Stage Being Set Now Posted in: Perfection in Seeming Imperfection, The Self Divine
Proposal: Suffering, for example separation from a loved one, is the stage setting for a beautiful future experience, i.e. reunion. Suffering is not the Grand Finale (GF). Not unless you enjoy suffering.
The biggest problem with this idea is that it requires a huge leap of faith, especially where that pain of separation is caused by death of the body of the loved one, and thus the future GF is in an imagined/hoped-for post-lifetime situation. Not only that, but why in any case should we expect a perfect and beautiful GF? Is it even logical? Can we present any reasoning to support this idea?
One thing we can do is look back at episodes of suffering within our present personal life. Contrast how we felt at the time and how we feel now. Do we find any positives that were only possible on the back of such episodes? Without getting into too much detail, I can say that while the break up of my first marriage was no fun at the time, later I came to see the stage for my becoming a forgiver had been set. And being a forgiving person seems to be a worthy thing to me.
By why should one expect the GF to be perfect and beautiful? My rationale for this flows from a core conviction as to the very nature of God being all-beautiful and all-perfect, and a logic that everything that comes from God, us and this world included, therefore must be likewise perfect and beautiful. Hopelessness, anguish, despair etc., as the GF doesn’t fit very well with this. Like I say, it requires a huge leap of faith as to not only the existence of God, but the character of God, the nature of things emanating from God, and God’s attitude towards us.
As to suffering being necessary and proportional to a later GF payoff. The 2016 film ‘Lion‘ based on the true story of a 5 year old Indian boy who gets separated from his family and home is a great example. The story of Nelson Mandela, and his later life glorious non-retribution life, is another example.
How do you make sense of your own suffering?