On Pain / You Are Precious Jewels

I remember talking with a man who had a positive relationship with pain. He told me: “I embrace pain, because it reminds that I am alive.” What an attitude to have! I could not help but be impressed. Pain is of course “not joyous, but grievous,” but the fact that one is sensate, that one is still able to feel and experience the world around them, that they are ALIVE...what great joy that is! Shall we not rather be here on earth, living the good days as well as the bad, rather than not living them at all? Every day of your life, strive to find some joy, even though you may be suffering.

Let your existence be a joy.
Let the sun in the sky be a joy.
Let the clouds covering the sun be a joy.
Let the rainforests,
dripping with moisture,
be a joy.
Let the parched desert,
baked by the fiery sun,
be a joy.
Let all the numerous things crawling
and swimming and flying,
buzzing and singing and crying,
let all of them be a joy.

Let God’s words to you be a joy,
even when you are trembling with pain,
your body alternating cold and hot,
your nerves on fire, causing you to gasp and groan,
and aches resounding in your tired bones,
let His words pierce through the veil of pain
and give your spirit relief;
may they help you to endure,
to continue on,
to see that life, no matter how hard it can be,
is something to be valued.

You are precious jewels,
my brothers, my sisters,
and you are held and appraised
in the hands of God.
How good and pleasant it is
for brothers and sisters to dwell in unity,
for you to be a treasure hoard
belonging to your heavenly Father.
Let this bond of unity
give you ever more joy,
and ever more reason to look on life
with a grateful heart.