Suffering and Death: Being Grateful for My Trials

I am now reading four very spiritual books simultaneously — the Old Testament; one of the books of Baha’u’llah called The Tabernacle of Unity; “Release the Sun” by William Sears; and “Without Hesitation,” about a female Iraqi Baha’i’s experience in Abu Ghraib Prison.

Every one of these books tells true stories of deep human suffering.

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In “Release the Sun,” Mr. Sears summarizes the tumultuous history of the life of the Bab. He tells the true stories of the lives of many thousands of the Bab’s followers and how they were savagely tortured for their religious beliefs. In one of those true stories, an old man by the name of Mulla Sadiq was whipped with a thousand lashes. When the torturer stopped whipping him only because he was tired, the old man was smiling as though he was having fun, and when asked, he said: 

 I can now realise how the almighty Deliverer is able, in the twinkling of an eye, to turn pain into ease, and sorrow into gladness. Immensely exalted is His power above and beyond the idle fancy of His mortal creatures.

How does all this relate to me? Well, not much, but I have been under the weather, so to speak, for the past few days. My very low blood pressure was under 80, and yesterday, I had to take pills twice to bring it up. In this situation, I get very tired, and even eating a meal makes me more tired, which causes me to stop eating. One good thing is that my pain is not increasing too much. Praised be God! When I compare my own health and my own relative lack of suffering with a couple of my friends who are in much more serious situations than I am, I feel grateful for this much health in me — so I cannot and must not complain.

When I contemplate the severe suffering many people have had to go through in this physical stage of life, I’m so glad my own life hasn’t been scourged by extreme pain.

There is a prayer revealed by the Bab that Baha’is all over the world say when facing difficulties: “Is there any remover of difficulties save God? Say: praised be God. He is God. All are His servants, and all abide by His bidding.” 

I usually say that brief prayer nine times. After I’m finished, I always ask God that His will be done. I have never been disappointed. That little prayer, which Baha’is call “the remover of difficulties,” is so potent that even when I think of saying it, good things tend to occur. 

Miracles happen all the time to us, for us, and around us if we are willing to accept them as miraculous. Albert Einstein said: “There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.” When I choose to live as if everything is a miracle, it relieves my suffering and reminds me that miracles do happen all the time.

I truly believe in those miracles because I have seen the results with my own eyes, time and time again, even when I was denying the existence of God. Coincidently the Hospice chaplain, now my friend who visited me a couple of days ago and when we were talking, what else, about God and His goodness, shared  the two lines of the book of Psalms which spoke directly to my soul and about my life:

• Psalm 40:1: “I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.”
• Psalm 40:2: “He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.” 

What an awe-inspiring God we have — or does God have us?

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I just got a rare call from a dear friend — rare because she is very sick and has been in and out of the hospital for the past few months with a serious illness. One of my major angels has also given me a report about her situation. When I compare my own health situation with hers, I know I have absolutely no reason or right to complain. She is my hero, who bears all her painful treatment with grace and tolerance. Please, God, as this prayer from Abdu’l-Baha asks, lessen her suffering:

O Lord! Verily, we are weak; make us mighty. We are poor; assist us from the treasury of Thy munificence. We are dead; resuscitate us through the breath of the Holy Spirit. We lack patience in tests and in long-suffering; permit us to attain the lights of oneness.