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Facing Pain & Suffering
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July 16, 2017There is an old story here but still apropos for today’s second reading from Romans. There once was a man that was walking along a mountain road. He saw an Indian lying in the middle of the road with his ear pressed to the ground. As he got close to the Indian, he heard this Indian talking in broken English. He leaned over to hear what he was saying, and the Indian was mumbling these words: “Truck, Chevy truck, Chevy pick-up truck, large tires, man driving, German Shepherd in front seat, loaded with firewood, California license plate, UBH123.” Well, to say the least, this man was astounded. He looked at that Indian and said, “That is unbelievable. You mean you can tell all of that just by listening to the ground?” The Indian said, “No – truck ran over me thirty minutes ago.” Life is a lot like that. We don’t always see what’s coming, and when it does, sometimes it runs right over us. What’s even worse is that no matter how hard you try, you can’t keep from having a bad hair day. You can plan, scheme, prepare, do all you know to do to keep from having those days, but they are going to come just the same. Paul reminds in Romans that pain and suffering is present in our lives, regardless of how we might want to avoid it and even pretend it’s not going to happen. It will! It’s part and parcel to our human condition. From creation to ourselves, we groan within and without. We await the redemption of our life. It is unreal to expect a pain-free existence. Strangely, pain is the oft-visited door we all must walk through in order for growth to take place. Sometimes we resist walking through that door. The fear of pain or suffering stymies us from entering. And we know that fear is a powerful feeling that we face in life. It can rule us to the point of paralyzing us into no action at all. The odd fact of struggle, suffering or pain is that it can also be the impetus to move from a stagnant existence to one that is more exciting, rewarding and engaging. We end up seeing the merits – but usually only with hindsight – of struggle, pain and suffering. So instead of trying to divert or ignore pain and suffering, could facing all of these be the source of strength that we need to enter into and integrate the strong feelings that come from struggle, suffering or pain? And when we do face them, their power over us diminishes and our power over them increases! So, what suffering have you been avoiding? What struggle do you refuse to enter into? What point in your life dominates and rules? Try facing them and see what results come. You might be surprised!