Nihil Obstat

Heather King’s Theories About Suffering

“I have a theory that all addiction is, at bottom, a search for God. Think about it: the blackout–a crude form of mystical union; the willingness to sacrifice reputation, family, money, health, one’s very life–a twisted martyrdom. Sometimes I think anyone as drawn as I am to suffering would have to become a Catholic,” King writes.

“Maybe God uses even our illnesses, our compulsions, the defects we can’t fix no matter how hard we try, for the greater good. As for the wounds other people inflict upon us–maybe  he uses those most of all.”

King reminds us that “when Christ appeared to his disciples after the Resurrection, he still bore the wounds. One of  the things this seems to say is that our suffering counts.”

King articulated the spiritual dimenson of addiction perfectly.

I am still in a quantry if Catholics are drawn to suffering or if we are just accustomed to it; thanks to ever-present crucifixes, tales of saints meeting grusome ends with praise, not screams; and scary stories of the eternal torment and pain of Hell or Purgatory if saving grace slips through our fingers.  

Suffering can make us compassionate, but it can also make us cruel and manipulative.   Some sufferers use their suffering to lash out at the world and cause pain to other people, especially those close to them.

I am intrigued by her statement that Christ’s wounds survived the Resurrection.   Perhaps our wounds  help  define who we are, both in this world and the next.  What comes in through them, as well as what goes out of us.