Part 3 – Word Count – 684         Reading time – 3minutes

In addition to the suffering we experience while trying to deal with the earth’s shaking, baking and quaking there is self-induced suffering. Christians believe in the preservation of the self within the everlasting spirit after death. This perspective leads me to believe that one of the reasons for our existence in material form is to gain experience and learn lessons not available to those who are only spirit. My assumption is that these lessons inform and strengthen the character and personality that carries on in the spirit after we cease to exist in material form.  You can tell a toddler not to touch the stove until you are blue in the face. Smart toddlers may take your admonishments to heart and avoid the stove. Others need to touch the stove to gain the knowledge of” hot!”. Sometimes it seems that humanity is fully embracing the stove in a flesh searing bear hug. I believe some suffering can be a necessary part of the learning process for some of us.  In my life there have been plenty of times that God’s intervention in my suffering would have deprived me of valuable lessons.

The added benefit to belief in life everlasting is that it puts things in a different perspective. If our true self, personality and character is everlasting beyond the time of our physical existence, not only can I view my time as a material being as an opportunity to build, educate and improve the parts of me that carry forward, but I can consider the short time I have in this physical body a mere instant in the timeline of eternity. The suffering I endure throughout my lifetime will be a moment of discomfort compared to the scope of my existence.

But I hasten to add that although I have endured physical, psychological and emotional suffering throughout my life, I have not experienced suffering like so many others in the world. I have been greatly blessed and consider what suffering I have endured to be extremely small compared to others. In no way do I wish to diminish the suffering felt by others. Furthermore, I do not mean to imply that my perspective on the education gained from suffering can be embraced by everyone. I have a great deal of compassion for anyone who is suffering. I wish that none of us had to suffer at any level. A significant reason for my faith is that I want to believe that there will be a time when suffering is no more for all beings.

Then there is the suffering that is the direct or indirect result of evil. Yep, I am a firm believer that there is good and evil in our world. And that both are the product of intentional and unintentional actions on the part of individual entities, material and spiritual, who choose to do good or evil in their pursuit of personal goals. Further, I believe that this condition exists on both the physical and spiritual planes. And that the impact of good and evil on either plane can affect the other. I believe that good and evil happen to varying degrees and have a knock-on effect. A good that someone does may not be caused by an immediate intention but generated by some previous experience. Same for evil. In other words, present behaviors can be influenced by past experiences or thoughts. In any case, evil exists and is the direct and indirect cause of a great deal of the suffering humanity experiences.

 The obvious question is, why doesn’t God just get rid of evil? My answer…I believe that He is. Christians should be very aware that we see ourselves as being engaged in a war against evil. Certainly, God has the power to wipe out evil easily. But, because all humans have inherent within them evil, for God to wipe out evil would mean we get annihilated along with the evil. For some reason God seems to be fond of us and is working a plan to work the evil out of us without doing away with our species entirely.