Suffering
Technological and medicinal advances have crippled us in a sense. In Stalker the stalker says that technology is just so many crutches. But those crutches can harm us if we rely on them too much. If you grow up using crutches, you won't learn to walk properly.
The past hundred years have given us a great pair of crutches. We don't expect to suffer at all to a large extent. And when suffering does happen, we're not prepared for it. We don't know what do do with suffering and it shocks our system. We've built our paradigm around the idea that God doesn't want us to suffer.
But that is just completely wrong. A while back I had a signature on my email that said something like “Life is full of pain, misery, and dispair. May as well enjoy it.” Suffering is unavoidable. We may be able to put it off for a few months or a few years, but in the end, the Tsunami will come, the Hurricane will strike, the Earthquake will shake us, Fire will destroy everything we own, and Cancer will eat away at our body.
We should expect suffering. Not just the suffering of others, but our own suffering. I'm not suggesting that we welcome suffering. No one wants to suffer. But we need to know that suffering will happen. We must expect it.
I think we don't know how to suffer. We're caught off guard by it. We think we have everything under control and then — BAM! — something happens that shakes us to our core. Our complacency is disrupted.
The past hundred years have given us a great pair of crutches. We don't expect to suffer at all to a large extent. And when suffering does happen, we're not prepared for it. We don't know what do do with suffering and it shocks our system. We've built our paradigm around the idea that God doesn't want us to suffer.
But that is just completely wrong. A while back I had a signature on my email that said something like “Life is full of pain, misery, and dispair. May as well enjoy it.” Suffering is unavoidable. We may be able to put it off for a few months or a few years, but in the end, the Tsunami will come, the Hurricane will strike, the Earthquake will shake us, Fire will destroy everything we own, and Cancer will eat away at our body.
We should expect suffering. Not just the suffering of others, but our own suffering. I'm not suggesting that we welcome suffering. No one wants to suffer. But we need to know that suffering will happen. We must expect it.
I think we don't know how to suffer. We're caught off guard by it. We think we have everything under control and then — BAM! — something happens that shakes us to our core. Our complacency is disrupted.