No Pain, No Gain … Really?

I’m hurting!  Ironically, much of the pain I’ve come into contact with has resulted from the pursuit of pleasures.  My first real back strain came while playing flag football when I was in junior high.  I got hit on the side and remember having very painful back pain that shifted from the left to the right side for over a year.  I strained my back again while learning to water ski in the choppy waters of Puget Sound.  Falling forward, I had a death clutch on the rope which got violently ripped out of my hands, whipping my back and causing a real searing pain!  Then I did it again while trying to make myself nice and strong in high school … “military pressing” as much as I could over my head … and wham … back pain!  A few years ago I did it again while skiing.  When I got home I ended up in bed … and then the hospital.   Yet I persist in wanting to have fun.  I bike ride, golf, jog  … and get lower back pain.  I won’t give up.  The back pain eventually goes away, right?  Well, that’s what I keep hoping.

And now it’s sciatica … probably caused by trying to stretch for that Frisbee being carried by a capricious wind last Easter Sunday.  I felt something “roll” in my lower back and now it’s pain again … persistent, aching, jabbing, muscle weakening down the side of my left leg.  Sigh.  When will I ever learn?  What HAVE I learned from pain?  Probably not much!  I want to live!

And that’s just in the physical department.  I’m sure we could throw in all the mental kind of pain we’ve felt in trying to pass exams, get a long list of books read to please this course’s requirements or another.  Arrgh … I’ll never learn to play this instrument right.  Performance frustration!  Arrgh!  Will we ever get there … ever “graduate” … ever arrive?  Compelling life … compelling pains!

Add to this emotional pains from failed conversations, misunderstandings … self flagellations.   “I should have known better!  I should have been stronger.  I shouldn’t have said this or done that.  Why did s/he say or do that to me?  How am I going to deal with this person or that?”  Difficult situations … unsolvable emotional difficulties in others and myself, too.  Frustrating pain.  It’s real, too. 

Finally, there’s that dimension of spiritual pain that surrounds us from day to day.  Innocent people die from bombs and bullets.  Prejudice, hatred and fear add a deep collective spiritual pain to our relationships with others.  And wonder and yearn, “Why can’t people learn to get along?”  We hurt and the answers sometimes seem so painfully distant.  Jesus knew that kind of pain, too.  We’re not alone.

Is there any easy short cut to life without pain?   Bailing out doesn’t change a thing.  Deny it, postpone it, minimize it, drug it … try to fantasize it away.   No way.  Real life means facing pain and dealing with it.

And yet, when we honestly share our common heritage … there’s grace nearby.   We’re not at all alone in our pain.  God is compassionately nearby in the hearts, minds and hands of others who have gone through similar pains.  God’s wisdom is in their understanding, wisdom and compassion.  

Would you believe it’s in you, too?  Right now, since many of you know I’m hurting from sciatica, I feel your empathy.  Many of you know this kind of pain.  You offer me hope that with some therapy and patience, this too, shall pass.  I sure need that optimism!  You’re good for me.  I need that kind of love.

Can honestly sharing our pain bring us together in mutual support of one another?  Can we prayerfully respect each other’s path?  Listen, not judge … and be gentle?  Whether it’s physical, mental, emotional or spiritual pain, doesn’t God work through us … for us?   

We all want to be comfortable and happy, free from pain and enjoying all the pleasures available to body, mind and spirit.  And many things are there to enjoy!  Even in my pain this morning at the breakfast table I found the taste of the homemade bread my wife had made to be so delicious.  She came and tried pulling on my sore leg.  She tried to make me feel better.  It felt good to feel her loving touch in the midst of my pain.  Then, with my leg aching at the back door, I found myself happy when she walked out to the car to go to school yet took some extra time to look at the beautiful tulips along the driveway.  Somehow, it meant something … deeper. 

I’m so thankful when people respond to pain with those hopeful words: “I’m praying for you.  Hang in there!”  I love Lillian Schutte’s sweater which she often wore to church.  “Life is fragile.  Handle with prayer.”  I hope that through this experience I can be a bit more understanding and supportive of those who are also going through this or other forms of pain.  Pain is a determined teacher.

No pain, no gain? Well … maybe not exactly or always.  Yet when we’re embraced with love in the midst of our pain, it sure helps.

Movin’ a lot slower these days and reflecting …. Pastor Dan