Suffering and Meaning - Part 2

I recently read an article by William lane Craig, in which he writes,

"There are certain aspects of reality that we encounter in our experience of the world that suggest that the physical world is not all there is. These serve as signposts of transcendence, pointing us to a reality beyond the physical world."

Isn't this indeed true? Especially with regard to those unanswered sufferings that I was talking about? I believe that those sufferings are indeed pointing us to a reality beyond the physical world.

So, as I have mentioned earlier, we should not allow that question of sufferings to puzzle us. We can also see it as something that drives us to explore new dimensions in our search. A dimension from which we can find meaning and relief to all those unanswered sufferings. I think it's good to bring the words of someone who found meaning from horrifying experiences in a nazi concentration camp; someone who lost his loved ones in the gas chambers of Auschwitz. The following are some of the lines from Vikter frankl's book "Man's search for meaning":

"𝘐𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘯’𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥; 𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳? 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵, 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩, 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘱 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘴."

I can understand that some of us will likely dismiss this concept of a higher dimension by considering it merely as a consequence of the "superstitious" tendency of the human minds. To me, yes, it's indeed a superstition, but a superstition far more real and reliable than the superstition in a meaningless life that tries to escape from the hard reality of those unanswered sufferings that surround us.

So, as we acknowledge the reality of our difficult experiences and the limitations in our intelluctual capacities to comprehend them, we are necessitated to continue our search, for a meaning that transcends this worldly life, that is, beyond our death. This is precisely the point where I would say the role of theology comes in to these discussions. Because, the moment you realize the inevitable need for a higher meaning that extends beyond the physical world, you will be also inclined to search for a source behind that higher meaning. And that source cannot be some abstract objects, lacking mind or consciousness. Because, such things can't cause anything by themselves. The higher meaning that we were searching for, has to be a part of the divine wisdom coming from an omniscient (infinitely knowledgable) being. And to proceed further in our search, that is to know and understand more about that divine wisdom, you will unavoidably seek the help of the vast theological discussions out there. I am now reminded of a verse of a parable from my holy text:

𝘚𝘢𝘺, “𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 [w𝘪𝘴𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 si𝘨𝘯𝘴] 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘩𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘞𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 [𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘢𝘭] 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵.”

So, I think to be sincere with our life we will have to acknowledge our necessity to rely upon a good higher meaning from an omniscient God who possesses the knowledge of the unseen. We will have to believe in the divine wisdom that opens for us a new dimension which will fulfill the meaning and relief for our unanswered sufferings.

In brief, my point is that suffering indeed comes with a meaning. All we need to do is to strive for that meaning by grounding our trust in the One who is the ultimate cause of everything. The more you strive for meaning, the more you will be grateful for this life, the more you will recognise the blessings of this life, the more you will value and appreciate even the minute acheivements in your life that you have never recognized before, the more you will realize your responsibility towards those who surround you in your life, the more you will think about the role you have to take in the relief of others' sufferings, the more you will experience your inner happiness and peace as an unintended outcome, the more you will be able to turn even the worse adversities of your life into something to your advantage, and importantly, the more you will fulfill your meaning.

You will always be in a state of gratitude then, not in a state of suffering...