Understanding Suffering Essay

1. FIRST RESPONSE. How did you respond to the excerpt from A SECRET SORROW and to “A Sorrowful Woman”? Do you like one more than the other? Is one of the women – Faye or Godwin’s unnamed wife – more likable than the other? Why do you think you respond the way you do to the characters and the stories – is your response intellectual, emotional, a result of authorial intent, a mix of these, or something else entirely?

'“Men have been taught that their first concern is to relieve the suffering of others. But suffering is a disease. Should one come upon it, one tries to give relief and assistance. To make that the highest test of virtue is to make suffering the most important part of life. Then man must wish to see others suffer—in order that he may be virtuous. Such is

suffering is present in the world, but also accept the fact that there is nothing we humans can

The theme of suffering will be talked about throughout this essay. Even though it isn’t the most pleasant topic to talk about, it is part of our lives. The dictionary defines suffering as “The state of undergoing pain, distress, or hardship.” This essay will examine suffering and how it shows up in different printed sources, as well as in my personal life.

Thinking about suffering is pretty frightening, now the minimum event that occurs to someone people call it suffering, but have you thought of how this was even worse in the past with racism, economic problems, and human experimental discoveries? In “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot a lot of central ideas are being formed, and one of them is suffering. Suffering is illustrated in Henrietta, Deborah, and Day. First of all, this central idea is formed in Henrietta being used for experiments and with her illness. In page forty-two Skloot states, “Henrietta knew nothing about her cells growing in laboratory.”

I believe suffering results from our separation from God. He is holy, all-powerful, all-loving, all that is good. Each day I find myself doing things that move me away from Him. Every time I sin, the world becomes a little bit worse. I can do no good thing apart from God. The more I separate myself from Him, the more likely I am to cause someone else harm or pain.

In the article “Displacing Suffering: The Reconstruction of Death in North American and Japan”, Margaret Lock’s discusses her thesis, which is to bring forward the disputes between “death” and organ transplants as conceptualized by the North American and Japanese cultures (210). The main point that she makes lies within each culture’s definition of “death”, the kinds of implications they carry, and how they impact their societies’ approaches to organ transplants. The subject of organ transplants is much broader of a topic than it initially seems, especially since the conceptualization of death determines how a culture may react to a situation where it is up to a single surgeon to determine one’s life or death. There exist many problems with organ transplants (such as legal issues, philosophical disputes, and emotional distraught), let alone the ethical disagreements concerning life and death between these two cultures of Lock’s focus.

Hi, I am Linyue Zhang who want to renewing the i-20 status. I am writing this letter for my reinstatement. Therefore, I want to explain myself cordially.

The role of suffering is one that everyone assumes at least one point in their life. I8 am lu7cky enough to say that I have yet to take on that role. Neibuhr says that people find their individuality after suffering, and I agree. I may not have dealt with suffering myself, but I know a lot of people that have.

In closing, this back of my point I talked about in the top of my paper. Suffering can happen in two ways self-inflicted or cause by someone else, or somethings. Whatever the case is we cannot get around it or do anything about it. It is a part of life like evil and

Every day people are put through unfortunate circumstances. Every day people suffer. It is something that nobody has control over. Some people embrace suffering and learn from it while others simply get lost in it. Others let it take over their lives. But what is suffering? It is important to recognize what suffering is to be able to cope with it and to learn something beneficial from it. A general definition of suffering would be a feeling of pain due to the loss of something physical. It can also go deeper. There are many people that suffer due to insults that can be emotionally draining to deal with or that are undermining to a person. It is important to not let suffering overtake your life but rather use it to learn something new and benefit from.

There are many different perspectives on suffering with regard to its meaning, significance and purposes. Pope John Paul II (1984) wrote "On the Christian Meaning of Human Suffering", that it centres on the notion of redemptive suffering - to remit one’s sins in order to save the soul from eternal suffering (damnation). Personally, I believe suffering can have a purpose. It can enrich life by giving us knowledge of both the good and the bad, arguably making us more appreciative of what we have . Indeed, James Stewart (2005) purports, "If there were no suffering, would there be compassion? If there were no discipline and hardship, would we ever learn patience and endurance? Construct a universe with no trouble in it and immediately you banish some of the finest qualities in the world."

It is essential to establish whether we have a right to decide a person’s capacity to endure suffering. The experience of suffering differs from person to person. Are there any rational ways of determining what suffering consist of for a group of people? Is it ever morally acceptable to allow a person to suffer? Do we have the right as a nation to step in to mitigate a person’s suffering?

“Suffering” is a word which carries negative connotations, used to incite pity, empathy or fear. Why would it not? Is suffering not simply agony, defined justly by the Oxford Dictionary as “the state of undergoing pain, distress, or hardship” (“Suffering)? Yet, we accept suffering as part of life, a fundamental aspect that defines living. Nietzsche tells us that the very act of living is suffering itself, but to survive is to find value in that suffering. Yet, what sort of value can be attached to an idea so negative? Pico Iyer’s editorial in the New York Times explores the value of suffering, likening suffering to passion and “[p]assion with the plight of other’s makes for ‘compassion’” (________________).I began to think upon the cohesive

Human suffering happens every day, everywhere, in many types and ways all around us. We do not always see it, but that does not mean it does not exist. When we do see it exist we commonly ask ourselves, "Does human suffering have meaning?" I can answer this question easily. Yes, it does have meaning. I can answer this because of the four readings we read. However, as I examine this question deeper I see that the four readings have different ideas on "meaning" or the reason for suffering. Looking at the definition of the verb (to) suffer, "feel or undergo pain; sustain damage or loss," we see that suffering is something that can happen because of more than one action. Each of the readings explained a different