I have been considering for the last few Sundays (and I am unsure why it is only on Sunday, put perhaps that is the only day I slow down and actually think) about God’s view of suffering and pain.

Jesus came, knowing his life would be hard and his end would be horrible. God/Jesus was “good” with that. It was important and it was necessary.

When I moved to NewTown I hoped life would be perfect, but it is not. Somewhere along the way of this move I realized that God did not promise surcease of pain or suffering. He only promises that I can endure it and that he will be there with me through it.

I have often wondered if there is a point to pain and suffering. When we are experiencing pain is there something we need to learn? Are others supposed to learn from our suffering? Are we here as an example? And I don’t know. I’ve often heard people say so, but as I age I realize that there are many things I have heard people say that are not true.

Right now all I can say is that suffering and pain exist, sometimes because of our own choices, often because of the bad choices of others, and often because of “natural” things that (as far as I now know) have no human cause. Pain and suffering are here to stay–at least until Jesus returns.