"The presence of pain is not the absence of reason."
It seems that, at a fundamental level, it is the prevailing presence of pain which tends us to madness. As if pain in us is want to beget pain in others through us; and the perceived perpetuity of pain reveals the absurdity of a hopelessly painful existence marked by a pain ever-propigating.
I believe the gospel of Jesus the Messiah is the only satisfying remedy to this. While not removing the presence of pain from existence, transforming pain into the presence of love as much as possible.
We are called to suffer together, to bear one another's burdens, and to perceive and receive the pain of others in ourselves; not multiplying pain, but sharing pain so that it's effects might be distributed and less intensified in any one of us. As a songwriter once sang, "A problem shared is a problem halved." Or, in the case of Jesus, as an inversion of the principle: the pain of the many borne in the pain of the one. (This, as Caiaphas the High Priest said, "... it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.")
This is perhaps to say we are all better off seeking to absorb pain without reproducing it, as much as God will permit in our hearts, souls, and bodies. Even so, the pain of our fallen nature in a fallen world will one day overtake us: as individuals, as families, as communities, as nations, and it seems even as a global populace. Yet, even then, there is hope that new life will emerge from the ashes of the fire, with less pain than that which overcame us; and, ultimately one day— when we see Jesus face to face, either by his arrival or our departure— the hope of all pain being removed. Yet, we know that apart from faith in the "pain-unto-death" demise and the "now-pain-free" resurrected life of Jesus the Son of God, it is not the power of a pain-free resurrection that awaits us, but rather an eternal destiny of pain without end.
So, at an existential level, the question emerges: what will we do at present with our pains? Will they be pains of travail, giving birth unto a painless world? Or will they be pains in vain, pain unto a madness of ceaseless manifold futility?
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Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
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