Why Is There Suffering?
Dear friends,
If God is generous, just, and kind, why is there suffering? How can our little planet see such injustice, pain, and cruelty? Maybe an image can help make what is happening clear.
Suppose you went to a doctor with a stomach pain. He diagnosed the problem and felt that there was a shot that could help you. He administers the injection, but suppose you do not know anything about Western medicine. You might well think that the doctor is a sadist! After all, you came in with a stomach problem, and now your arm hurts as well!
We incarnate to learn lessons. The things that come to us are for our education. Spirit administers a shot and, not understanding what is going on, we feel like the injection is a cruelty, not an aid to health.
It is much easier to see how this works with other people. When looking around at friends and co-workers, we can see many things that come up where the lesson is somewhat clear. When it is we ourselves, our own personal involvement makes it harder to see. (This is why it is so easy to see everyone else’s flaws, but so hard to see our own. And why our friends can often see what we ought to do or say while we cannot.)
Perhaps someone is extremely disorganized, and as a result their life is a major mess—missed appointments, lost valuables, ignored opportunities, etc. I’d suggest that this person has some sort of resistance to organization, so the repeated pain of loss may some day have them decide, “You know, the cost of my disorganization is too high. Maybe I need to do things differently.” This is how we change. And it is why we reincarnate—for another chance to get it right. A friend of mine once pointed out that we change when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of changing.
Now I know how the mind works. Some things that happen are so horrendous it is virtually impossible to see them as “educational." But please do not allow your mind to go to extremes that cannot be understood or accepted. That does not mean the concept is not true; it means our completely understandable and human limited vision is not up to the task. But what is served by focusing on extremes and holding onto them tightly? Turn your mind to something easier to accept and see—a smaller weight, so to speak.
A gym has a full range of weights. Finding the few barbells that cannot be lifted, trying to lift them, and failing does not mean the weight lifting is not for you. There are many, many things that come to us that are human-sized uncomfortable or even painful. It is up to us as to how we respond. We can choose to see the the possible lesson or test in it, or rail against an uncaring and cruel Universe. Spirit’s vaccine is often not obvious, but it is always instructive if taken the right way. And even suppose for a moment there is no lesson (though there always is); reigning in one’s complaining and resentful attitude to reality has its own reward in and of itself. When we fight reality it has a way of winning anyway. Trying to see the lesson helps us see the world for what it is rather than how we wish it would be.
May we each look for the blessing in what comes to us. Easy when it is something we view as positive. But much harder when it is something that causes pain, anger, or fear. Yes, the Divine Hand is behind it all.
Blessings,
David G., manager
For the staff at East West