Does God
suffer? The traditional answer is no, because God is immutable and impassible, and to
suffer is to change or to be changed.
The more that people
suffer or remember suffering, the more they experience deprivation or need.
Dupont and McGovern (1992) also claimed that the occurrence of suffering requires the individual's attribution of meaning to the threat, since without such attribution, although an individual may indeed feel pain, he will not
suffer. Human suffering is inextricably associated with meaning imbued by the sufferer in his/her experience of suffering.
If I had not been willing to
suffer Adam's actions and attitudes as I did, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to listen late one Wednesday night on the steps of our church building as with odd lucidness he articulated the pain he carried over being abandoned by his father.
They were also three times more likely to
suffer complications like a blood clot and around eight times as likely to
suffer high blood pressure.
Mexicans eat a lot of fat and
suffer fewer heart attacks than us.
The following eight themes emerged from their narratives--preparing to
suffer, normalizing their suffering, letting go and surrender, worshipping and reciting Scripture, fellowship and family support, experiencing God's presence, identification with the passion of the Christ and His disciples, and believing in a greater purpose.
It was also discovered that in the North East one in 10 people
suffer from a condition such as diarrhoea or constipation before a big presentation and a fifth
suffer before a job interview.
Problem: Many patients
suffer needlessly because they are either too stoic to complain or they mistakenly fear addiction.
Alongside each of the artist's increasingly--and intentionally--tedious remembrances appeared another anonymous response to the question "When did you
suffer most?" posed by the artist to friends and strangers.
To explore these gaps, I'll ponder a spiritual way of reading and responding that involves some extremely challenging--even radical--attitudes: the absolute relinquishing of control, the unconditional welcoming of the Other, the obliteration of the self, and the concomitant willingness to
suffer.
