human suffering
There are moments in life where suffering has wanted to devour the heart and thoughts. It is hard when we have situations where suffering captivates us and we cannot see relief or a way out of such a difficult situation. Some of the causes of our suffering can be abandonment, loss, illness, scarcity, guilt, and even death itself. I think that regarding the issue of human suffering the question is not do we suffer? Rather, why do we suffer and how do we address suffering? These are questions that we must keep latent because avoiding reflection and conversations does not solve the problem.
Avoid suffering
There is a social myth when it comes to suffering and death. Somehow we avoid talking to our families about this and thus we think that we will avoid human suffering at all costs. However, nothing is further from the truth because as we avoid topics of such relevance it becomes a shadow that haunts us as we are repressing these thoughts and feelings.
When we are people who practice faith and spirituality, other questions arise since we include our faith in our existence and we want to fill these gaps with meanings. If God exists, why do people suffer? If God is good, why do bad things happen to people? Questions like these often leave us speechless.
Difference between pain and suffering
There is a significant difference between pain and suffering. Not all people who are suffering feel pain and not all people who are in pain are suffering. Pain according to Bayes (1998) can be identified as an unpleasant perception, whether sensory or psychosocial. It is suffering when this unpleasant perception is reinforced by a threat to the existence or integrity of a person and there is a lack of resources to confront said perception.
Pain and Thomistic philosophy
On the other hand, from the Thomist philosophy, Torralba (2007) describes pain as a process in which the being reaches goodness and this remains in deprivation. In this deprivation is evil and the perception of evil is pain. It should be noted that evil in Thomistic philosophy, evil does not have an ontological character, that is, it is only a deprivation of good. In this philosophy, evil is an entity of reason, but not a reality. Therefore, suffering does not lie in itself, but rather lies in the existence of good.
Faith in suffering
Now, we can know some terms that help us conceptualize pain and suffering in philosophical and psychological perspectives. However, what do we do when suffering invades us and pushes our faith to the edge of the precipice? What do we do when we feel that the meaning of our existence is overflowing? Starting from faith, I believe that in this dimension it is the Word of God that has the power to offer hope and understanding.
Some have asked, “If God is good, why do people suffer?” As a response in a line of theodicy. Some with the best intentions of defending the goodness of God argue that God has nothing to do with human suffering, which is ultimately a consequence of humanity's sin. If we start from this position, we are crossing a border from theism to deism. Well, it is the latter who proclaims a creator of beings and laws that once created does not intervene in their history.
On the other hand, it is difficult to conceive of a kind and merciful God who allows suffering, I know. Erasmus in an answer to the question about suffering said: “let God be good” however, Martin Luther in his response said: “Let God be God”. This last statement encompasses that God is sovereign and that he is even sovereign behind our dilemma and in our dilemma (Sproul, 2010).
Suffering, a divine vocation?
From one level we can identify a God who is aware of our suffering and who somehow allows us to go through suffering so that it forms the character of Christ in us. Now, when we observe stories of people in the Bible such as the apostle Paul and Jesus Christ himself, we realize that beyond the fact that God allows suffering, it is ultimately a vocation. Sproul (2010) identifies suffering as a divine calling.
Understanding this is very complicated, what's more, God knows our dilemmas, our sufferings and his invitation is for us to look at suffering from a new perspective, a perspective that is not meaningless. Much of the writing on this topic is that suffering is inseparable from life. There is no life without suffering and there is no suffering without life. As Frankl (1959) said, “in some way, suffering ceases the moment meaning is found, sacrifice can be meaning.” When we look at the cross we see a victorious victim. It is Jesus Christ bringing meaning to all of our lives through suffering.
References:
Bayes, R. (1998). Psychology of suffering and death. Psychology Yearbook , 29 (4), 5-17. Frankl, V. (1959).
Man's Search for Meaning . Beacon Press
Sproul, R. C. (2010). Surprised by Suffering: The Role of Pain and Death in the Christian Life . Reformation Trust Publishing
Torralba, F. (2007). Approach to the essence of suffering. An. Syst. Sanit. Navar, 30 (3), 23-37.