Suffering = Knowledge?

[Lydia Banales]

Being a good little Catholic girl, I was raised with the concept of
"offering it up". The objective was to offer up my pain, suffering,
difficulties, for the benefit of the souls in Purgatory (those who had
died but still had to "make up" for their sins by suffering in Purgatory
for a time before they were allowed to enter Heaven.). I think this
concept must go back a lot further than 1200 because people have been
walking pilgrimages for a lot longer than that. Many of the Saints were
honored because they "suffered in silence" or offered their sufferings
for the benefit of others. Lydia

Richard Ferguson wrote:

>I was thinking about the question of suffering in terms of whether or not it is important or
>essential in terms of getting something out of the Camino.  I used to say that one should be
>able to learn without suffering, by reading a book or listening to someone talk, or any of a
>dozen other ways.  I have kind of an intelectual resistance to saying that suffering is essential
>for learning.  Yet on the other hand, the most important thing that I learned on the camino was
>in response to two hard days on the trail.  I don't think that I would have learned it if I had not
>made mistakes, got lost, got discouraged, and got tired and footsore.  So maybe suffering is
>important for real knowledge.  At some level, I learned it on the trail, but it took me 6 months
>after I got home to realize the full signifance of what I learned.
>
>However, I don't think that it is wise or beneficial to pursue suffering for it's own sake.  The idea
>of self-flagelation (literally) and other bodily mortifications is kind of a Spanish invention, that
>dates back to 1200 or so, and not part of original Christanity, according to a Spanish professor
>whose long essay I read in a Sunday newspaper while I was on pilgrimage.  Some of the holy
>week and other processions in Spain, Mexico, and other places have people engaging in
>self-flagelation, going long distances on their knees, and other voluntary forms of suffering.
>Real life provides enough suffering without us having to look for it, especially if one tries to do
>hard things such as walking hundreds of kilometers.
>
>Vaya con Dios,
>
>Richard
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