Suffering

A recent satirical article featured alternative titles for Western literary classics. For example, Plato's "The Trial and Death of Socrates" became: "Athens Kills Its Best Unemployed Wise Ass." I love it.

Plato

When not being rebranded, Plato finds himself being misattributed. Turns out it was Philo of Alexandria, not Plato, who once uttered: "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle." Regardless of its correct author, I wager this sentiment rings true for all of its hearers. It certainly speaks to the moving lay-led service this past Sunday, which showcased personal testimony about the emotional complexity of compassion. Amy Kavadlo probed: how do we extend compassion to the inconsiderate? Joe Ayoub added: what happens when compassion leads us to murder? And Jennifer Mulqueen exhorted listeners to find spaces in their life to openly share and collectively hold their great battles.

American pragmatist philosopher Cornel West writes that the condition of truth is to allow suffering to speak. Just as the jazz musician leans into the minor keys, so too the truth-teller must attend to the great battles that all of us wage deep within.

Others would dispute this claim, however, citing its fetish for the tragic. How often I have encountered the warning: don't release negative energy into the universe. Positive thinking, we're told, can serve as a powerful prescription, even if merely a placebo.

What role does suffering play in your worldview? Please: continue the conversation.