Why Is It We Suffer?

I don't want to dwell too much on family issues but I thought it would be good to describe what my dad is going through as he is recovering from pneumonia. While pneumonia is a tough to deal with if caught during your youth, catching it while you are are 82 years old could be fatal. For some reason I had peace in my mind and heart as I was visiting him in the hospital I knew he would pull out of it.

He is not just recovering from pneumonia but he is dealing with Parkinson's disease. In fact, the reason why he got pneumonia is Parkinson's is making it difficult for him to swallow and so we think he asperated on food or drink and fluid got into his lungs.

Why is it we suffer? It is said a cat has nine lives and if so, then my dad has the lives of 3 cats. He's a tough guy who has defeated the odds of death in the many times and in the many accidents he's been in. The most famous I can think of is during WWII his ship, a carrier named the USS Bismarck Sea CVE-95, in the Pacific was sunk by the Japanese and he had to tread water for 10 hours until a destroyer came by and picked him up. He didn't give up. He told me he wanted to but something made him think to keep treading.

He's tough and stubborn and proud. It's how he survived in this life. But in these latter days these attributes are more of a liability than an asset. Several years ago his health really started to deteriorate from enduring prostate cancer treatment. It must have dawned on him that man is frail and he's one of them. And then a couple years ago he started having heart complications.

It is not only health complications but he needs to make hard adjustments in life. He is not completely independent anymore. He'll likely not be able to get his driver's license renewed and he hates that. He needs more help with his healthcare. And his wife, my mom, is struggling with Alzheimer's disease for which he needs to adjust his relationship with her. This is just a lot for a man to deal with all at once.

I pray for him that he will be endowed with Wisdom from God, and an assurance of his love even in the midst of trials. Why is it we suffer?

Psalm 119:71 says, "It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees."

I had an interesting conversation with him that went like this.
Dad: The war in Iraq is for nothing. The war in Vietnam was for nothing.
Me: Yeah. I just don't see how it will stop dangerous people from blowing up innocent people. I don't think it will ever stop.
Dad: It will stop when Jesus returns.
Me: You're right! That's exactly right! Do you mind if I talk to you about God?
Dad: No, I don't mind.
Me: Are you prepared to die and leave this world?
Dad: Well, I don't know with all of done in my 82 years.
Me: Well, it's not what you've done but who you know.
Dad: Who you know?
Me: Jesus. We need to know Jesus. Not just know about him, but to know him.
Dad: You know Julius Caesar? After they crucified Jesus he washed his hands. Why did he do that?
Me: (thinking maybe it was Pontius Pilate). He couldn't find anything wrong that Jesus had done to deserve death. So he washed his hands because he felt guilty.
Dad: Then why did they crucify him?
Me: Because he was sent to the world to die as a sacrifice for your sins and mine. We have to trust in that.

In these trying times I hope and pray he sees the Lord in all this.