Yet, we all complain. Put together any small number of our fellow citizens, and what do we do? Invariably, we complain. We are disappointed with our leaders. We are "up to here" with the issues we have to face, questions we have to answer, and inconveniences we have to endure on a daily basis. We suffer and complain, suffer and complain in an unending cycle.
That cycle has to break. We can start breaking it only if we look at suffering in the eye.
First and foremost, we must realize that suffering comes naturally. It comes in many different ways into each day of our life. It is embedded into every aspect of life. From the time we get up in the morning until we retire for the night, we are confronted with challenges, big and small, that test our souls. Since suffering is an integral part of life, then we have to learn to deal with it as a matter of course.
But how? The answer has to be: By taking it, when and as it comes, as a cross, one that we embrace and carry with love and grace. Instead of trying to shoo it away – something we would never succeed doing in any case – we should just bear it, move on, and grin. Instead of focusing on the weight of the cross, we should be looking at the value of the cross, if we carry it with love. Instead of complaining about the pinpricks we get from the thorns, we should be admiring the color and the beauty of the roses.
The value of suffering is in fact considerable. It strengthens us. It toughens us up. It prepares us for the grand battle of life itself. Instead of remaining soft and carefree, we end up robust and battle-ready. We become conscious of the many struggles we have to fight and win in life. We thereby get armed for struggle, becoming much more selfless as individuals and responsible as citizens.
Moreover, selflessness and responsibility would make us face up to the root causes of our sufferings. Many of them can and should be uprooted, particularly greed, lust, pride, self-centeredness and lack of concern for the others and for our society. Through active and passive self-denial, or more positively through an assertive and operative love for country and people, we can begin doing as much good as possible even in the most ordinary circumstances of our life. Suffering would still come our way, but it would always be turned into an opportunity for righting what is wrong, cleaning up what is dirty, and atoning for what is sinful.
Suffering then becomes our pathway towards clearing up the mess, facing up to our problems as a people, improving the over-all environment of our country, and even lifting up the level of our culture.
