The book The Fellowship of the Suffering, cowritten by myself and Dave Ripper, releases tomorrow (May 15th). In light of this, here is a humorous but poignant prayer for a pain-free life written by my very creative colleague Jonny Abraham from Delhi, India. He reflects our human desire to escape tough times if at all possible.
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Dear Lord,
I have a somewhat strange proposal. But I think that when considered, you will find my rationality very reasonable. Lord, I know that we as Christians must share in the sufferings of Christ. I know that one of the unavoidable things about life is suffering. I also know that although you may not actually cause the suffering, you use it for the benefit of your kingdom. Natural disasters, broken relationships, persecution, financial and professional struggles as well as sickness and death will come.
But, Lord, could you make my life an exception? I’d really prefer if I didn’t have to suffer all that much. A more peaceful, hassle-free life without too many struggles would be nice. My proposal is as follows: If I find other ways to sanctify myself, could you perhaps allow me to miss the pain and suffering part of life?
I’d like to summarize, at the risk of being wrong, what I know are some of causes for suffering and show you how I could be sanctified by alternate means. The first reason I know is that we live in a fallen world and sin reigns in the hearts of men. That is, we suffer because we or others have been selfish and sinful. Although I cannot take responsible for others, I can take responsibility for myself. With your help Lord, like Job I can consciously commit to flee from the indulgences of sex, money and power that encroach on your good will. That would just leave the sin of others to worry about. To compensate for their sinfulness I could volunteer with the oppressed, impoverished and downtrodden. That way I would see the plight of wickedness and fight it tooth and nail without experiencing it myself.
Secondly, suffering could also come as some type of trial, test or discipline. We could suffer because you test our heart to see if it matches our words. I wish to also use others as a way out of such suffering. I could counsel on a regular basis those who are being tested and sympathize, empathize and pray for them. I could then take their difficulties and ask my wife to test me at an unknown time whether I really trust you. For example, to see whether I trust you for food she could covertly remove anything with sustenance from our house to see how I respond. She could even temporarily give me only an unworkable sum of money every day and test my reaction. This way any suffering could be minimal and effective at the same time.
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Lastly, there are reasons for suffering that we cannot possible know or understand. This reasoning is the trickiest because I cannot know how you are working through the suffering and therefore cannot preempt a proper response. It is interesting to note here how you did not actually give Job an answer to his question ‘Why?’ You did ask him a lot of questions about nature in response though. You said things like “Who has let the wild donkey go free?” and “The wings of the ostrich wave proudly but are they the pinions and plumage of love?” I think I know what you are getting at. You wanted him to endure and trust and know that you are sovereign. He probably never knew in his lifetime that his story would become an example for the solace to millions of suffering people. But he did seem to realize, through your nature questions, that your wisdom and care is far beyond our own.
To learn the lesson of suffering we cannot understand, I will not seek to understand anything; I will simply look to nature and bath in its wonder and awe. I can spend regular retreats in the wild, searching out things that are too wonderful for me. I’ll study the ants, the ostriches, and the mountain goats and gaze the beauty of life. I must admit, Lord, I did have such an experience of awe recently when my daughter was born. The moment she came out I had a deep sense of beauty and wonder where simultaneously wanted to shrivel up in amazement and shout out in joy. Nature will humble me into realizing that there are many things that are too wonderful to fathom. I’ll understand that while ‘why?’ is not the right question, and dwell on ‘wow’ as the answer.
So, I think I have covered all my bases Lord. I’ll learn my all my lessons in a controlled environment where I don’t have to suffer and life will be a breeze. I think you’ll find my reasoning quite good. What I am really asking, Lord, is to if can suffer just a little less? Of course, I have nothing to offer you in return. Only that I will try and learn the right lessons. Strangely, I am now realizing that my argument does not seem very persuading.
Ok, God, how about I suffer but only over a short period of time? If it could all be within a short stretch then the rest of my life could be hassle free. If the suffering was condensed and I knew it was for a short time that would not be as bad. I have just realized that in the scale of eternity our life is a very short time so that argument may back fire on itself. But what I mean is that there is so much to enjoy on this earth and it would be a shame if so much of life was spent in misery.
Lord, I know my requests might seem a little strange but, since I am asking, would it be possible if you could keep my family from suffering also? Also, If you could keep my immediate family from pain that would be nice. Why not throw in my extended family too? I believe some of my friends would thrive in a suffering-free environment, but I’ll let that be up to your discretion. Just one more request Lord: if you could reply to this letter with either a very deep, audible voice, or by turning the clouds into letters, those would be the best communication methods.
Yours gratefully,
Jonathan
