Suffering's Meanings
Today I want to reflect upon some of the various meanings of suffering. I use the plural, because the experience of suffering varies from person to person, and the understandings that arise from the experience of suffering can be as numerous and varied as the number of persons who experience that suffering. This points to an essential characteristic of suffering: it is always grounded in concrete human experience. Sure, we can speak of suffering in the abstract, much as I am doing in this blog. But the question of suffering arises precisely because specific persons have experienced very specific things that we label "suffering." Suffering is always specific and localizable: it is this person who experienced this action that was done in this manner, in this place at this time. that is one reason why the bible is so full of stories. Each story reflects upon the nature of suffering by means of its particularity and specificity. As the biblical stories parallel our own stories and experiences, we are led to seek out the presence of the Divine lurking somewhere within those experiences. This underlies the quest for meaning in suffering.
I can think of at least 5 main meanings ascribable to experiences of suffering. These are:
Suffering as Redemption
One possible meaning that can be derived from the experience of suffering is that it can be redemptive. Now the word "redemption" is a very interesting one. It comes from the world of financial transactions. I recall the days of the mid-twentieth century when companies would place coupons on the boxes of their products that you could save up towards getting some other product, such as an appliance or utensils or even tools for the home. I recall S&H Green Stamps, and Betty Crocker coupons, and so on. To get the product, you took the stamps or coupons you had saved up to a "Redemption Center," where you traded in, or redeemed, your coupons or stamps for the product. It was, in effect, a financial transaction.
The interesting thing about financial transactions is that they involve the transfer of some symbolic element that actually is uninvolved with the thing being redeemed or the person redeeming it. Money acts this way. It symbolizes the transaction, and yet remains unchanged by the transaction and unattached to either the thing (or person) being redeemed or the person doing the redeeming. (I certainly know that money does not stay attached to me for very long!)
When suffering is experienced as being redemptive, it functions in this transactional manner. The experience of suffering serves as the currency in the transaction. In Christian theology, the death of Christ on the cross is that act (currency) whereby Christ (redeemer) pays (redeems) to receive the lives of human beings, or to release them from some form of bondage or enslavement. (Feel free to name any form of bondage or captivity with which you are familiar.)
Suffering as Purgation
Another way to derive meaning from the experience of suffering is to understand it as a means of purging something undesirable from one's experience or existence. This is similar to the idea of redemption in the way it operates, but is distinguishable. Whereas in redemption one is receiving something as a result of the act of suffering, purgative suffering simply gets rid of something. The model is more therapeutic in nature, like cutting out a tumor that threatens the body.
The idea of doing penance is related to purgative suffering. One accumulates the effects of sin or bad decisions that then cling like adhesions to the soul or consciousness. Penances are acts that are done that are not pleasurable, perhaps even painful, at least austere and do not result in material gain. These acts are not major sufferings, but milder forms of suffering or deprivation that by their nature effect a purging of the adhesions due to sin or bad judgment.
Suffering as Punishment
There are times in which we have done something downright wrong or hurtful in which we receive punishment for our actions. Being sent to jail or being physically hurt are forms of punishment inflicted upon us that are not designed to be pleasurable, that deprive us of freedom or happiness , for example, and can be thought of as a form of suffering - suffering that we might well deserve.
Of course, there is always the problem that sometimes when we experience suffering we may interpret that suffering as being punishment, and we wrack our consciences to see what we have done wrong. that is rarely helpful. Punitive suffering is directly related to something that we have done that we should not do. If we break a law or injure someone, punishment is in order.
Unearned or undeserved suffering is not punishment. That sort of suffering can be classified as either mysterious or evil.
Suffering as Mystery
Some experiences of suffering lie beyond the possibility of human comprehension or understanding. I think, for example, of young children who are abused or suffer the ravages of disease or injury. The suffering they go through is unearned, is not a result of some intentional action on their part nor is it commensurate with the normal wear and tear of everyday living.
Some experiences in life are simply beyond our ken. They do not fit into our schemes of reward and punishment or cause and effect or even payment transactions. They are a mystery precisely because they are not transparent to our normal processes of reasoning or our normal categories of meaning. Because they are unfathomable, the task is not to plunge deeply in search of understanding but rather to find those ways that help us to remain afloat.
Suffering as Evil
There are experiences of suffering that are plain and simply the result of human evil. The ravage of war and terrorism, violence and physical or emotional violation happen as willed acts of one person or group against another. Murder is evil. Rape is evil. Physical abuse is wrong. Emotional bullying and abuse is wrong. Any desire or act to inflict harm upon another is wrong, no matter how we may justify it. These acts do not arise as a result of human goodness but out of the brokenness of human existence. These acts do not build up human community but rather destroy it.
These acts are also characterized by their willfulness. They are acts of choice, and the possibility lie open to choose other courses of action that are not violent or destructive or hurtful.
Responses to Suffering
This final comment on human choosing leads us to the one arena in which we can exert control: our own response to suffering. The suffering we see others experience can cultivate compassion within us and move us to acts of kindness, healing, or advocacy. We can see a group suffer something and be moved to work for justice or to change the material conditions in which they live.
If we undergo suffering of some kind, we can choose to maintain our dignity and integrity as persons. We can also be creative in sharing our experience with other persons so that they may gain insight into our experience or the experiences of people undergoing extreme difficulty. We may even offer our experience to God as a witness to our faith that there is a force and power beyond this veil of tears that can never be marred or effaced by any power on earth.
Final Thoughts
All of these aspects of suffering and its various meanings are found in the bible, and pre-eminently in the vents of Holy Week. Jesus confronts the suffering of people and seeks ways to ameliorate that suffering. The Roman military government kept order through the use of crucifixion. People reacted in violence against the presence of the Romans. People sought to silence Jesus through violence and crucifixion. Suffering and its results and responses fill the pages of Scripture.
Suffering happens as a part of human experience. No one escapes this world unscathed. How we deal with suffering and the questions we ask of our experience reveals as much about the character of our souls and inner life as it does about the nature and meaning of suffering itself. So, keep asking the questions. Find ways of integrating those experiences into your way of living and being that will tend toward your health and wholeness and the well-being of those around you.
That may be the most meaningful thing to arise out of suffering.
I can think of at least 5 main meanings ascribable to experiences of suffering. These are:
- Suffering as redemption
- Suffering as purgation
- Suffering as punishment
- Suffering as mystery
- Suffering as evil
Suffering as Redemption
One possible meaning that can be derived from the experience of suffering is that it can be redemptive. Now the word "redemption" is a very interesting one. It comes from the world of financial transactions. I recall the days of the mid-twentieth century when companies would place coupons on the boxes of their products that you could save up towards getting some other product, such as an appliance or utensils or even tools for the home. I recall S&H Green Stamps, and Betty Crocker coupons, and so on. To get the product, you took the stamps or coupons you had saved up to a "Redemption Center," where you traded in, or redeemed, your coupons or stamps for the product. It was, in effect, a financial transaction.
The interesting thing about financial transactions is that they involve the transfer of some symbolic element that actually is uninvolved with the thing being redeemed or the person redeeming it. Money acts this way. It symbolizes the transaction, and yet remains unchanged by the transaction and unattached to either the thing (or person) being redeemed or the person doing the redeeming. (I certainly know that money does not stay attached to me for very long!)
When suffering is experienced as being redemptive, it functions in this transactional manner. The experience of suffering serves as the currency in the transaction. In Christian theology, the death of Christ on the cross is that act (currency) whereby Christ (redeemer) pays (redeems) to receive the lives of human beings, or to release them from some form of bondage or enslavement. (Feel free to name any form of bondage or captivity with which you are familiar.)
Suffering as Purgation
Another way to derive meaning from the experience of suffering is to understand it as a means of purging something undesirable from one's experience or existence. This is similar to the idea of redemption in the way it operates, but is distinguishable. Whereas in redemption one is receiving something as a result of the act of suffering, purgative suffering simply gets rid of something. The model is more therapeutic in nature, like cutting out a tumor that threatens the body.
The idea of doing penance is related to purgative suffering. One accumulates the effects of sin or bad decisions that then cling like adhesions to the soul or consciousness. Penances are acts that are done that are not pleasurable, perhaps even painful, at least austere and do not result in material gain. These acts are not major sufferings, but milder forms of suffering or deprivation that by their nature effect a purging of the adhesions due to sin or bad judgment.
Suffering as Punishment
There are times in which we have done something downright wrong or hurtful in which we receive punishment for our actions. Being sent to jail or being physically hurt are forms of punishment inflicted upon us that are not designed to be pleasurable, that deprive us of freedom or happiness , for example, and can be thought of as a form of suffering - suffering that we might well deserve.
Of course, there is always the problem that sometimes when we experience suffering we may interpret that suffering as being punishment, and we wrack our consciences to see what we have done wrong. that is rarely helpful. Punitive suffering is directly related to something that we have done that we should not do. If we break a law or injure someone, punishment is in order.
Unearned or undeserved suffering is not punishment. That sort of suffering can be classified as either mysterious or evil.
Suffering as Mystery
Some experiences of suffering lie beyond the possibility of human comprehension or understanding. I think, for example, of young children who are abused or suffer the ravages of disease or injury. The suffering they go through is unearned, is not a result of some intentional action on their part nor is it commensurate with the normal wear and tear of everyday living.
Some experiences in life are simply beyond our ken. They do not fit into our schemes of reward and punishment or cause and effect or even payment transactions. They are a mystery precisely because they are not transparent to our normal processes of reasoning or our normal categories of meaning. Because they are unfathomable, the task is not to plunge deeply in search of understanding but rather to find those ways that help us to remain afloat.
Suffering as Evil
There are experiences of suffering that are plain and simply the result of human evil. The ravage of war and terrorism, violence and physical or emotional violation happen as willed acts of one person or group against another. Murder is evil. Rape is evil. Physical abuse is wrong. Emotional bullying and abuse is wrong. Any desire or act to inflict harm upon another is wrong, no matter how we may justify it. These acts do not arise as a result of human goodness but out of the brokenness of human existence. These acts do not build up human community but rather destroy it.
These acts are also characterized by their willfulness. They are acts of choice, and the possibility lie open to choose other courses of action that are not violent or destructive or hurtful.
Responses to Suffering
This final comment on human choosing leads us to the one arena in which we can exert control: our own response to suffering. The suffering we see others experience can cultivate compassion within us and move us to acts of kindness, healing, or advocacy. We can see a group suffer something and be moved to work for justice or to change the material conditions in which they live.
If we undergo suffering of some kind, we can choose to maintain our dignity and integrity as persons. We can also be creative in sharing our experience with other persons so that they may gain insight into our experience or the experiences of people undergoing extreme difficulty. We may even offer our experience to God as a witness to our faith that there is a force and power beyond this veil of tears that can never be marred or effaced by any power on earth.
Final Thoughts
All of these aspects of suffering and its various meanings are found in the bible, and pre-eminently in the vents of Holy Week. Jesus confronts the suffering of people and seeks ways to ameliorate that suffering. The Roman military government kept order through the use of crucifixion. People reacted in violence against the presence of the Romans. People sought to silence Jesus through violence and crucifixion. Suffering and its results and responses fill the pages of Scripture.
Suffering happens as a part of human experience. No one escapes this world unscathed. How we deal with suffering and the questions we ask of our experience reveals as much about the character of our souls and inner life as it does about the nature and meaning of suffering itself. So, keep asking the questions. Find ways of integrating those experiences into your way of living and being that will tend toward your health and wholeness and the well-being of those around you.
That may be the most meaningful thing to arise out of suffering.
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