“Suffering”

SCRIPTURE

And not only that, but we also boast in our suffering, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. —Romans 5:3-5

DEVOTIONAL

Viktor Frankl (1905-1997) was an Austrian psychiatrist, neurologist, and Holocaust survivor. From his experience in concentration camps, Frankl developed Logotherapy, a treatment based on the theory that humanity’s ultimate motivation was to find meaning. Developing this theory and practice, Frankl wrote extensively about the role of suffering as a reality through which one could find a deeper meaning in life. I would highly recommend reading his best-known work, “Man’s Search for Meaning.” 1

In that work, Frankl talks about suffering as “relative.” He compares suffering to the behavior of gas in a tank. Whatever amount of gas occupies the tank will fill the chamber completely and evenly. “Thus,” he writes, “suffering completely fills the human soul and conscious mind, no matter whether the suffering is great or little. Therefore the ‘size’ of human suffering is absolutely relative.”

Often, when considering our own suffering, we might find refuge in the idea that “someone is suffering more than we are.” However, if suffering (no matter the amount) occupies one’s entire existence, this thought may overlook, if not minimize, the very real impact that suffering (“great or little”) has on us. The human soul, according to Frankl, experiences the same consuming burden when experiencing great suffering as it does when it experiences what Nouwen might describe as, “the small sufferings.” 2

1. 1. How does Frankl’s theory shed light on this idea that we “take up the cross” of Jesus?
   2. What are the sources of your suffering? What part does love play in your suffering?
   3. How might Frankl’s idea of suffering provide a path toward a deeper compassion with others who suffer in different (“great or little”) ways?

PRAYER

Lord, may we lift to you all those who suffer so that bound together, we might find relief in our kinship. Give us refuge in your love that is, more often than not, found in the arms of another. In the name of the Suffering Servant. Amen.

1 Frankl, Viktor. Man’s Search for Meaning: An Introduction to Logotherapy. Boston: Beacon Press, 1962.
2 Nouwen, Henri. Following Jesus: Finding Our Way Home in an Age of Anxiety. (New York: Image, 2024), 78.

The daily devotionals for the season of Lent are written by Rev. Dr. Kirk Hall, Associate Pastor of Formation at First Presbyterian Church from 2010-2013. He is currently a founding partner at The Metis Project, LLC. and lives with his wife and two girls in Salisbury, Connecticut.