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Bad Reputation...

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing
with the glory that will be revealed in us. (Romans 8:18) 

          Suffering has a bad reputation at the moment. Maybe it always has. There are few who want to suffer - not really suffer. I'm no different so I'm not pointing fingers. Suffering stinks. Suffering just because you exist or because you aren't part of the "in" or "PC" crowd is really the pits. Part of the reason for the current bad reputation, I think, is that people don't have good examples for how to suffer. The good examples are out there, but people don't know about them. Instead, our minds are filled with the heroics of those who rise up against suffering and give those who inflicted the suffering a super-sized taste of their own medicine. Karma delivered the victim is the name of the game today, even among some Christians.
         We don't learn from history. Christians suffered under Roman rule for several centuries, quietly, persistently arguing for justice. They suffered so well that the Romans lost their joy in seeing them suffer. Roman bloodlust became shameful. The gladiatorial games ended. The practice of crucifixion ended. There are examples throughout history. Within the past 100 years, the early Civil Rights Movement sought justice for all Americans through civil disobedience and peaceful demonstrations, and brought about huge change for good without raising a fist. Martin Luther King, Jr. taught his followers that the suffering they endured would bring about the glory of a day in which men would be judged by the content of their character, not the color of their skin. We now celebrate a national holiday in his honor even though his dream is not yet fulfilled.
          No, it is not good to suffer, but suffering can do good. It can do more good than not suffering ever did. When it does, the suffering isn't worth comparing with the glory of the good that comes from it, by it, through it, or because of it. That good may not be seen in the lifetime of the one who suffers but though we may only see it through a glass darkly, it is worth the suffering.
         
 
 
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Birthday of Rene Theophile Laennec (Stethoscope)

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