Wisdom of Suffering

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There is no greater pain than the pain of growth. A holistic growth mandates suffering and tears. One whose eyes have not welled with tears of suffering has never known the joy of a lucid vision. One whose heart has not been laden with guilt has never felt the ecstasy of repentance and the bliss of forgiveness. However this does not permit the glorification of suffering so as to legitimize the perpetuation of injustice.  

Paul in the epistle to the Colossians testifies that we need to rejoice in suffering; a belief I would like to contest. Over the years this idea has been used to legitimize self-imposed suffering as redemptive. To add to the despair even the intensity of “holiness” of certain Church Fathers and Mothers is determined by the severity of their self-imposed sufferings. This is a toxic theology. The church doctrines corroborate this. Just notice how conveniently we have sanitized the cold blooded murder of Jesus into his wilful sacrifice thereby giving prominence to suffering than injustice. I often wonder whether we Christians suffer from Stockholm syndrome, a condition where the oppressed develops a psychological intimacy towards the oppressor and takes pleasure in the sufferings imposed on them. I do agree that suffering is inevitable in the process of witnessing Christ but we need to shy away from the illusion that pleasure could be derived from suffering. Suffering, no matter for whom, even for the sake of Christ is indeed traumatic and should not be glorified. The need is to remain hopeful amidst suffering which should be fostered by confrontation, resilience and protest.

Not to glorify suffering does not mean eloping the same. Persecution should not be evaded at the expense of compromising our self-worth. Suffering is better than servitude. Today we fear suffering and thus have chosen to remain slaves to the powerful. Fr. Jerry Kurian remarks;

It is sad how the church disowns persecution now. Jesus gladly accepted persecution even though he was not guilty of anything by God. Today persecution is seen as a curse and all means are tried to avoid it. Someone will use the law, another a loop hole, someone else influence and yet others will get chest pain and health issues. A man and woman of God need not fear persecution. It is what makes a Christian who she or he is. A cassock or cloth is a responsibility to stand for justice even if it means standing against our own practices. Wearing it should not be for getting concessions or the best seats but to say “Here I am, send (use) me.” A spotless cassock is a sign of affluence and privilege. A soiled cassock is a sign of persecution and struggle.[1]
Suffering is our resistance to succumb to the powers of the dominant. It is our protest to refuse to kowtow before the enticements offered by them. As Christians we might feel that the Church would stand beside us in our sufferings. This need not be true. Christians suffer not just for the sake of Church but also from the Church. This is the sheer tragedy that occurred when the Church became an institution. Fr. Thomas Hopko states;

If you take any moment of Christian history from the time of Jesus you will see that there were always factions, divisions, fighting; and you will also see that the saints were very few at any given moment. And they were always persecuted. And virtually always they were persecuted by the institution. As one Roman Catholic priest once said, “Until you have suffered from the institution you have not yet suffered with Jesus. And we not only suffer FOR the Church, we suffer FROM the Church, humanly speaking. And that's just part of the story; it ain't anything new.”[2]
To deal with suffering is an art. The incarnation of God in Jesus the Christ was the decision of God to equip humans with this art. The Scripture testifies that Christ was Christ because of the sufferings he underwent (Heb. 5:8). To empathise with the hungry we need to know the pain of hunger, to liberate the captive we need to feel the suffocation of confinement; to comprehend the grief of the poor we need to experience the anguish of poverty. The urgency of liberation can only be understood by someone who has breathed the air of bondage. The whole purpose of incarnation in a nutshell would then be to participate in the pathos of the world to discern the true meaning of salvation i.e. freedom. James Cone explicates;

By electing Israelite slaves as the people of God and by becoming the Oppressed One in Jesus Christ, the human race is made to understand that God is known where human beings experience humiliation and suffering … Liberation is not an afterthought, but the very essence of divine activity.[3]
How could someone speak about suffering without making a reference to the biblical character named Job? The book of Job is the hallmark of suffering. It speaks about the justice of God in the light of human suffering. Theodicy is the protruding theme of the book. The book all the more enlightens us with the wisdom of suffering. The fruit of all the ordeals that betook Job enhanced his vision. He says; “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear but now my eye sees you” (42:5). St. Isaac of Syria calls this “the faith of divine vision.” Suffering deepens our faith and enhances our vision of the divine.

One of the fascinating things in the narrative of Job is that Job does not wrestle with Satan but with God. His questions and apprehensions are directed towards the Divine. Suffering thus becomes an opportunity to debate with God on the mystery of life. Lent fosters this debate; a debate in which we engage with the hope of losing but still is worth it. I conclude with a conversation between Nikos Kazantzakis and the ascetic Fr. Makarios recorded in Report to Greco;

“Do you still wrestle with the Devil, Father Makarios?” I asked him.
“Not any longer, my child. I have grown old now and he has grown old with me. He doesn't have the strength. I wrestle with God.”
“With God!” I exclaimed in astonishment. “And you hope to win?”
“I hope to lose, my child. My bones remain with me still, and they continue to resist.”
“Yours is a hard life, Father. I too want to be saved. Is there no other way?”
“More agreeable?” asked the ascetic, smiling compassionately.
“More human, Father.”
“One. Only one.”
“What is it?”
“Ascent. To climb a series of steps. From the full stomach to hunger, from the slaked throat to thirst, from joy to suffering. God sits at the summit of hunger, thirst, and suffering. The Devil sits at the summit of the comfortable life. Choose.”
“I am still young. The earth is good. I have time to choose.”
The ascetic stretched out his five bony fingers, squeezed my knee, and nudged me.
“Wake up, my child. Wake up. Before death wakes you up.”
I shuddered[4]....Amen

Prayers
Dn. Basil Paul


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