Do Americans Really Know What Suffering Is?

Do Americans really know what suffering is? Its clear Phillip Yancey is troubled with the way suffering is viewed in the United States. college students about their issues with Christianity they reversed it toward pain and suffering and how GOD allow wars to happen, and allow Christians to experience pain in-spite of prayers (1-8). The feeling of hunger, disease, and death is how they see pain and suffering. Which their answers helps him with his intent to influence his readers that pain is a gift instead of a hinder to human kind is well spoken in this passage.

He acknowledges a well- known German theologian pastor Helmut Thielickes' observation of American suffering (1). Most of their answers had to do with the loss of material things and or fixable struggles in life. With his research he agrees with the pastor concerning the way Americans have no logical knowledge of what real suffering is, as to the benefits of suffering leading to pain and how pains has a lasting effect on human life. He is very convincing with his facts from a missionary surgeon Dr. Paul Brand who leads the rehabilitation (5). Wanting to give the gift of pain to leprosy victims because of their numbness to pain, and how this leads to decay their bodies. Yancey is applaud by the alien, paradoxical concept that doesn't occur to people, when suffering and pain is look as a misfortune.

In this passage he trigger ones attention by demonstrating the advantages pain has to suffering and how suffering contributes to life. Like his fellow colleuge Dr. Brand open the eyes to those who feel pain is a disadvantage to life. leprosy has and how it slowly diminishes life. By doing so he feeds on the researchers his research and study of leprosy is very convincing. Yancey himself has experienced great pain by seeing life decay in his presence, while trying to find ways to inflict pain on these people. Administering therapy to these individuals has yet to be successful.

He uses the foundation of the GOD creation of the earth, "which brightly mirrors the handiwork of GOD sunset and rainbow; the roiling foam and spray of a dependable ocean tide (8)." In this statement he is alarming us of the benefits nature has but yet, there is a purpose for a "good thing bent." The examples he give are the sun baking African soil dry, earthquakes, tornados, typhoons that swallow city whole, volcano eruptions and yet all have a purpose. Volcanoes make islands and livable space for the thousands of human born.