Keep your words. This pain is no life. You only feel pain because you're alive, boy! the keeper thundered. This is the mystery of it. Life is lived on the ragged edge of the cliff. Fall off and you might die, but run from it and you are already dead!

Suffering is an oxymoron. There is unfathomable peace and satisfaction in suffering for Christ. It is as though you have searched endlessly for your purpose in life and now found it in the most unexpected place: In the death of your flesh. It is certainly a moment worth of laughter and dance. And in the end it is not suffering at all. The apostle Paul recommended that we find joy in it. Was he mad?

You want to forget your pain. I mean to tell you that doing that will only cause you more hurt. - Khai

Pain was not God's plan for this life. It is a reality, but it is not part of the plan." I

The problem of pain is not a nail in the coffin of Christianity; it is a crowbar that jerks the lid off the coffin and allows all who are willing to climb out of their sleep.

If you were to put all of the world's pain in one fifty-five gallon drum, it would look silly next to the mountains of gold and silver found in each moment with God. Our problem is that we rarely see past the drum — The Dance of the Dead

In this world you will have troubles," he said. "It's okay. They are all only opportunities to let go and see yourself as you truly are. Be glad, because the light has overcome and all those troubles are only shadows.

When our flesh stops trying, when it is thoroughly crushed and broken, His purposes for our lives are unhindered, and we bring true glory to His name. First Peter 2:23 (NIV) tells us, "When they hurled their insults at [Jesus], he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.

just the thought of some temporary discomfort was enough to keep him from the spiritual adventure of a lifetime.

I fell and broke my pelvic bone in three places. So, I'm still sort of an invalid now.

I did try to write in Iraq, and I failed. I think you just don't have the brain space for it.

Faith in God helped black Americans endure slavery and Jim Crow.