On Understanding Pain

This piece was written originally on September 9th, 2021 on my Instagram story as a contemplation on St Athanasius' quote in his book Contra Gentes, taking into perspective how people understand pain. This post was the precursor of another post, "On Suffering and Pain" which you can find here.

Christianity never looks for what will make a person happy, for what will make me not feel pain, for what will make my problems get away Christianity never was nor will be a get rich quick scheme, a get out of jail free card, an antidepressant that suppresses pain, or a magic spell that casts away evil.

True Christianity is coming to the realization that Christ is the sole reason we are still alive after creating sins for ourselves. St Athanasius explicates this clearly in his epistle, Contra Gentes [Against the Gentiles] when he states, “Evil has not existed from the beginning. Nor even now is it found along the saints nor does it exist at all with them. But it was men who later began to conceive of it and imagine it in their own likeness” (Athanasius, Contra Gentes). This further drives a point, if our Lord Jesus truly wanted us to not be in pain, why did he himself get crucified?

Please understand something. Christianity does not take away pain. Christianity does not run away from pain. Christianity allows a person to go through hell and back and feel God's peace in their life. Christianity allows a person to be beaten and scourged and take every pain with thanksgiving and joy, counting the pain as fellowship with the crucified Christ. If you don't like pain, I get it. Neither do I. But running after other solutions and depending on them, dare I say, praying to them, is not going to help. Stop digging dry wells and run to the well of life while you still have some flame left in you to run! It is in these dark times where our pain is incomprehensible, where misery and darkness loom infinitely, where we feel most vulnerable, that we run to Christ, and He shines His light into our darkened life and restores His glory in us.