#suffering

#suffering

The phenomenon of evil has always been part of human existence but is particularly pervasive in our present times. By definition, we think of evil as being purely negative, pernicious, vile, vicious, and destructive. A noxious force and tragic existential fact of life that brings only misery, sorrow, and suffering to those accidentally or intentionally exposed to or victimized by it. Which, to some extent, includes each of us. But can the painful and devastating experience of evil and the profound suffering it brings possibly be productive, growth-enhancing, or psychologically and spiritually transformative? Can good come from evil? Can suffering be redeemed?

There's a particular kind of heartbreak that happens when you realize some of your prayers are going nowhere. There's a painful silence that follows unanswered calls. Yet, despite the ache, I can still feel the pull to pray to the God outside of myself-that old reflex to place faith in something bigger, some invisible force in the sky, who, apparently, can make things happen magically here on Earth. But it doesn't always go that way, does it?

Suffering = pain x resistance. When we resist our resistance and beat ourselves up, we multiply our initial suffering, leading to even greater distress.

As Viktor Frankl asserts, we are a meaning-seeking species... with a burning and inextinguishable "will to meaning," an unceasing need to know about and attempt to make sense of both the inner and outer worlds.

In lonely strip malls and dusty markets, I began scribbling in notebooks. The boy on the metal table was the first ghost to come forward.

The deeply ingrained belief that suffering stems from external circumstances hinders our ability to see that true causes of suffering lie within our perceptions and reactions.