Without suffering, nobody would be able to have a working arm, and we would all be in Hell…
One of my children recently had some significant surgeries. He initially had some surgery on his teeth. And he had several teeth removed. Later, he had very extensive surgery on his shoulder to repair it after a couple of bad accidents.
While the first surgery was a much smaller surgery involving a smaller part of his body with smaller implications one would think. After all, it was the removal of some teeth, some stitches and a little bit of time eating jelly, custard and ice-cream for a week or so before he felt well enough to get back to normal. In contract, the second surgery was a much larger surgery. It involved inserting a prosthesis into his shoulder joint and complete immobilisation of the joint for six weeks and then intensive rehabilitative physiotherapy over the next six months to strengthen the joint so that he could return to normal duties within twelve months.
Clearly the second surgery was far more invasive and had far-reaching ramifications that affected my son and caused him to experience discomfort for some time…
When I asked my son which surgery was worse, he said – without hesitation – the dental surgery was far worse than the shoulder surgery. He said that though the recovery from the shoulder surgery was protracted, the dental surgery was the surgery where the discomfort was most intense.
And I have been thinking about that today as I have been thinking about Earth, Heaven, Purgatory and Hell.
You see, the dental surgery is like suffering on Earth. It is short (and sweet – so to speak). It does not last very long and does not have very far-reaching ramifications. And the result of the surgery is that though it can be uncomfortable, it is just a glimmer of discomfort in the scheme of things and does not last long.
The shoulder surgery is very different. And it reminds me of Purgatory. You see, it lasts longer and is a slower burn. Now, I know that suffering souls in Purgatory experience a suffering so intense that in our humanity and within our Earthly bodies we cannot fathom, such suffering, but their suffering is extended. And just as the shoulder surgery required rehabilitation afterwards to strengthen the joint, a soul in Purgatory is required to become sanctified by suffering and purification so that it can be clean enough (purified and sanctified enough) for Heaven...
And then there is Hell itself… In Hell the suffering soul is like my son if he never had surgery to repair his shoulder… He would continue to suffer permanently because he would be unable to ever use the arm properly because the shoulder would not work anymore…
And I have been thinking about this today, because it seems that suffering is a terrible thing at the time, but it serves such a good purpose. And without suffering, nobody would be able to have a working arm, and we would all be in Hell…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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