Finding Meaning In Suffering
Few men during their lifetime come anywhere near exhausting the resources dwelling within them. There are deep wells of strength that are never used.
~Richard E. Byrd
If you have never read, “Man’s Search for Meaning”, by Victor Frankl, I would highly recommend this book to you. The first time I read it, I wept. Not so much because of this man’s suffering but because of how he was able to translate his suffering. This is a work of profound importance for all those who have experienced deep sufferings in their lives.
I was reminded of this book as I read The Anchoress, a blogger who I visit frequently. When she posts on topics of spirituality, I find her honesty very moving. You can visit her at www.theanchoressonline.com. Yesterday she did a post and shared about her own pain and her own losses, and yes, even about getting angry with God.
As Dr. Frankl shares about his suffering in the concentration camps and the loss of his entire family while there, he finds the central theme of existentialism. “To live is to suffer, to survive is to find meaning in the suffering” - a quote that the singer Roberta Flack coined. This quote holds so much truth and insight. For each person that journey will be different and profoundly personal. And it will, as he explains, take personal responsibility on our part to find that meaning. Ultimately, if our pain becomes too great, we will need to ask ourselves this question: what is my reason, my purpose to live?
Nietzsche says, “He who has a why to live can bear with almost any how.”
Life is not easy. It comes with so much pain. Yet, my dear reader, not being a stranger to pain myself, I have experienced that in the most painful moments, a breaking takes place that drives me even further to search for God. That is the meaning for my life. It reminds me of the alabaster box being broken, only for its sweet oil to be poured out. Those who have suffered much in life are the very people, if they so allow it, that can transform their pain, and deeply touch those around them, bringing healing oil to hearts that have been broken. It is not so much by the words that are spoken but rather of who one has become through this breaking. There is a sweetness and a kindness, a compassion and understanding of human suffering by those who have lived it. A shift from secular consciousness to sacred consciousness takes place and one perceives reality differently.
Frankl developed what he termed “Logotherapy” and he quoted Spinoza when he said: “Emotions which is suffering, ceases to be suffering as soon as we form a clear and precise picture of it.”
Be strengthened today my dear friend, if you are in the midst of pain and suffering. Take courage to find your own meaning for it, thus finding your healing! It is there for you!
Viola Jaynes
