Have a Good Friday

When I was a young girl I thought suffering was a result of sin or it was merely unfair and unjust.
      then I became a NeoPagan

When I was a NeoPagan I saw suffering and thought it was due to a lack of growth or perhaps a faulty state of mind. I saw the voluntary suffering of shamans as interesting and as a possible path for personal growth. I saw the voluntary sufferings of Catholic as comical and small-minded.
     then I became a Catholic

As a Catholic I see that suffering is inevitable. In a way that can't be explained in a short post, it comes from that original rebellion against God, Who is Goodness. This fall of ours and of the rebellious angels rent the fabric of nature and produced suffering. We endure suffering that already exists and perpetuate suffering through our continued rebellion. However, suffering can redeem us. Through suffering we grow. Those shamans really were on to something.

Here is a video explaining the existence of evil in a world created by an all good God. It is an analogy between heat and God. Heat exists. Cold is the lack of heat. God exists. Evil is merely the lack of God. This video doesn't prove the existence of God. Instead, it shows how the existence of evil does not disprove Him.

Although probably not attributable to Albert Einstein as is claimed, I still like this explanation. It suits the scientist in me.