The document presents various metaphors for understanding and dealing with suffering: 1) Suffering can be seen as a test that strengthens one's character or as a process of purification that removes impurities. 2) It can transform one into a stronger, better version like diamonds form from charcoal or help achieve greater glory later in life. 3) Suffering provides opportunities for reflection, change, and spiritual growth if embraced rather than resisted.

1. Metaphors
for dealing with sufferings
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2. Test
When you write competitive exams
such as IAS, IIT, IIM, you are prepared
to study very hard. If you score high,
you are rewarded very well. Take
suffering as a test to prove your
worth. You will cherish those
moments of trials later.
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3. Purification
Suffering is purification like gold
heated in kiln. Impurities are burned
away and what remains is pure gold,
which is whole, acceptable and
precious to the creator. God is holy
and he expects you to be holy.
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4. Cleaning and Healing
When you are injured, nurses may
wash your skin with a disinfectant such
as Dettol. Impurities are washed away.
Pain is just a predecessor for healing.
Suffering can remove your ego and heal
the mind.
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5. Transformation to a diamond
Charcoal becomes diamond under
intense heat and pressure. Similarly
sufferings make you a sparkling
diamond when you surrender yourself
to God. If you want to become a
diamond, why resist sufferings?
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6. Quarry
Life is a quarry – you will always find
some people breaking the rock, drilling,
firing, hitting, breaking into small
pieces, etc. But finally, the rock reaches
various places and transforms into
magnificent edifices. Similarly, God
moulds us into our true magnificence,
using people around us. Suffering is a
part of the polishing he does.
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7. Gateway to glory
There are several people who got
transformed after going through an
intense pain or a period of suffering.
Suffering is the gateway to grace and
glory. Who are your heroes? How did
they gain their inner strength? How did
they respond to their challenges and
sufferings?
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8. Oyster Pearl (Muthuchippi)
We can respond to suffering in many ways:
ignore, protest, accept or transform. When
a grain of sand or particle goes inside an
oyster, it is irritated, but accepts the reality.
In order to protect itself from irritation, the
oyster will quickly begin covering the
uninvited visitor with layers of nacre, until
the iridescent gem is formed. It transforms
an unfavourable situation into a precious
gem.
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9. Giving medicine to a child
Child may not like a medicine, but
parents administer medicine even by
force, because it is required for their
well-being. Similarly God allows certain
sufferings to his beloved ones, because
it is life-saving.
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10. Doctor performing a surgery
Imagine a Doctor operating a patient
for appendicitis; it creates pain, but is
necessary. Period of suffering is a time
to reflect, repent and to take course
correction; also a time to get rid of the
causes of pain.
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11. Life Jacket
Sometimes people may become
complacent, lose their vigilance,
become arrogant, get into bad habits,
or may do evil things. This may make
them spiral down in deep water. On the
way, they may face a painful
experience, which will force them to
take a course correction. Here, the
associated pain becomes their life
jacket.
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12. Bouncing ball
Imagine yourself as a bouncing ball,
who can bounce back from any
calamities or challenges. The harder
you are hit, the higher you will rise.
Recall your true magnificence.
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13. Gift/treasure
Christian suffering is not a curse, but a
gift of God. It gives you new
experiences, it strengthens you, it
teaches you new lessons, it helps you
experience God, and it enhances your
ability to take pain for a great cause.
The experiences you gain during
suffering are treasures indeed!
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14. Fly banging a window
When you face the same problem again
and again, know that it is time to
change the strategy to deal with the
problem. You don't want to be like the
fly that keeps banging itself against the
window, trying to get through the glass.
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15. Changing seasons
We all have ups and downs in life. Compare
this to the changing of seasons. No season
lasts forever because all of life is a cycle of
planting, reaping, resting, and renewal. So
make the best use of each season. Use
painful times to clean the clutters, learn
new things, develop new skills, try new
ideas, gain strength, pray, move closer to
God, grow spiritually, and so on.
Remember ‘This shall too pass’.
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16. Life is an adventurous journey
Life is like a river flowing. What makes a
river beautiful: the rocks, waterfalls,
the whirlpool, the white bubbles, the
ups and downs, the uneven banks,.. . In
a way, it is the challenges and sufferings
that make our life exciting and
beautiful. It is in suffering that we
experience deep love.
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17. Power House
During suffering a lot of emotional energy
is released. It is possible to harness this
energy for useful purposes. A river flood
may be damaging, but when it is
channelled with a dam and a power house,
it generates useful electricity and irrigates
land. For converting suffering into
blessings, you need to simply surrender
your pain to God and pray for your
intention.
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18. Signal of life
A woman goes through pains/disturbances
during pregnancy, indicating life in her womb.
Christian suffering is a signal that Jesus lives in
you. Here you accept reality as it is, without
complaints and feeling detached; you let go
of any hurt feelings; you trust God that he
loves you, cares you and guides you; you will
feel gratitude even for the sufferings. You see
suffering as an opportunity to glorify God. You
become closer to God and start experiencing
his presence with more intensity.
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19. Currency to acquire greatness
Suffering is the currency with which you acquire greatness.
No pain, No gain. Christian suffering is a privilege. Once
you start embrace suffering, suffering may not exist as we
understand it today, instead it will be joy. Every intense
pleasure/joy is preceded by a pain. Ex., delivering a child,
delivering a project, winning a prestigious competitive
exam, acing an interview, publishing a book, delivering a
speech, releasing an art work, starting a business, an act of
self-discipline (ex. fasting), long periods of separation
followed by an intimate hug. In fact, you may observe, the
more pain you embrace, the more pleasure you will have;
the reverse is also true, the more pleasure you chase, the
more pain you will invite.
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20. Embrace suffering
Don’t worry, by embracing suffering you will not get
more sufferings, but your attitude towards suffering
will change and you will start associating useful,
interesting meaning to it. That will give you strength to
pass through the period of suffering gracefully. People
with spiritual gifts usually have a ‘suffering’ as their
companion. Saints such as Sr. Alphonsa of
Bharananganam used to pray for more sufferings than
what she had; a lot of people have found inspiration
from her life and her place has become a pilgrim
centre.
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21. How to leverage suffering
Take suffering as a cleaning and
strengthening process. Suffering gives you
opportunities for purifying your mind,
forgiving, healing inner wounds, dropping
ego, gaining inner strength, focus,
innovation, learning lessons, success,
greatness and so on. It is a GIFT of God. So
convert suffering into gems/value for
yourself and others; use it for experiencing
God’s love, care and power.
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