Posted by Tamar on January 19, 2007, at 19:00:02
In reply to Suffering, posted by toojane on January 19, 2007, at 17:18:45
I recently read a journal article by a pdoc who was saying that spirituality is somthing that needs to be addressed in many patients/clients. He thinks it's an important aspect of health that isn't just psychological.
Having said that, I'm not sure I agree with the idea that developing an aversion to suffering is a bad thing. I also don't agree that suffering has meaning or that it purifies us. I think at times it's possible for suffering to purify us, but to me it often looks as if suffering scalds us and damages us and makes us less than the people we could be. I strongly resist the idea that anyone deserves to suffer, or that suffering is a helpful way to encounter God. My views are at odds with much of my own (Christian) tradition...
My personal view is that to be fully human we need to try to alleviate suffering rather than to embrace it. My fear is that if we accept suffering as inevitable or purifying then we will no longer be moved by the suffering of the poor or the sick or the marginalised.
I can understand to some extent that there might be some appeal in accepting what cannot be changed, and some things really cannot be changed. But I still want to change them, and for me that's what spirituality is all about: the possibility of change.
Just my two cents.
Tamar
poster:Tamar
thread:724132
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20070119/msgs/724162.html