This article is incredible, Kirstie Taylor . The more we feed into the societal narrative that suffering is wrong and unnatural, the more we alienate and dehumanize people who are not doing well, and the more we’ll alienate ourselves as something “unnatural.” I apologize for bringing my experience with religion into this, but I grew up mostly with a worldview that was empirical and atheist, but what drew me to Christianity a few years back is its embracing of suffering not as an unnatural thing; but something that is to be for good. I find that ok circles of faith and the ministry, it is not only celebrated but accepted to be in the place where it wasn’t wrong to suffer.

And since I was brought into the faith through the question of suffering, I want to share my favorite Bible verses, Romans 5:3–5:

“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that’s been given to us.”

‭‭Cheers,

Ryan