In tribute to a great man of substance who endured and confronted suffering with silent dignity yet hid all the pain of this world in his heart with a stern smile, when life was far less than worth living for; and in praise to God for His wonder, grace and mercy to let this great man go...
This is a place in the world where palliative care is at rock bottom for the terminally ill. The sociocultural history of this place sees death as a taboo where people rarely speak about it or should 'politely' avoid to speak of it as a matter of etiquette. At this place, there is a surprising tendency for people to believe, however abstractly, that life is inherently better than death and it is therefore better to live one more day instead of giving up the ghost of our bodies prematurely a day too early. At its worst, this place can spawn twisted sense of filial piety.
The Hindu view of pain and suffering sees everything as part of karma. It is the state an individual is supposed to be in, as part of the unfolding of events based on a person's current and previous lives. What would be left to deal with are 'acceptance' and 'detachment' - acceptance of suffering as a natural consequence of karma along with the realisation that suffering is temporary and not solely negative, in order to concentrate on its so called god. Buddhism regards pain (rendered as illness, sorrow, turmoil and suffering) as a defining characteristic of human life. Pain is a part of life, as well as a physical-emotional-mental-spiritual complex that defines the nature of human existence. If a person experiences pain calmly, without becoming emotionally distressed, he or she can attain greater states of 'being'. The so called Noble Truths of pain and suffering include birth, the aging process, sickness and death. It is viewed as a power, unwanted but existent, that comes from a barrier in the last life, the cause and the effect. To 'end' the path of pain and suffering with the 'right' view, intention and act includes to see, understand and realise the Noble Truths of suffering as they really are, to reunciate and resist feelings of aversion, and to abstain from 'false' speech or action. To a certain degree, the truth in Buddhism about suffering is that it exists. Atheists, well, they when faced with pain and suffering may perhaps take pride in personal integrity, perhaps intellectual honesty, perhaps a sense of Stoicism or perhaps anything that goes.
The scriptural narrative of the bible opens with a beautiful creation story where God crafts a world of unfathomable goodness that pulsates with order, harmony, wholeness and life. Then, as eloquently put by Matt Smethurst, suffering is woven, with perplexity and pain, into the fabric of human experience since the ancient revolt in the short-lived garden of paradise. So we live and move and have our being amid Eden's wreckage and against God's creation plagued by sin, and along with it, pain and suffering. Yet, Christians can see in Christ's pain and suffering the evidence that God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit care about our pain and suffering as Christ has taken it upon himself the weight of this world to suffer on behalf of us and die for the sins of others. "The Son of God suffered unto the death, not that men might not suffer but their sufferings might be like His" - George MacDonald. Yet, C.S. Lewis opens his book The Four Loves with a simple quote from St John that "God is Love" and a key message that there is a Gift-love which comes by Grace called Charity. In the somewhat bleak and worldly analogy/example given by C.S. Lewis of this Gift-love, it would be the love that "moves a man to work and plan and save for the future well-being of his family which he will die without sharing or seeing".
So let this speak of love and sometimes, letting go is the greatest love that there is.
This piece is not founded on research or facts. Better still, take it as fictional. All moral rights (including copyright) subsisting in the work belong to the author (except to the extent quoted, referred to or otherwise subsistig in other works referred to in this piece).
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