There is a song by Garth Brooks named "The Dance." In this song he talks about pain and heartbreak. He says I could have missed the pain but I would have had to miss the dance. The point is that we all must suffer some in life so we can appreciate the good things that happen.
There are three reasons we suffer:
1. Bad choices. We make choices every minute. Some good some bad. The course of our lives is determined by the choices we make all of the time. We must live with the consequences of our choices. again good and bad.
2. Other peoples bad choices. The creator, in his wisdom, gave us what is called free agency. The agency to choose right or wrong. Good and bad. Sometimes bad choices cause the suffering of others. In order for free agency to take place we have to suffer some for others bad choices.
3. Just because. Sometimes there are bad things that happen and we can't attribute them to anyones choices. They just happen. Like the famous bumper sticker, "Stuff Happens" (cleaned up for public consumpton).
For many years I tried to find a reason for many of the bad things that happen. Especially to children. Some things happen that have deep reaching, long lasting effects on children. effects that last into adulthood. As a member of the LDS church I was often quoted a scripture found in The Doctrine and Covenants. Another blog will explain the scriptures I believe. Section 122:7 says "...all these things will give thee experience, and be for thy good." As one who suffered some long lasting childhood "bad stuff" I was not satisfied with this. Experience? For my good? It just didn't make me feel very good. It took a long time, but I think I now know what The Lord was saying in this scripture. What is it that experience does for us? It gives us understanding! Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ took on Himself all of our pain. He suffered it all. He didn't just take our sins. He took our pain, our sorrow, even all of the suffering we must endure. The experience of our own suffering gives us just a little bit of understanding of what He went through. I have an image in my head of being in the premortal life. I am pulled to the side by The Lord. He says to me, "I will take the troubles of the world on myself, but I need your help. In order for the concept of free agency to work some children will have to suffer for some peoples bad choices. Will you be one of those? It will be like you take a small part of the atonement for me". The really great news here is that He can take the pain and sorrow away if we just let Him. We suffer to understand the greatest gift of all. But the suffering is only for a moment when we truly understand this gift...the Atonement.
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