Nougat 7

One of the challenges of my job is the access to examples of human suffering imposed by us on others. And even more painful at times, is my impotence (real or perceived) to undo the impact of these actions on others. Today’s Holy Nougat invites us to think about suffering as a sign of the End Times.

“There will be great suffering such as the world has never before seen and will never again see.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭24‬:‭21‬ ‭CEB‬‬

Suffering like never before

Suffering comes in various shapes and sizes, even different intensities. We might readily think about the impact of the Climate Crisis – heat waves that cost lives, rising sea levels re/claiming whole nations, increased disasters such as hurricanes, typhoons, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions – which leaves death and devastation in its wake. For some of us, suffering looks more like the impact of conflict (personal, national and global) on our lives and livelihood. There is of course suffering that may result from personal experience, be it physical, mental, financial, emotional, or spiritual.

And when we have such experiences, it is not impossible to find ourselves trying to figure out how to survive, who or what to trust.

What is even harder to come to grips with is the reality that oftentimes, suffering could have been avoided, provided that someone (else) was not being selfish or outrightly cruel. Just think, Japan’s idea for ‘dumping’ its nuclear waste is not to dispose of it in their own space but to use the Pacific Ocean. If it’s as inert as they say, if it’s as safe as they purport, why not keep it in their own territory instead of destroying someone else’s?

While this example seems so far removed from our reality, we may recall that further destruction of the oceans not only affects our access to potable water, but also marine life is impacted and the ripple effect on our ecosystem has not been fully measured. Closer to home is our own garbage disposal system, wherever in the world we are. How much of our garbage disposal causes suffering to our neighbors, strangers in another community and to the environment?

The technology that fuels AI is so nuanced that it has the potential to be the most important part of our lives. Yet, with all its strength and splendor it is not human. We’ve all had reason to sample some aspect of AI in our lives, albeit in different degrees. And for the most part, AI has been a blessing. Yet, there are those who have been victimized by the algorithms and the technology behind artificial intelligence.

I mention all this because it is even a challenge to differentiate between fact and manipulation. I’ve seen innocent pictures of the pope as well as gruesome factoids posing as truth, despite being given a few grains of truth woven in. We must be discerning, we must be vigilant lest we are drawn into the madness of fake news, information manipulation and direct human cruelty.

There is of course suffering resulting from the collapse of financial institutions globally. We have heard of the challenges faced by Credit Suisse, a major banking institution in Switzerland. With Switzerland being a chief financial capital of the world, the collapse has tremendous implications for our own banks. The fallout from layoffs compounded by AI replacement of several jobs has the potential to increase poverty levels, debt margins, mental health challenges and violence in one of the world’s wealthiest economies. Again, there’s the ripple effect as recession often realizes decline in charitable giving, thus many nonprofit organizations will also be impacted.

The discovery of new terminal diseases has already begun to be felt, new strains of old viruses that are resistant to current vaccines and prophylactics to counter their effects has also increased suffering. We need only think of the devastating impact of Covid-19 on the globe, in terms of physical mortality, economic decline, food insecurity, unemployment, sexual and gender-based violence, poverty, suicide, and mental health. It is a lot, and it is so easy to be overcome by the sheer volume of the various challenges to the point where we opt to retreat from society.

Our Nougat tells us that there’s more to come. It’s also likely to get worse long before ‘better’ returns. That’s why it is described as “… great suffering such as the world has never before seen and will never again see.” So what do we do now, and in the time to come?

Checking out mentally, emotionally or socially is not the solution. Neither is blaming God. For although suffering, like poverty, seems inevitable for humanity (it may be the wage of sin as per Genesis 3), it is not the final word! We may choose to be the cause of our own suffering, or another’s by way of our selfish actions and desires, but in Jesus Christ there is a way out that can keep us sane. It may not be the easiest thing to do, as we may indeed wonder why God permits this. And for that, I don’t have very satisfying answers. But there’s one thing I do know, and it’s this – Our God can sustain us through the worst right through to the very end!!

So whatever storms of suffering comes, let’s invite Jesus Christ and God’s Spirit to take us securely to the shore.