Suffering includes a broad scope of things and is often different for everyone. Despite the different ways that people can suffer, virtually every individual on the planet will experience some form or level of suffering in his or her lifetime. Suffering is inevitable. The question is not if you have suffered, it is how. Suffering is personal, handled in different ways, can alter who you are, and changes your relationship with God. Suffering is unique for every person. For me the greatest suffering has come through my own mind. Often, I am my own worst enemy. I struggle with anxiety and depression. My senior year of high school was one of the most difficult times in my life. I have never felt more alone or hopeless than I did in that year. Another great source of suffering for me has been experiencing other people’s suffering. I seem to collect a lot of people’s secrets, or be a listening ear for their deep sources of pain. I am glad …show more content…
For me suffering changed my relationship with God in negative ways at first, but positive ways in the long run. Initially, I was angry and hurt and felt abandoned by God. I gave up. I stopped reading my bible, praying, journaling, and listening for God. It was a dark and lonely year. However, with time, I slowly began to let go of my anger, and I decided that I truly did want a relationship with God. I began to see God in new ways, it was like a fresh start. I see that year as the year I truly decided for myself that I wanted God to be a part of my life. I see that as a positive change. My faith became my own, instead of simply my parent’s faith. I learned a lot about God after going through a difficult season of silence. I grew tremendously in my faith and trust in God, and I have needed that in recent years. Even though suffering is not something I would ever ask for, I recognize the value it has had in my life, and I know I am both closer to God and a better person today because of
suffering hurts man spirit is does more good then constant happiness and power. We have to beat
of suffering is most beneficial. However, answering this question about suffering becomes increasingly more difficult with the
After reviewing the work of David Hume, the idea of a God existing in a world filled with so much pain and suffering is not so hard to understand. Humes’ work highlights some interesting points which allowed me to reach the conclusion that suffering is perhaps a part of God’s divine plan for humans. Our morals and values allow us to operate and live our daily lives in conjunction with a set of standards that help us to better understand our world around us and essentially allows us to better prepare for the potential life after life. For each and every day we get closer to our impending deaths and possibly closer to meeting the grand orchestrator of our universe.
The existence of a God is always questioned, but it is questioned even more so at times of suffering. As Rabbi Dr Louie Jacobs comments “If God exists… how and why could such a Being tolerate all the pain, misery, and anguish that is often the lot of humanity”.
As stated earlier, suffering is defined as a “pain that is caused by injury, illness, loss, etc.” which includes both “physical and mental/emotional pain” (Merriam-Webster). However, the idea of suffering implies much more. Suffering is not only caused by physical factors such as injury or emotional pain. For example, this could be feelings experienced from the loss of a loved one. Additionally, socioeconomic status contributes to the extent that one suffer as well as the tolerance that a person has to this emotional and physical pain stated in the definition. When a person is deprived economically from basic necessities of life, they suffer not because they choose to or because of mistakes that they have made, but due to their inability to raise their social status. They simply cannot acquire the luxuries to live that wealthier class citizens have because they cannot afford it. The definition also fails to mention that suffering does not solely cause “pain”. Suffering possesses the capability to provoke other feelings in humans such as amplified guilt from a mistake made in the past. “Pain” itself is not specific enough to outline the various emotions associated with suffering. Humans are multidimensional creatures that are engulfed with many conflicting feelings in reverberation of a social situation. The idea of suffering is not exclusively negative either. It can bring
“Sonny’s Blues” is a short story in which James Baldwin, the author, presents an existential world where suffering characterizes a man’s basic state. The theme of tragedy and suffering can be transformed into a communal art form such as blues music. Blues music serves as a catalyst for change because the narrator starts to understand that not only the music but also himself and his relationship with Sonny. The narrator’s view of his brother begins to change; he understands that Sonny uses music as an exit of his suffering and pain. This story illustrates a wide critical examination. Richard N. Albert is one critic that explores and analyzes the world of “Sonny’s Blues”. His analysis, “The Jazz-Blues Motif in James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues”” is an example of how one can discover plot, characterization and jazz motif that builds this theme of suffering.
African-Americans’/ Affrilachians’ Suffering Mirrored: How do Nikky Finney’s “Red Velvet” and “Left” Capture events from the Past in order to Reshape the Present?
The question of suffering comes up much when talking about, or practicing any religion. Many ask why people suffer, and what causes suffering? The various religions try to answer these questions in their own way. Pico Iyer’s editorial, “The Value of Suffering” addresses the questions of suffering and how it is handled. This article could be compared to the Bhagavad-Gita which also addresses and explains suffering through different stories of the interactions of humans and different Gods. One can specifically look at “The Second Teaching” in the Bhagavad-Gita, which explains the interaction between a man named Arjuna and the god Krishna. In it Arjuna is suffering because he does not want to fight in a war and with people whom he should be worshiping. Krishna says to fight because the souls of the people will forever live on, and because he needs to fulfill his Dharma. With what is known about the Bhagavad-Gita and how Iyer thinks about the subject, Iyer would agree with how the Bhagavad-Gita address suffering.
Suffering is an individual's basic affective experience of pain or distress, often as a result of one’s physical, emotional or spiritual circumstance (Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy 2006). Suffering can be classified as physical; for example pain caused by a dislocated knee, emotional; for example one’s grief over the death of a loved one, or spiritual; which is described as the state of being separated from the blissful nature of your divine self (soul). To suffer physically or emotionally is often unavoidable; however it can be argued that spiritual liberation...
The subject of death and dying can cause many controversies for health care providers. Not only can it cause legal issues for them, but it also brings about many ethical issues as well. Nearly every health care professional has experienced a situation dealing with death or dying. This tends to be a tough topic for many people, so health care professionals should take caution when handling these matters. Healthcare professionals not only deal with patient issues but also those of the family. Some of the controversies of death and dying many include; stages of death and dying, quality of life issues, use of medications and advanced directives.
As previously, stated God uses difficult situations as a way to improve the relationship we have with Him. Why suffering though? Frederick Sontag wrote in his book that evil or suffering are the best circumstances in which to find a God, unlike times where everything goes well
Suffering can be defined as an experience of discomfort suffered by a person during his life. The New York Times published an article entitled what suffering does, by David Brooks (2014). In this article, Brooks explains how suffering plays an important role in our pursuit of happiness. He explains firstly that happiness is found through experiences and then, suffering can also be a motivation in our pursuit of happiness. In other words, suffering is a fearful but necessary gift to acquire happiness. This paper is related to motivation and emotion, two keys words to the pursuit of happiness (King, 2010).
What does pain mean to you? Pain is a tense feeling that tells you something may be wrong. There’s physical pain- acute and or chronic, emotional pain, and also a phrase known as “pain in the ass”- which is where something or someone is being annoying and or troublesome.
This is my first semester in college. Being a new college student, I was very nervous about how college life went about and how I would manage school, work, and raising my child. Thankfully, this class is required for incoming students, or else I never would have thought to take it. Throughout this semester, I have learned more about myself, what I truly value, my personality type, my multiple intelligences, my learning style, and how these are all correlated to my long- term career goal.
Death is one of the hardest things to over come; while others have developed paganism for death it’s ultimately the scariest thing to face in life. Losing a best friend, a family member, or the love of your life. Therefore the death of someone special is definitely the hardest thing to face. Many people believe when someone dies, they’re sleeping, and they wake up when Jesus comes again and brings you to heaven with him, this is called Christianity, however, Buddhism believe when the body dies it disappears, but the mind goes on, which means you have no after life to experience. I personally believe after you die, you will go to a very special place, with past family members who have passed away. I also believe if you don’t think there is a God you will go to