Table of Contents
Why do we experience suffering?
Our suffering comes from our denial of our divine nature, our lack of appreciation of our connection to all things, our resistance to impermanence and our addictions and attachments to things that only bring temporary relief.
How can we give meaning to suffering?
To merely suffer is to merely be alive like any other creature. To make meaning from suffering is to be human. It’s what makes us the exception to all life on earth. We are the beings that recognise ourselves as victims of fate, or of premeditated cruelty, and we recognise the forms that suffering can take.
Does suffering make life meaningful?
Suffering in a hopeless situation Potentially, life is meaningful under any conditions, even those which are most miserable. This presupposes the human capacity to creatively turn life’s negative aspects into something positive or constructive.
What is the meaning of unintentionally produced suffering?
Unintentionally produced suffering. Sometimes a person may bring suffering on himself or others unintentionally. Insensitivity to the feeling of others or misunderstanding of another’s motives often is to blame. While such suffering may have been unintentionally produced, the discomfiture will not be unlike a pain purposely inflicted.
What is the nature of human suffering?
Human suffering is universal and inescapable. When there is joy, there is pain waiting to happen. When there is pain, an individual always tries to escape it. Humans are faced with hardships in life, and along with those hardships come emotional distress and pain.
Is suffering a good thing?
Suffering was a direct result of death and love, but it was suffering that drove Gilgamesh on. It ended up making him stronger. Suffering is not a good thing, but you do get past it and you can learn from it. We see this in The Book of Job too.
What is the Catholic perspective on suffering?
And this is the Catholic perspective, that when we suffer, our suffering is an opportunity both to grow in our faith and love for God, but also to honor and glorify God, by loving Him in the midst of our sufferings, and so storing up an incomparable reward in the life to come.