Can suffering make sense?

Tuesday, February 28, 2017

It was the last straw for me. I read about a horrible case of a little child who had suffered for many years of abuse and neglect and who died shortly after he was discovered by the police. I raged at God: “How could you allow this to happen?! Where is your love and mercy for a little child?! How can you tolerate such evil in the world without doing anything to stop it?!” Perhaps you’ve asked similar questions in the past, or had similar reason to get angry and frustrated with the God we’re supposed to love, and Who, we’re told, overflows with unconditional love.

I thought about this for a few days, and slowly some insights came to me which calmed my disillusionment and anger. For what it is worth, I share these thoughts with you today.

The first thought is rather simple, and depends on faith in the afterlife, the resurrection of the dead and the justice of God. Somehow, some way, He will make up for this child’s sufferings which ended with his death. I prayed for the child and I hope to see him some day seated in heaven high beyond my own place (if I should make it there myself). I prayed above all that justice will be done, and that the child’s sufferings will somehow be used for good in the world.

The second thought depends on how we think of God and how we consider God. If our image of God is some white-bearded old potentate who sits upon a throne and dispenses justice, retribution and blessings at will, a God to be feared more than loved, a God who, as the cartoons sometimes put it, shoots down thunderbolts from the sky directed at innocent and defenseless people, then the rage rightfully remains and the concepts of justice, mercy and unconditional love are obliterated.

However, I’ve been learning through my own reading and prayer to consider God as the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit in eternal relationship with each other and surrender to each other, with the energy flowing between the three of them the energy of Love. Suffering is included in this notion of the Trinity because, after all, the Son is often referred to as the “Lamb of God,” and the Spirit is sent to console Him during the difficult and painful times of His earthly existence (as for example, at the time of the temptation in the desert). In love, the persons of the Trinity surrender to each other, share everything with each other and also invite us to be part of that relationship, a relationship within which they share our suffering and transform it into the energy of Love. The abused child is welcomed into that relationship somehow, and one can barely imagine what may have taken place during his years of neglect and suffering.

Within this Trinitarian relationship all suffering has its place and all suffering is transformed, including your suffering and mine. If you are currently suffering, claim your relationship within the Trinity and see if it becomes a source of comfort and hope to you. If you have suffered in the past and your suffering has now come to an end, consider how you were cared for during your time of trial even though you were probably unaware of it at the time.

This idea may be difficult to grasp, and I am not sure I have been able to explain it adequately. If you would like to do more reading about this, then I strong recommend you get yourself a copy of The Divine Dance, by Fr. Richard Rohr and experience it for yourself.

God bless you!