There Comes A Time
The commentary is below the poem
A Shakespearian Sonnet
There comes a time in everybody’s life
That they must question their own existence
The purpose miserable of death and Strife
In contrast pleasure must have pain to sense
If I could choose I wouldn’t be rid of bad
I know it means the destruction of good
To deny people pleasure is to sad
TO choose for all the world I never would
To love is yearning, wanting, burning greed
The pain of having, losing hard is born
Without the chance of all tormented need
Great love would not then sweeten lovers scorn
I choose to rather bear the ills of time
Then give up love and this most piteous rhyme
Self-reflection is an essential element of our growth and a way in which we experience God’s working through our lives. Much of the struggle comes around that which God leads us to which we do not want or expect. “Why does God allow pain and suffering?” is a continuous question, but too often we don’t ask, “where can this pain lead us?” There is much good that comes from pain, especially in this fallen world. To remove pain is to remove growth, longing, and relationships, which all point us towards something far greater, something we need far more.
There are a few things I should comment on from my University writing below:
1) Though the removal of pain in this life may be removed from good, we know that in the fullness of time pain and suffering to the degree we experience it will be removed, but that will be a time when we realize the growth, longing, and relationship that is only met in living with God.
2) Love as greed. Our experience of love is often consuming and desires some kind of belonging, in its worst this can be lived out in greed, isolation, and a lack, but in its best, love does not compare to greed because the longing and desire find their fruit in growing love. The love for God, though singular and unparalleled, then pours out into our love for our neighbor. Our love for a spouse or friend though singular pours out into our love for others.
3) There is something our pain is directing us to and it is important.
4) It is quite interesting, modern science tells us that our body’s chemical experience of pain and pleasure along with fear and attraction are so closely linked in their chemical experience. It may be that in our current created relational reality, they are too closely related to be separated.
