|
HAVEN'T WE SUFFERED ENOUGH?
Most of us are ready to call it quits with the pandemic. So much loss, closed doors, and missed opportunities! We can't wait for this tainted shore of sickness to finally vanish from view.
But will it? Keep in mind that pain is mentioned 1,800 times in scripture. That's roughly twice per page. In Psalms, Lamentations, Jeremiah, Habakkuk, Job, Paul, and Revelation, human suffering is frankly the central theme. If sacred texts take on suffering so wholeheartedly, we can be sure it's because pain is a comprehensive human reality.
In The Problem of Pain, C.S. Lewis notes we seek an island of bliss where cares can't reach us. We think we'll arrive there with the proper planning. What we seem to be insisting on, Lewis suggests, is "some corner of the universe in which we could say to God, 'This is our business, not yours.'" We want a creation of our own pain-free design. If we don't expect it later today, we do at least imagine we'll earn such a heaven someday in exchange for moral goodness now.
Here's the problem, according to Lewis: Heaven isn't a reward for right living. Heaven is who we become as a result of right living. We choose the divine will until we're indistinguishable from it. Yet when Jesus does that, the result isn't paradise. It's the cross. As long as people suffer, the divine will chooses to participate in the suffering. The glory comes through the suffering and is revealed after the suffering (Rom. 8:17-18).
—Alice Camille,
reprinted with permission from TrueQuest Communications
|
