Will the Suffering Ever End?

We witness so much suffering. It is overwhelming. The last month we saw the bombing of the Ukrainian people and a mass exodus in response. People lost homes and many their lives or the lives of a loved one. A few months earlier we witnessed the suffering and fear of many, especially of women, when the Taliban took control of the governing of Afghanistan. We witness the hungry children of Yemen, as well as the migration of those running from the Syrian Civil War. We have the humanitarian crisis at the border between Mexico and the United States. Images of suffering from countless African nations penetrate our hearts, like the mass kidnapping of teenage girls by the Boko Haram.

If this isn’t enough to completely overwhelm one, we witness the suffering of so many animals that it tears one’s hearts to pieces. The very earth itself is in pain. The witness to suffering is so complete as to nearly shut one down. We distance ourselves from it in order to protect ourselves. We become numb. We dehumanize. We lose our empathy, especially to those who do not look similar to us. We attempt to help, but we feel so very inadequate. We pray. We fast. We give, and the suffering goes on.

Wonderful Mr. Rogers reminded us that when we see a tragedy, a horror unfolding before our eyes, that we don’t focus solely on the pain, but expand our vision to include all those who are helping as well. God allows the pain as part of man’s free will, but the One also blesses us with the many among us who have the strength and compassion to comfort and to assist those suffering.

The paramount electronic media that brings the inhabitants of the world closer to one another also enables us to witness the suffering of the many around the globe. In fact, the news highlights the suffering over the helpers unless they be significantly heroic. We are drawn in by the horror, and advertisers are aware that the more dramatic the story, the more people will watch it. We don’t always get to be aware of the many, many helpers around the world. We don’t always see and hear the good news balanced with the bad. I believe we are significantly out of balance, but we also aren’t as aware of the wonderful souls around the world as we are aware of the atrocities inflicted.

If we live in this physical world, we suffer. We witness suffering in others. Some of these others are loved ones, others are people we know in our communities. We witness the suffering of those we do not know. We witness the suffering of other creatures that share our world, and the suffering of our world itself. At times witnessing the suffering of others is one of the most, if not the most, painful of our own experiences.

We all have our own suffering to pass through. If we can help another in any way possible, we do, and hopefully this alleviates a portion of their suffering. Help can be lending a hand with a task, like the feeding of a family. It can be a hug, a smile, or a prayer. It can be monetary or physical or even an uplifting thought.

But each must go through his, her, their own suffering. If we can help, we do, but it helps us if we do not attach to the pain of witnessing another’s suffering. We need let it go after doing all we possibly can to help them. Otherwise, this attachment distracts us from focusing on The Eternal Light that is within and without.

Photo by Greg Rosenke on Unsplash

A mission in this world is to bring the Divine's Holy Spirit more and more into the world. This Spirit unifies us. However, mass suffering also unifies us. We are united in compassion to those who suffer mass atrocities. Masses of people join together to assist those needing help. We unite to assist, we unite to give of our own resources, and we unite in prayer, as those in Poland did when they prayed the Rosary for the people of the Ukraine. People around the world bowed in supplication to the Divine for the end of the invasion.

Division has crept like a river forging a canyon. Many have polarized, choosing sides of nationalism versus globalism. Yet, there are many who are in the mainstream, in the middle, whose voices we do not hear. Again, the dramatic is what is covered. We are a world out of balance, but we are also a world evolving. Globalization is what we are evolving towards. The push back towards nationalism is just a part of this evolution. Growth is not a straight line. It is an s-curve, like a snake. We go curve one way, and then the other, but always flowing with the current of Eternal Oneness. Awareness of our collective path may help yield a greater peaceful response towards the polarization, the anger, and the violence as one extreme dehumanizes the other, producing a part of the world’s suffering.

Suffering and the witnessing of suffering will not end until we have evolved to the next level. May all be love and collectively join in prayer today for those who need a prayer.