From http://www.geocities.com/three_strikes_legal/sufferings.htm
Chasing Women, Partying, Suffering
and the Purpose of Your Life
by Fritz Springmeier
"I've just wasted two hours of my life which I'll never get back," my cellie exclaimed in mock disgust as he flung the paperback novel into a corner filled with other equally trite novels.
His half-serious outburst reminded me of an important issue we all face, how to give meaning to our lives. No one wants a totally wasted life.
It doesn't take much purpose to satisfy our need for meaning in life. Give a young man a cute skirt to chase and he'll busy himself with ardor. Give a young mother a baby to care for and she'll be busy. The two sides of the survival of the species are important enough to give meaning to life.
But what happens if one is incarcerated and can't practice reproducing? Inmates frequently turn to God. It's called jailhouse conversions, and many of them are sincere until they can pursue other purposes in life.
Another circumstance that throws a glitch into our easy-to-find-a-purpose natures is when life is full of unfair suffering. The next thing we know we're asking, "Why?" "Why me?"
It doesn't seem to take much suffering to get some people questioning the entire order of the universe, or questioning themselves. "Am I a magnet for pain?" "Do I have a sign on my back that reads abuse me'?" "Why am I always unlucky and picked on?"
We walk around with the unwritten attitude, "Wasn't my purpose to pursue happiness?" "And isn't all this needless suffering getting in the way of that purpose? How can God exist and let me suffer?"
While we're on the subject of God it should be pointed out that neither the Koran nor Bible promise happiness in this life. The fruits of the Holy Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience and long-suffering, but unfortunately for Americans not happiness.
In America, we are raised to believe our purpose in life in the pursuit of happiness, including good and frequent climatic sex, status, wealth, good entertainment and wild parties. We are so steeped in this expectation that we generally have an inability to understand that many cultures don't share our simplistic hedonistic purposes in life.
While the reader might rather read an article, "How to have better sex." This article is focusing on what purpose life has if better sex is not an option, but suffering is. By suffering, I include being caged up in a jail, or hospital room because humans were not designed by God to be caged or permanently sick.
America's lusty hedonistic purpose for living makes it difficult for us to deal with suffering. In contrast, Russia has traditionally (for many centuries) not felt normal unless everyone was suffering. The two divergent views stem from different religious traditions.
How incredible is the Russian tolerance for pain and suffering? Russians are well-known for bragging about how sadistic their long history of tyrants have been. In World War II, for instance, German soldiers would witness Russian P.O.W.s with multiple severe wounds holding their guts in with one hand and limping forward peacefully without a whimper or murmur. In contrast, German soldiers with identical wounds would be crying and screaming for help. The Germans often concluded the Russians soldiers were animals because their high pain tolerance was similar to mute animals.
America's religious tradition of Protestantism taught pietism, while Russia's traditional Orthodox church taught blagochestie. Blagochestie is the Orthodox church's teaching of ardent devotion, loyalty and submission. In contrast, Protestant pietism emphasizes the individual who is to individually seek truth by Bible study, sampling churches, and making an individual decision for personal salvation. While both Russian and American have drifted from their traditional church foundations, the long-term effects of these world views continue to influence their views towards suffering. There is a marked contrast in their toleration of suffering.
There is something Biblical to the Russian view. Hebrews 5:8 says, that Christ "learned obedience by the things which He suffered." So suffering served the purpose of teaching submission. There is also a touch of this in Peter's epistle (1 Peter 4:12), "Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you." In other words, suffering is normal, expect it, deal with it and more on with your life.
Paul's first letter to Timothy (which is part of the New Testament) warns about persons who are "unholy. . .disobedient to parents. . ." (1 Timothy 3:2) and advises the reader, "Let no man despise your youth. . .Take heed to yourself. . ." (1 Timothy 4:12).
Paul's biblical advice is a far cry from the popular goal of American youth to rebel against their elders and to spend their lives partying.
Let's get real. Life is rarely one big long party. It has its hangovers. It has its suspended licenses for drunk driving. And it has its prisons and jail sentences, which slow people down and force them to rethink the meaning of their lives.
And throughout this all is the common thread of suffering. Rather than trying to futilely chase the suffering away with booze and drugs, let's see what its role is for giving meaning to our lives.
Our spiritual joy may be enhanced through suffering. Christ's suffering had a purpose. He died to save the world. He also gained worthiness through his suffering. Revelation 5 states that he was the only one "worthy to take the scroll, and open its seals, for you {Christ} were slain. . . ." No one else in history has been worthy to open and read this book (scroll) except for Christ, because of his suffering the crucifixion. Interesting.
But more often you and I suffer for our own sins and mistakes than we do for other's. But it would be another mistake to equate suffering with sin. People asked Christ why a certain man suffered blindness from birth. Christ told them that it had nothing to do with sin, but for the purpose of bringing glory to God. So our suffering may be an opportunity to glorify God. And that novel concept may add some spice to our life, when we realize that our suffering may have a diving purpose.
Have you seen the divine purpose to your life?
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