The Problem of Pain

As I blogged about a few months ago I am reading a daily devotional that has portions of C.S. Lewis' work each day. I happen to be a huge fan of C. S. Lewis, and so when my mom saw it she knew I would love it. It's not often that is presented that day of what he wrote doesn't turn on a lightbulb, as it were, in some way, but there are a few days, where when I read it it's like somebody turned on floodlights. And today was one of them, so I figured I would share.

This is from 'The Problem of Pain' discusses the often asked question of 'why would an all knowing and all loving God allow people to experience pain and suffering.' It's a question most everyone has asked, and few have bothered to really answer - chalking it up to 'only God knows' or 'God has a plan' - which while all well and good, doesn't really teach you anything about the whole process, which in my opinion (and as it turns out C.S. Lewis') is the whole point. And so for 176 pages he discusses this one question. The thing I love so much about C.S. Lewis is his honestly. Multiple times he says something profound and then follows it up by saying something along the lines of now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it doesn't hurt or that it seems fair, I've experienced my fair share and I most certainly haven't acted the way I should, but I'm just telling you what I've learned in hopes it helps you understand. In my opinion, it's the only reasonable way to address someone else's pain - try to help, but don't try to pretend you know what they feel or that you can fix it. Only God can anyway, so don't hurt them more by pretending you can. But I digress, for what it's worth here is what I read this morning...hopefully it helps you understand a bit as well. As a preface I will say that leading up to this excerpt he has been talking about the products of suffering and pain - all of which are not bad IF the person experiencing it chooses that to be the case. He now flips to talk about the person 'producing' the pain.

"A merciful man aims at his neighbour's good and so does 'God's will', consciously co-operating with 'the simple good'. A cruel man oppresses his neighbor, and so does simple evil. But in doing such evil, he is used by God, without his own knowledge or consent, to produce the complex good - so that the first man serves God as a son, and the second as a tool. For you will certainly carry out God's purpose, however you act, but it makes a difference to you whether you serve like Judas or like John. The whole system is, so to speak, calculated for the clash between good men and bad men, and the good fruits of fortitude, patience, pity, and forgiveness for which the cruel man is permitted to be cruel, presuppose that the good man ordinarily continues to seek simple good...To turn this into a general charter for afflicting humanity 'because affliction is good for them' is not indeed to break the Divine scheme but to volunteer for the post of Satan within that scheme. If you do his work, you must be prepared for his wages."