Into And Through Our Pain

I was recently speaking with someone about the pain and suffering they were experiencing. Not surprisingly, this person was not in a happy place. Their bouts of pain and suffering had plagued them much of their lives. Their current episode of pain and suffering was among the most intense of their entire life.

This person spoke about all the times they encountered this pain and suffering. We spoke about some of the recurring themes of their pain and suffering and what seemed to be the cause. When I asked the person what they did to alleviate any given bout of pain and suffering, they said they would try and distract themselves, do something to not experience the pain and suffering. I asked them if this practice worked for them. They said it did temporarily, but the pain and suffering would always return.

I asked the person if they ever considered going into the pain and suffering. The person said they didn’t know how to ‘go into the pain and suffering,’ and, even if they knew how, they would be too afraid.

I asked the person if they could remember doing anything in their life where they simply trusted, allowed, or surrendered. “Yes,” was the answer. The person recounted many cases in their life when they trusted something unfolding, allowed it to unfold, and surrendered in the process. I invited this person to do the same with their episodes of pain and suffering; to trust, to allow, to surrender.

I shared that their pain and suffering have something to offer them. God is in the pain and suffering, just as God is in everything (as God is omnipresent). Their very healing is in the pain and suffering. But to heal we must go into and through the pain. It may feel like we are going through hell, but your healing is in going through the hell, not in staying in it. Not entering into our pain and suffering is a recipe for staying in our hell.

It is not intuitive to go into our pain and suffering. Our tendency is to want to avoid our pain and suffering. But our pain and suffering is our soul calling out for healing. Our pain and suffering, even though not the truth of our existence, is not just an opportunity to find peace in our lives, our pain and suffering is the very pathway to find peace in our lives. It is through our pain and suffering that we are shown what peace is, how to obtain peace, and how to keep it.

Our pain and suffering are not something to be avoided. Our pain and suffering are actually something to run toward. We don’t need to seek it out. It will find us, when we are ready. Pain and suffering will find us because we are not at peace. We don’t need to seek for peace, for peace is the Truth. We do, however, need to seek for what is false; and our pain and suffering is false. We need to bring our false, or illusion, to the Truth so that it may be healed.

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Robert Meagher has been ordained as an Interfaith Minister and certified as a Sacred Attention Therapy (SAT) Therapist. Robert is the Founder and Spiritual Director for Spiritual Guidance and Co-Founder of the Center for Human Awakening.