Pain

[joshrp]

Hi,

I just woke up from a dream that was very startling. I can’t really get into the details, mostly because I don’t think they are all important, but one of the main things that was at the center of the dream was pain. Somewhere in the dream I thought “Pain reminds us to seek God.” I’ve been having trouble understanding the existence of pain and suffering, and I want to read John Paul II’s work “On the Christian Meaning of Human Suffering”.

Did God create pain? What is pain? Is pain an evil? These are some of the questions I had when I woke up.

Thanks for any help,
Joshua

 

[doanli]

FWIW, I don’t think God created Pain, but I will defer the answer to our theologians here.

Pain and Suffering I think come from the Enemy, but it can be sanctifying if we unite it to Our Lord’s Sufferings to save ourselves and others.

 

[GEddie]

Hi,

I just woke up from a dream that was very startling. I can’t really get into the details, mostly because I don’t think they are all important, but one of the main things that was at the center of the dream was pain. Somewhere in the dream I thought “Pain reminds us to seek God.” I’ve been having trouble understanding the existence of pain and suffering, and I want to read John Paul II’s work “On the Christian Meaning of Human Suffering”.

Did God create pain? What is pain? Is pain an evil? These are some of the questions I had when I woke up.

Thanks for any help,
Joshua

Physical pain is not in itself evil, it is a protective mechanism to guard the integrity of our human bodies. Pain ensures that conditions damaging our bodies are corrected before the damage becomes grave. But because we live in a deranged world, pain often continues when there is nothing to be done physically. As such, it is a sad reminder of our mortal state. It reminds us to seek our LORD before Death clouds our minds.

Physical pain is one thing that we share with our LORD. HE endured a physical death designed wholly to maximize HIS pain, and HIS perfect human self enabled HIM to suffer far more than we would both physically and mentally. (Most of us would die long before we got to sweating blood.) So when we have physical pain, we are linked to HIM in a basic human way.

ICXC NIKA

 

[MindOverMatter2]

FWIW, I don’t think God created Pain, but I will defer the answer to our theologians here.

Pain and Suffering I think come from the Enemy, but it can be sanctifying if we unite it to Our Lord’s Sufferings to save ourselves and others.

Of course God created pain. Pain isn’t an immoral action. Its a natural expression of our nervous system, which works wonders in preserving us against danger and damage; for example if you hurt yourself you will will make sufficient changes in your behavior to prevent further pain. Pain is a motivator. Pain also makes us partially aware of good and evil, or rather it makes evil or wrong doing more obvious when people are suffering at the hands of an oppressor; and thus we become aware of actions that are good as opposed to evil. Pain does have a downside; for instance if you break your leg, you will remain in extreme pain until your leg is healed; but this pain prevents you from causing further damage. Pain isn’t perfect, since you can have certain conditions that will never get better. But one can see the positive side of pain when viewed in the context of preservation. And of course, as another poster pointed out, pain can lead you to God since it is in our nature to seek freedom from strife and suffering, and in seeking we become aware of the idea of perfection and we recognize God as the only kind of being that can give us this perfection. And, i almost forgot, pain encorages community, it encourages us to seek comfort in each other.

Pain has its positives which would not, or rather would be unlikely to, exist, if pain and emotional discomfort did not exist.

 

[Myqyl]

I have lived with constant, chronic pain for the last 5 years. Believe me when I tell you that it can be a blessing. It can draw us and all those around us closer to God.

And although it may not seem like it sometimes, God never gives us more than we can handle. Now when my pain gets intense, I thank God for His high opinion of how much I can handle (and no, I’m not kidding)

God bless…