Nov 23 2007

Suffering?

Published by Painter of Blue at 8:39 pm under Making Art, Mysticism, St. Francis, Illness, Pain & Suffering, Spiritual Path, Scleroderma

I’ve been thinking about a comment Gartenfische left on my post exploring St. Francis’ early illness about pain being a constant, but suffering being a choice. What makes us suffer over some things and not others?

I have a condition called scleroderma which has caused my hands to contract almost into fists. However, I don’t suffer over it at all. In fact the only time I ever think of it is when people stare. On the other hand, I suffer greatly with my menstrual cycle but only for a few hours a month. The first thing effects everything I do and yet doesn’t move me, the second effects me a few hours a month and takes a huge toll.

I have to ask why? And, then, I will have to ask what I need to polish within myself to clear the way for God. My attachment to suffering is like dirt on a mirror. It keeps me from fully reflecting my Source in my life and through my art.

One Response to “Suffering?”

  1. # gartenfischeon 25 Nov 2007 at 1:04 pm

    So far behind in reading, hadn’t even found this until now. . . .

    This suffering issue is a biggie. I had a migraine last night—I’m trying to detach from the idea of pain a bit and just be with the headaches. It seems to help. A little. I get severe cramps some months, too.

    Attachment to suffering . . . I’ve thought about this a lot, too, but haven’t found my way to a real answer. Maybe my attachment to it is lessening a bit with time. I sense it is, anyway. I do feel that mine has been, to some extent, a sub-conscious self-punishment thing.

Trackback URI |