts on pain in life.

Why does God allow these horrible sufferings? It's impossible for anyone to give an answer that satisfies our reason. Eliphaz of Teman in the Book of Job in a mocking way tells Job that his suffering was the result of some sin in his life. But this is not what it is, nor is it right to say that pain helps Job to grow.

The essence of pain is not understood by the working of the mind but needs to be directly experienced to understand. The meaning is a mystery. All one can do is listen to the experience of the one undergoing the pain and try to understand what is going on.

Karl Jaspers the German philosopher and psychiatrist who knew the meaning of personal physical pain from childhood understood the need to transcend life to understand life on a different level. Josef Sudbrack, a theologian, said with suffering we experience the absence of God but a the same time God is greater than this experience.

Pope John Paul in Salvifici Doloris:
"Following the parable of the Gospel, we could say that suffering, which is present under so many different forms in our human world, is also present in order to unleash love in the human person, that unselfish gift of one's "I" on behalf of other people, especially those who suffer. The world of human suffering unceasingly calls for, so to speak, another world: the world of human love; and in a certain sense man owes to suffering that unselfish love which stirs in his heart and actions" (#29). Again:

"In doing this, the individual unleashes hope, which maintains in him the conviction that suffering will not get the better of him, that it will not deprive him of his dignity as a human being, a dignity linked to awareness of the meaning of life. And indeed this meaning makes itself known together with the working of God's love, which is the supreme gift of the Holy Spirit. The more he shares in this love, man rediscovers himself more and more fully in suffering: he rediscovers the 'soul' which he thought he had 'lost') because of suffering" (#24).

A parish priest gathered those in his parish who had undergone some kind of suffering and by means of their suffering were able to find the working of grace in their lives. He used them as pastoral workers in the community. For those whose, married life was a continual conflict, they worked to help those with problems in family relationships. Those who had lost a child and had to deal with despair they were present to counsel. Healing came with the compassion that was shown. Through the experience of pain, we understand the pain of others and with God's help participate in the suffering of Christ.

Life existentially unfolds in a situation of suffering. God's gift of life and the pain coexist in the sea of life. In the study of spirituality, pain is considered as a way of dealing with and relating to reality. The problem is not the external pain in itself that comes but our failure to believe that God is always healing our wounds and giving us new life. Through the experience of pain, we understand the pain of others. If we do not forget that God is always there to help us we will experience the transcendent strength of grace.