What is the Purpose of Suffering?

Coastal village in Sumatra destroyed by 2004 tsunami (photo from U.S. Federal Government)

Passage from Elie Wiesel’s book Night that Addresses this Question

Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, that turned my life into one long night seven times sealed.
Never shall I forget that smoke.
Never shall I forget the small faces of the children whose bodies I saw transformed into smoke under a silent sky.
Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith for ever.
Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence that deprived me for all eternity of the desire to live.
Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes.
Never shall I forget those things, even were I condemned to live
as long as God Himself.
Never.

Wiesel, Elie. Night (New York: Dell Publishing, 1978), 240.

Crematoria ovens at Auschwitz extermination camp in Poland. 

Take a Look at My Other Similar Articles that Ask Hard Questions

Why Is There Anything But Nothing?

Is It Possible to Believe in Any Religion As the Literal Truth?

About Me

Books are my “church” in that they help to satisfy my need to explore the mystery of life. At their best, words keep pace with the questions of life, honoring their depth and sincerity, without giving pat, flat answers.

I consider myself a mystical agnostic. This is a term that I am borrowing from Karen Armstrong’s fascinating book A History of God: The 4,000 Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. I have struggled with the hard questions and come to the conclusion that agnosticism is the only truly authentic position I can claim. I do not “know” the answers to the grand mysteries of life. The mystical component describes my intense interest in religions, spirituality, and mysticism as a path to experience the spirituality latent in the self.

by austinevan