meaning in suffering...

This past week, we've been given a glimpse at two perspectives on suffering...one in the Shiavo case and another in the ebbing life of Pope John Paul II. Both of these situations highlight the end-of-life ethic, namely the issue of suffering.

Many of us have become very comfortable with the notion of calling it quits in this world when we enter into a phase of life characterized by suffering. I think that many people who have a hope in an afterlife through faith in Jesus look forward to the day when we no longer have to face the problems of life.

I'd like to challenge that notion briefly.

I believe that we carry our character with us into the next world. When I die, you will recognize me, not because of my beard or bad haircut or slight (or not-so-slight) paunch...you'll recognize me because of my character -- who I truly am.

If that is the case, then everything we experience in this life shapes our character in preparation for life to come. Our soul is the hard-drive of our lives...everything that we experience and process is imbedded in the memory of our character. Every situation, every relationships, every decision we make. Forgiveness and grace only wipe away the eternal consequences of "sin", they don't take it away from our experience. And in many cases we still live with the temporal consequences of our choices.

We like the happy times. We relive them in our memories. Family and school reunions are all about this. Photo books are filled with them. Stories passed on from generation to generation recount the happy times.

But what about the struggles and suffering? Is there something to be gained in those times, as well? I think there is.

It is in times of suffering that we experience the strength, grace, power, and presence of Jesus unlike any other time in our lives. The Bible tells us that we will be made strong in our weakness and that trials and suffering will produce in us character traits like perseverence, hope, and faith.

A predominant thought in America (and most of the Western world) is that once I stop producing and contributing to society, then it's time for me to go. So the measure of a person's value is their economic contribution. Doesn't that make us simply cogs in the machinery of the world?

Another diminant ethical foundation is that of pleasure. I want to experience only that which feels good. Once it stops feeling good, then I want out. We approach relationships this way - when they stop making me feel good, then we leave. We approach church like this -- I don't like what the preacher said or did (and usually didn't do) or the music doesn't make me feel good. And we do this with life. Once I don't feel good, then pull the plug. Or in a twinge of altruism, we tell our loved ones that we want them to go on without us and they should pull the plug so that they don't have to suffer with us.

I'd like to challenge the ethics of the "right to die." I'll do so by beginning to speak about a "right to suffer." If suffering is a part of the formation of my character, then don't cut that short...don't cheat me of even a few hours where my spirit is being prepared to pass into eternity.

I'm not asking you to keep my body functioning when I'm not in it. Let me go when it's time. But don't cut my preparation short.

Today, Pope John Paul II is preparing to enter eternity. I don't know what's in his soul or the relationship he may or may not have with Jesus...that's between the two of them. But I do know that his character continues to be shaped by the suffering. He has reportedly said that he believes that his life with be characterized by suffering...he's living that reality now. He lived courageously when he was a man of strength and stamina. He forgave the man who tried to take his life. He stood up to that which divides humanity. And now, in his final hours (most likely) he is courageously receiving the gift of suffering. And may he know the closeness of Jesus in this hour of passing.

Peace on the journey,

Matt