What to make of Suffering

The existence of God seems to be more clearly linked to suffering than it every has been as I ponder the current state of my faith journey. In this morning's LA Times, there was an interesting contrast. The article, Jobs put off cancer surgery, describes a new biography for which Jobs granted more than three dozen interviews. "The book says Jobs gave up Christianity at 13 when he saw starving children on the cover of Life magazine. He asked his Sunday school pastor whether God knew what would happen with them." A very different interplay of faith is presented in the article Finding forgiveness on death row. 

The story describes a man who came to the USA from Bangladesh and although well educated in computers, was temporarily working at the counter in a gas station. A man upset by the September 11th attacks, confronted him and "had to do what his country would not." As he lay suffering from being shot in the face by this man, "He remembered what (his mother) had told him years ago. Follow the Islamic faith, and forgive those who hurt you." He continued to deal with his suffering and anger as he struggled to recover.

The shooter eventually turned to the Christian religion and looked to the man he had blinded in one eye for forgiveness. "I was completely and utterly wrong and I hope you can forgive me." The man he was asking had realized as he struggle with the damage done by the shooting, that he had already forgiven him.

While not so definitive to my faith, I have pondered from an early age about the Christian story and how it relates to the millions of people in the world. I remember reading a book around my college years that talked about suffering. While I usually remember a few key thoughts from books I remember reading, it strikes me that this book left me without a clear handle on suffering.

As described in a previous blog entry, Buddhist thought deals directly with the question of suffering. Christianity frequently relates it to Christ's suffering and many people find strength in this. Six years ago, I discovered Karen Armstrong and her quote from my blog entry says it well. 

"It doesn't really matter what you believe as long as it leads you to practical compassion. If your belief in a traditional God makes you come out imbued with a desire to feel with your fellow human beings, to make a place for them in your heart, to work to end suffering in the world, then it's good. Nobody has the last word on God, whether they're conservative or liberals."