The Pilgrim and The Monk: Suffering and Communion

Pilgrim: Monk, why do good people suffer? Why do they get sick and God doesn’t heal them? Why do bad things happen to good people?

Monk: These are powerful questions, Pilgrim. They are mysteries too vast for my comprehension.

Pilgrim: You must have spent time thinking about them.

Monk: Many hours, but I have not even begun to understand it.

Pilgrim: Is that the only conclusion you came up with? You don’t understand?

Monk: I am afraid most of my observations are devoid of the emotions that permeate suffering. They would appeal callous and unfeeling.

Pilgrim: I would still like to hear them.

Monk: At your insistence, I shall. The first thing I can say about suffering is that it is universal. It discriminates against one. Rich, poor, wicked or good, it is something we all endure.

Pilgrim: You must admit that the rich suffer less than the poor. And what about race? Some races experience privileges over others.

Monk: What does disease care about wealth? The rich only have more to lose in death. And oppression is not bound by race. Oppression is merely power used by the strong to abuse the weak. Beware when people dehumanize others. That is only a justification to cause suffering to others. No Pilgrim, all people suffer. The manner of suffering may change, but it is universal.

Pilgrim: It never occurred to me that everyone suffers.

Monk: Even our Lord.

Pilgrim: Wait, what? You need to explain that to me.

Monk: Consider that the things we often place as highest value are not of highest worth. Suffering can help us reorder our priorities.

Pilgrim: That’s hardly a comfort, is it?

Monk: When we are in the midst of suffering, comfort is elusive.

Pilgrim: That’s true.

Monk: Also, consider the good that came from our Lord’s suffering.

Pilgrim: What are you talking about?

Monk: The cross. He suffered because of the suffering we caused him through our sin. He suffered in order to reconcile with us.

Pilgrim: It’s strange to think that God suffered. But if he knows what suffering was like, why would he allow us to go through it?

Monk: Christ never promised we would be free from suffering in this fallen world. He did promise we would not endure our suffering alone.

Pilgrim: How does that help?

Monk: Of all the forms of suffering ever experienced, I believe loneliness creates the most harm. Christ himself felt that when sin separated him from the Father on the cross.

Pilgrim: What makes loneliness so horrible?

Monk: The broken communion. We were made to walk with God and we were made to be in relationship with each other. When we are alone it is like an unbearable weight that crushes our soul.

Pilgrim: You make it sound poetic.

Monk: That is only because I lack the words to fully describe it.

Pilgrim: Do you ever think you’ll ever understand suffering?

Monk: No. Not on this side of eternity.

Pilgrim: Until then, we’ll just have to persevere under it together.

Monk: That is my hope, Pilgrim.