pain
& suffering
Here in
western culture, we are generally protected from pain, with all of the
advancements made in science, and medicine, until we get to advanced
anonymous recovery. Not only do we have a medical community pledged
to provide remedies for pain, it is one of the hardest human aspects that
we have to learn how to deal with, outside of poverty - for those that
have aspired to wealth, because of our dependence on a variety of
therapies, attitudes, disciplines, and actions including the partaking of
medicine.
What
"normal" society thinks about "drugs" will change in
any individual's life, when the process of learning how to accept the
provisions of a "higher power," having depended on self-will, up
until then, because we start finding out what a DRUG money is.
Especially when it is not available, at all, considering our old efforts
of obtaining same; just going along with career advancement.
Remember, we have a new employer, and being all powerful, He provides what
we need, not what we want, when the spiritual awakening begins!
It took
me about eight years to get my feet on the ground after my first
financial collapse, which was a perfect calamity. Page sixty eight, in the
bigbook states:
We trust infinite God rather than our finite selves. We are in the world to play the role He assigns. Just to the extent that we do as we think He would have us, and humbly rely on Him, does He enable us to match calamity with serenity.
As a matter of fact, there is a story, in the
back of the bigbook, in the third edition, on the next to the last page,
which states:
We are
taught to differentiate between our wants (which are never satisfied) and
our needs (which are always provided for).
"And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, won’t he more surely care for you? You have so little faith! And don’t worry about food—what to eat and drink. Don’t worry whether God will provide it for you. These things dominate the thoughts of most people, but your Father already knows your needs. He will give you all you need from day to day if you make the Kingdom of God your primary
concern." (Luke 12:28-31)
Friends,
I took a course in college called differentials. It is not an easy
course, with the intelligence that I had available, at that time.
Seems that some things are just never going to change. The
translation that I studied the most however, relative to the last
scripture, states,
"I know your needs, even before you pray."
To get us
in the right frame of mind however, let us quote from the ninth step area
of recovery, from the original anonymous text book, beginning at the
bottom of page 83:
If we are painstaking
about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are half
way through. We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. We will not regret the past nor
wish to shut the door on it. We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace. No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others. That feeling of uselessness and selfpity will disappear. We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows. Selfseeking will slip away. Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change. Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us. We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us. We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.
What we
perfectly need to understand is that the steps come in order, and it does
not do us any good to try and jump around, trying to find an easier softer
way, like most of us do, if we are trying to avoid a certain aspect of our
old life. Believe the bigbook states, "we must not shrink at
anything," on page 79. Again, this is in the chapter "Into
Action" and is in the ninth step area of the explanation of what step
nine is about.
But back
to the subject of this web page. Four types of pain have been
experienced by this scribe:
emotional
pain: love and hate - long lasting romantic hangover (years)
mental
pain: ego deflation at depth - crushing of pride and fears of financial
insecurity
physical
pain: ear, eye, nose, throat, broken bone or bruised rib, tooth or head
ache etc.
spiritual
pain: all that can be said is that you will never forget it!
And the
suspense of the manifestation of the new life, with the corresponding
players - people and personalities involved, is a requirement that demands
volumes of time, so that all of our "bedeviled emotions" can be
"cast out" and then the emotions can be redirected and tied to
the new heart with the desires that God creates, in Christ, during our
period of spiritual growth.
In time,
as recovery experience, faith, and spiritual growth matures, and our
dependence on God increases, we are forced to learn how to depend on our
higher power for pain management too - as he directs, in all areas of our
life, and renounce "the ways of this world," if we are truly
desirous of complete freedom.
The
second aspect of this web page subject is suffering. That one word is
mentioned about eighty times in the Bible. About thirty are mentioned
in the Old Testament. The most definitive Book in the Bible on
suffering is 1 Peter, where it is mentioned the most times, compared to
other books in the bible. The next are the Book of Hebrews and the
Book of James which the original pioneers of the first anonymous
fellowship studied, along with studying the
Sermon on the Mount, and the thirteenth chapter of the Book of 1
Corinthians, according to their literature, "Co-Founders
of Alcoholics Anonymous"©. Possibly, the most informative scripture on suffering,
to this scribe, is as follows:
Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad—because these trials will make you partners with Christ in his suffering, and afterward you will have the wonderful joy of sharing his glory when it is displayed to all the world.
(1 Peter 4:12-13)
Now the
bad news. Suffer is mentioned about seventy times, in addition to
the number for suffering.
But
suffering, long suffering, seems to me to just turn into plain
torture. And it never seems to end. Mine has been going on
approaching twenty four years, thus far. Often, I think of passages from Psalms.
1
O Lord, how long will you forget me? Forever?
How long will you look the other way?
2
How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul,
with sorrow in my heart every day?
How long will my enemy have the upper hand?
3
Turn and answer me, O Lord my God!
Restore the light to my eyes, or I will die.
4
Don’t let my enemies gloat, saying, "We have defeated
him!"
Don’t let them rejoice at my downfall.
5
But I trust in your unfailing love.
I will rejoice because you have rescued me.
6
I will sing to the Lord
because he has been so good to me.
(Psalm 13)
