Why Can't We be Friends?

"For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow."
~ Ecclesiastes 1:18

I think, if we tried, we could learn a thing or two from pain. Maybe, if we viewed heartache, not as an enemy, but as a friend, we might be able to use pain/suffering to our advantage. You see, when pain is viewed as an enemy, it's viewed as something that must be destroyed. The most common response to pain that I hear is explanation. When someone is hurting, we try to offer them information and knowledge, thinking that this will help. We think that if we could just list the top ten reasons why God allows pain and suffering, the pain itself will be destroyed.

It is my belief that knowing the why of suffering does not ease the pain of suffering. When a child experiences pain after touching a hot stovetop, we want to ease their pain (and this is natural). How tragic, however, if all we've learned is how to ease pain, but we still haven't figured out not to touch the hot stovetop. Pain is an indication that something is wrong - so we had better stop trying to ease the pain, and start trying to figure out what went wrong. But don't always expect the pain to go away - it might not, and that's ok - maybe pain can be your tutor, or better yet - your friend.