On Suffering

The good life does not have to be an easy one, as our Blessed Lord and the saints have taught us. Pope John Paul II in his later years used to say, “The Pope must suffer.” Suffering and diminishment are not the greatest of evils but are normal ingredients in life, especially in old age. They are to be expected as elements of a full human existence.

Well into my 90th year I have been able to work productively. As I become increasingly paralyzed and unable to speak, I can identify with the many paralytics and mute persons in the Gospels, grateful for the loving and skillful care I receive and for the hope of everlasting life in Christ. If the Lord now calls me to a period of weakness, I know well that his power can be made perfect in infirmity. “Blessed be the name of the Lord!”

Cardinal Avery Dulles, S.J (1918 – 2008)

Tsunamis, Earthquakes, Typhoons and other physical phenomena have made headlines for the ruin they leave behind. Earlier in the year, the East Asian region was hit by seismic shocks; recently, Latin America was affected by other natural disasters. These catastrophes leave in their wake a trail of devastation and destruction. Families broken, lives forever lost, livelihoods ruined. It is in times like this, when we, in our emotional distress, turn up to heaven and lament, impeaching God for his inaction.

Some of us, such as me in Singapore, are luckier in that we live in places where natural calamities do not strike. But that is not to say that we are immune to suffering. Suffering in any way shape or form, is part of the complete human existence. Suffering is different things to different people. Physical pain, emotional grief, financial woes… Even the young school going child goes through some sort of suffering; in extreme cases they may be the victims of campus violence, school bullying, emotional or physical abuse; more commonly they suffer the struggle for social acceptance, loneliness, helplessness, exam stress, gender confusion, romance problems… The young child already goes through so much suffering, much more so would someone who has lived more of his life. If you have never had to bear with pain and hurt of some sort, you have never lived a human existence.

Some of the pains that others go through might seem trivial to us, but just as we all have different barometers of pain and thresholds of tolerance, so too do different people have different expectations of suffering at different points in time. When we were younger and unsure of ourselves, the constant struggle for social acceptance might plague us; slightly older, we might define suffering with romantic issues; progressing into work life, suffering might be financial; even older we might redefine pain as loneliness, uselessness of illness.

Nonetheless, while the boundaries and definitions of suffering may shift, the shared human experience never changes. This universal knowledge of pain spans all space, dimension and time, from our first ancestors to our last progeny. In a way, suffering is part of the shared human experience – it is a shared communion, a common familial covenant. It is an intricate and invaluable part of the fullness of human existence, as much as joy, pleasure and comfort.

Having said that, no rational person enjoys suffering, apart from sadist and masochist, perhaps no one in this world perversely enjoys suffering and pain in any manner. If possible anybody would want the cup of suffering to pass from them. In our modern day, however, so adverse are we to affliction that any sort of torment is bad.

Our modern world preaches a very simple gospel, suffering is bad – whatever makes us miserable is bad for us. Any situation in which we are not physically or materially happy is bad. This stems from the culture that we live in, the Instant Noodle Culture. We want something enjoyable, and we want it easily. We do not want to work for it. Despite knowing that it is bad for our long term health we still pursue and chase it because we are lazy. Hence our eyesight is trained to be myopic and bigoted, we think we are reasonable creatures but we are more swayed by our emotions than we dare to admit. We irrationally see only this world in the bicolours of pleasure and pain, and are intractable to any counter logic. There are even some religious pastors who preach what is called the Prosperity Gospel – the message that financial blessings are a sign of favour from god/the gods. It is an existence built on the flighty nature of man, a decomposable world.

If our human existence is based on man and this material world, than all the above is correct, and this merely a reflection of the times. It is not. Our life goal is only consummated by our final rest in God, and by building our faith on him.

The Animal Farm-like message, “pleasure is good, pain is bad”, is a rather contemporary concept and is based on the fashionable belief in the material world and material attainment. Grounded in the trust of only that which we can control, this new found false confidence arose from the moment man got carried away by his God-given ability to manipulate His creation.

We are now able to seed clouds to hasten or delay rain as we see fit; to genetically modify plants crops and animals to our benefit; to create life-like androids that respond to our every want and whim. In the future we might be able to screen for diseases in a child while still a foetus; to efficiently manipulate all forms of nature for our energy sources. Unfortunately, this makes us think that we can replace God, whitewashing him as superstitious hogwash, very much a situation in the movie I,Robot – where we are the robots trying to replace our creator.

However capable a created thing becomes, it is still not better than its creator. Computers have begun to mimic and learn practical things, but the precision calculation of computers makes it impossible for it to engage in philosophy which a human can. Similarly, however developed a human can become, he can have elements of his creator breathed in him but he can never surpass his creator. We can try to tame nature, but our actions eventual cause it to tame us (e.g Global Warming and its effect on islands like the Maldives, Singapore).

Belief in God and building our entire faith on His grace does not however diminish the unsavoury effects of pain. Maybe if it was a physical injury, one might recover through a miracle, but most of the time, the reality of suffering does not change whether build our house on sand or rock. And it is probably not meant to. If the pain was not meant to be ours, would God tolerate it happening to us?

What does change is our understanding of suffering.

Suffering is miserable because it mortifies our pride. In a world where we are told that we are in control, suffering takes the remote out of our hands. It gives us the true realisation of how incapable we are. It sends us crashing down from the pedestal of honour that we intemperately assign to ourselves. We are forced to realise that our idolatrous worship of ourselves is a dream, and that we are really in control of nothing. It is so horrifying precisely because we are unused to not being in control.

A loved one who runs a high fever (40°C or 110°F) will probably be hospitalised and every effort taken to bring down the temperature. Putting a cold wet cloth on them leads to torturous amounts of pain but it is important so as to drive the temperature down. The loved one will look at us in agony, sometimes not knowing why we put them through this pain. This is the situation we are in with regards to suffering. We are the sick loved one, and God is the care-giver. When we look at the situation through the eyes of a victim at the moment, we will not be able to understand why we are suffering. Only in retrospect will we understand the loving, tender care that we were given.

Sometimes suffering is also a great form of mercy. A parent does not want his child injure himself, but it does not mean that he locks the child at home and refuses to let him go to the playground. Rather he stands there watching over the child. When the child falls he goes over to comfort him. Of cause he would rather the child not hurt himself, but he lets it happen if it does. For how else will the child learn? Medicine is never nice, or palatable, but it is good for illness; Medicinal cream on a wound may hurt, by it helps heal the wound and prevent it from any infection.

Suffering could be thought of as a form of purification.  The quote below is taken from, The Little Flowers of St Francis of Assisi, Chapter 49. “…God has singular care for His children, giving them at different times now consolation, now tribulation, now prosperity, and now adversity, according to what He sees their needs to be, in order to preserve them in humility or to enkindle them in a greater desire for heavenly things.” It purifies our intentions and our motives, renewing and reminding us of our human frailty and need for God. It awakens us from our drug-induced slumber of impregnability, and points us in the right direction, as we make our pilgrimage towards Truth.

St Paul says in his second letter to the Conrinthians that, “ ⁷To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. ⁸Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Cor 12:7-10)

Admittedly, it is tremendously difficult to see God or his purifying love when he allows the obliteration of whole cities in natural disasters. It is no easier to discern His presence in the Death of a person (especially murder, or suicide) than it is to be a survivor of a ghastly fire with wretched marks as a daily reminder of the pain. It is also near impossible to see God and his love when he allows domestic violence, the innocent slaughter of young children and abuse.

Perhaps it would be help if we look at the Cross of Christ and realise that in our suffering we are taking part in the sheer burden of collective pain that He bore, making Him cry in anguish and beg for strength in the Garden of Gethsemane; the abject, crushing weight of suffering that accompanied Christ on the road to Calvary; the single, absolute redemptive effect of the agony on the Cross. Regardless of our pain, be it physical, emotional, psychological it is a sort of purifying, gently prodding us to place all our sorrow in the love of God. He is inviting us to establish a closer bond with him through suffering, “⁵For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. ⁶If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. ⁷And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.” (2 Cor 1:5-7)

Our Life’s Goal

Work, eat, and sleep. Work, eat, and sleep.

The monotony of daily life sometimes makes this existence seem extremely meaningless.  Throughout our earthly pilgrimage, we tread looking for that truth that responds to our inner desire for something to fill and make our lives whole.

This truth is difficult to find, it is something that will make us complete and happy. Whether it exists or not, we do not know but we have a conviction that it does. This is a yearning in all of us, and it manifests in many ways. It is visible in every single person.

We don’t really know where to look for it. Is it material or ideal? Some of us believe that power will make us happy; then there are some who are convinced that money brings joy; still some judge material comfort as the measure of contentment. Though less common, others believe that pain is beautiful (masochist); still others derive completion from uncontrolled sexual release. Then there are some who want to find happiness in knowledge. All these constructs are part of our human response towards that desired fulfilment and lasting joy. The concept of democracy, of equality, of freedom; the agitation for human rights, for universal suffrage; the ideals of humanism, meritocracy are similarly efforts to reach complete contentment.

Alas, searching for happiness in this material world is a futile attempt! Just as matter in nature will decompose and rot away, happiness grounded in this soil will putrefy and decay. A dream grounded in faith in the human person, is a house built on sand. In our search, we are like Prisoners of War, convincing ourselves that the mouldy rice is a glorious feast, only to be awakened by the realization that our stomach is ultimately growling for real food. It has not been filled.

A house built on sand is extremely unstable. Without deep roots to hold the sand together, our house of dreams is easily washed away by the waves of human imperfection. A house on sand may also implode on itself, leaving us stuck inside with no recourse to escape. Human answers are like a Panadol, they get rid of the pain, however soon the symptoms of illness return, and the original medicine is useless because we have developed immunity to it. Capitalism began as a move towards happiness. It resulted in socialism and communism. Feudalism and Monarchy were overthrown by Democracy and self-determination. Democracy however is “two wolves and a lamb deciding what to have for dinner” (Benjamin Franklin). All that has been done is replace a dictator with a collective dictatorship. Social justice prompts us to protect the minorities and disenfranchised, protection of the minority leads to extremist advocacy and infringement of the majority. One man-made solution leads irreversibly to another man-made problem, an unending cycle of question-asking answers.

This hunger of man can only be satisfied by faith in God; faith and belief in the omnipotent God, while the most intangible of objects, is the only real food for any person.

St Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit Order, lived his early days as a knight of the Basque royal court. In his younger life, he harboured ambitions of being a great warrior to the king and was enamoured with the ideals of chivalry and other amorous intrigues. When the French invaded the Basque region, he stepped forward to help defend his country against the “Gaul-ish” onslaught. His fortress was eventually besieged by the French, 500 Basque soldiers against thousands of French troops. Against the odds, the idealistic Ignatius met the enemy. His bravery was only conquered by the blast of canon that fractured his leg.

The French admired his bravery and gave him medical treatment in the French camp before sending him back to his home to recuperate. It was in the castle of his convalescence that he had a mythical conversion to Christianity.

His conversion was an identification of what really is our life’s goal. It was a clarification of the essence of our search in life and the true source of complete happiness. He discerned that the human condition is a probing pilgrimage for complete, lasting happiness in God.

Nothing that man constructs can last permanently. Not high political ideals, not economic glory or political might. Not material fulfilment or ecstatic intoxication. No political ideal is without its flaws, no economic might lasts forever, no political influence spans eternal. Present material satisfaction is soon taken for granted and met with ingratitude and greedier desires – we call it progress. Material things that give short shots of elation require more and more to sustain – we call it addiction. We are addicted to progress, progress towards degradable fulfilment.

The only truly lasting message is the message of proper, wholesome love. There is nothing that transcends time, space and situation but the eternal message of love. And that message is fully embodied in the phrase Deus Caritas Est, God is Love.

The recognition of God’s love for us and in us is the source of ultimate consolation. Only when we surrender ourselves completely to the all-loving and all-knowing God, and recognise that everything here on earth and in us is derived from Him, will our insatiable thirst for temporal glory be quenched.

The Little Flowers of St Francis of Assisi recount an anecdote of St Francis (founder of the Order of St Francis) on this point. I shall reproduce the text below. This is Chapter 8 of the text.

Once when Saint Francis was coming for Perugia to Santa Maria degli Angeli with Friar Leo in the winter, and the very great cold vexed him sore, he called Friar Leo, who was walking ahead of him, and spoke after this manner, “Friar Leo, although the minor friars of every land set great examples of holiness and great edification, nevertheless, write and note diligently that therein is not perfect joy.” And when St Francis had gone further, he called to him a second time, “O Friar Leo, although the minor friar should give sight to the blind, make straight the crooked, cast out devils, make the deaf to hear, and the lame to walk, and the dumb to speak, and what is the greater thing, should raise those who have been dead four days – write that therein is not perfect joy.” Going a little further, he shouted loudly, “O Friar Leo, if the minor friar knew all tongues, and all science and all Scriptures, so that he was able to prophesy and to reveal not only things to come but also the secrets of conscience and souls – write that therein is not perfect joy.” Going a little further, St Francis yet again shouted loudly, “O Friar Leo, little sheep of God, although the minor friar should speak with the tongue of angels, and knew the courses of stars and the virtues of herbs, and although all the treasures of the earth were revealed to him and he knew the virtues of birds and of fishes and of animals and of men, of trees, of stones and of roots and of waters – write that therein is not perfect joy.” And going yet further a certain space, St Francis shouted loudly, “O Friar Leo, although the minor friar should know to preach so well that he should convert all the infidels to the faith of Christ – write that therein is not perfect joy.” And this manner of speech, continuing for a full two miles, Friar Leo, with great wonder, asked and said, “Father, I pray you in the name of God to tell me wherein is perfect joy.”

St Francis answered him, “When we arrive at Santa Maria degli Angeli, soaked by the rain, and frozen by the cold, and befouled with mud, and afflicted with hunger, and knock at the door of the Place, and the doorkeeper comes in anger and says, ‘Who are you?’ and we say ‘We are two of your friars,’ and he says you are not ‘telling the truth; rather you are two lewd fellows who go about deceiving the world and robbing the alms of the poor. Get you hence,’ and he doesn’t open to us but makes us stay outside in the snow and rain, cold and hungry, until nightfall. Then if we bear such great wrong and such rebuffs patiently, without disquieting ourselves and without murmuring against him and thinks humbly and charitably that that doorkeeper really believes us to be what he has called us and that God makes him speak against us: O Friar Leo, write that here is perfect joy. And if we persevere in knocking, and he comes forth enraged and drives us away with insults and with blows, as importune rascals, saying, ‘Get you hence, vilest of petty thieves, go to the hospice. Here you shall neither eat nor lodge.’ If we shall bear this patiently and with joy and love, O Friar Leo, write that herein is perfect joy. And if, constrained by hunger and by cold and by the night, we shall continue to knock and shall call and beseech for the love of God, with great weeping, that he open to us and let us in, and he, greatly offended at that, shall say, ‘These be importune rascals. I will pay them well as they deserve,’ and come forth with a knotty club – if we shall bear all these things patiently and with cheerfulness, thinking on the suffering of Christ the blessed, which we ought to bear patiently for His love, O Friar Leo, write that here and in this is perfect joy.”

Perfect joy, is not found in us. It is not found in the gifts that we have, the skills that we hone or the abilities that display. Rather, it is bearing with any circumstance with love, grounded in God that will give us unadulterated joy. Suffering is painful, but pain is a process of purification. The purer a metal gets, the hotter it becomes. Similarly the more intense our processing becomes, the more extremely we feel the pain. This is not to say that we should give up this life and reject the world, what must die in us is the self-serving, erotic worship of ourselves. Instead we should open our hearts to everything in this world knowing that we do all this Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam, for the greater glory of God and that all that we can do comes from that fountain of all gifts.

When we surrender our pride and accept our human incapacity to be god, when we capitulate and admit that it is not the human source that can give us complete happiness, only then will be liberated from the perpetual unhappiness and discontent of this world and the pilgrimage through this world will be aided by wings from above.

“Therefore hear the conclusion, Friar Leo. Above all the graces and gifts of the Holy Spirit, which Christ grants to His friends, is that of self conquest and of willingly bearing suffering sufferings, injuries and reproaches and discomforts for the love of Christ. Now in all the other gifts of God we cannot glory, insomuch as they are not ours but come from God. This is why the Apostle says: ‘What do you have that you did not receive from God? And if you did not receive it from Him, why do you glory in it as if you had it of yourself?’ But in the cross of tribulation and of affliction we may glory, because this is our own. And therefore the Apostle says, ‘I would not glory save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.’”

The Urgent Case for ASEAN Integration – Part Three

This is the last of three posts that seeks to make the case for urgent action into ASEAN integration. This third post will provide some suggestions as list two key issues regarding implementation.

In the previous two posts, the case for integration was laid out and the possible benefits were elaborated on. Having listed the potential benefits of regional integration it is now timely to suggest some possible methods for this integration to be proceeded with.

The current ASEAN region shares Free Trade Agreements amongst the 10 nations and with a host of other groups. ASEAN also has plans for an Economic Community by 2015, which builds upon the Free Trade Agreement to include a Comprehensive Investment Area and a Single Aviation Market (Update: Following on from the Hua Hin Summit, an ASEAN Community Roadmap has already been posted on the AEAN website).

Economic integration should not stop at a common market but should go to complete economic integration. Complete economic integration means that there should be a common currency in use in the region as well as a single market. This measure will increase the common market for every nation tremendously. However, this will prove a challenge at least until the three Horse economies – middle income-high growth – of the original ASEAN 6 (Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand) transit into an Elephant economy.

At the same time, modified from the theory proposed by Bela Balassa, there should be some sort of limited regional fiscal policy. Unlike national fiscal policy, this regional fiscal policy should be a common agreement to devote a portion of their financial resources from the national pie into a particular national industry over a period of some years, so that the industry in the whole region can be developed. Regional fiscal policy ultimately does not replace a national fiscal policy. The Filipino region is rich in natural resources but suffers what is called a low-level equilibrium trap (a result of being a low income- low growth turtle economy). A regional fiscal policy could encourage Foreign Direct Investment from resource poor elephant economies (High income-low growth) such as Singapore and Brunei. This introduction could help grow the number of resource exploitation options in the Philippines, thereby lowering unemployment in the Philippines and growing the national economy; the companies themselves would obviously also benefit.

The free movement of peoples should also be encouraged. This free movement could include competitive job opportunities (with proper protection for blue collar workers) as well as lower financial barriers to entry for regional scholars as compared to those from outside the region (for example ASEAN Scholarship to study in another ASEAN country etc). Other means could be visa and passport free access across these nations such as that used in the EU.

Policing information can also be shared between nations so that the risk of terrorist attacks and cross border crime can be cut down. At the same time the joint policing of the Malacca Straits can limit pirating activity within the regional waters. The sharing of information between Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia when Mas Selamat Kastari escaped is an example. Additional information and sharing can be held between Thailand (Southern Thailand Insurgents), the Philippines (Abu Sayaff, Moro Islamic Liberation Front) and Indonesia (Jemmah Islamiah) who have been coping with cross-border terrorist insurgencies.

Implementing this needy medicine will not be easy though. It may be penicillin, but it certainly is not a panacea. Improperly managed and it might even turn out to be a Pandora’s Box.

Two challenges stand out, one in politics, the other economics. The growth of nationalism and nationalistic sentiments within the region has been strong ever since the departure of the colonial masters. All the national governments (except Thailand) have once been under colonial rule, Singapore, Malaysia, Myanmar and Brunei under the British; the Philippines under the Spanish and Americans; Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia under the French and Indonesia under the Dutch. The almost invisible national identity after the overthrow of nations has led to many national directed at building a national identity. Just recently, a diplomatic headache was caused by some controversial advertisements and comments made by the Malaysian Tourism Board and Tourism Minister, challenging the food and culture of Singapore and Indonesia. Other diplomatic disputes that fan the violence of nationalism include the Spratly Islands territorial dispute and Cambodia’s show of support for the ousted Thai Premier Thaksin Shinawatra. Singapore bashing is another trait common to the Malaysian government when the situation is local situation is not that good. The over suspicion of neighbours, as well as the xenophobic language of politicians can lead to the fear that a strong regional grouping will compromise the national identity. Fear of foreign investment will also lead to another “Shin-Corp” or “Indosat” saga, which will compromise the overall national situation. It will take a lot less intolerant rhetoric and a lot more logic for all parties to realize that any compromise of a national sovereignty is detrimental to the regional strength and national independence of any other nation.

Economic integration is also more complicated than it seems. In his book, Southeast Asia: The Long Road Ahead (2008), Dr Lim Chong Yah wrote about the spread Turtle-Horse-Elephant economies within the region. When compared to the single Market of the European Union whose main countries are all part of the elephant economy, ASEAN lags far behind. The disparity in monetary exchange rate and economic development means that full economic integration will be even tougher.

Nevertheless, these obstacles are not insurmountable. With the proper political will, these challenges must and can be overcome so that South East Asia will not more be the “Sick Man of the East”.