Alleviating Suffering

We are surrounded by physical and emotional pain, disease, poverty, oppression, loneliness, stress, violence, fear, sadness, rejection, and bondage. Some of it is self-inflicted, and some brought about by the poor choices of those around us. Many natural disasters and random accidents are classified as ‘acts of God,’ because it is harder to trace their cause. However, upon closer inspection many of these can be attributed to human neglect as well.

If I could eradicate suffering completely, I would. Since I am not able to do so, I merely attempt to alleviate pain. Yet, God seems to think it’s a necessary part of the human experience. I agree that suffering molds us into more compassionate, humble, empathetic individuals—however, if it were up to me, I’d figure out an easier way to acquire these virtues. For example, I want my son to be virtuous and kind. Yet, I’m not eager for him to suffer in order to get these characteristics.

Benjamin Franklin is known for the popular saying: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” It would be much easier to prevent the cause of a problem than to find a solution to pain after it is inflicted. Take, for example, the suffering that is caused by divorce. Divorce affects the married couple, the kids, the friends, and extended family members. The problems that lead up to a divorce are complicated. It may be that a couple is mutually incompatible to begin with, but doesn’t realize it until a few years into the marriage. Or the pressures of life distracted them from nurturing their relationship and focusing on each other. Yet, there are many opportunities to pause, yield, forgive, be kind,—to change the trajectory of the relationship.

Not all suffering is preventable. However, we could minimize some of the misery if we learned from our experiences. Pay attention to the cause of pain, sickness, scarcity, alienation, heartache, debt…It’s simpler to prevent a wreck than to deal with the consequences.