Pain is the most common thing in our world. We’ve all felt it, witnessed it, forgotten it, forgiven it. Every day we wake up to new horrors, delivered to us on constant feeds, in 4K HD nonstop 24/7. (Did Susan Sontag envision this in Regarding the Pain of Others?) Suffering is banal. But happiness even more so. I once wrote, in one of my many journals, “happiness seems so dull. At least misery is interesting.” There’s a reason there is no 24/7 news channel dedicated to happy stories and coverage of well-balanced individuals and functional family dynamics. Since suffering is an uncomfortable fact of life, it has always been a massive PR enterprise to make it as glamorous as possible. Religions are particularly good at this. Jesus died for our sins. And didn’t he suffer terribly? And didn’t Mary, and John, and all the disciples suffer also? and all the Christians who were persecuted under Roman rule, and the martyrs, oh! they suffered so! But at least all of them suffered for a good cause, for a higher purpose. When Mary Magdalene did her penance in the desert, walking for 40 days, her suffering was holy… read more >
