title pain
pain
(Isaiah 53:3-7, Romans 5:3-8)
May 29, 2011 Sunday Service Witness of the Word
Kang Kyung-hee's sister
I wanted to share a word about pain. This is because I vaguely thought that the order of my witnessing was during the Passion period. However, we have already spent the Holy Week rethinking the meaning of the suffering of the cross, and Easter Sunday has arrived, and today is the beautiful last Sunday of May. But today I would like to speak again on the topic of pain.
“Pain” is a really uncomfortable word, one you want to avoid, one you don't want to think about. The brothers and sisters here will probably like the positive stories of love, blessings, gratitude, eternal life, salvation, peace, and victory more. I confess here that I hate and fear “pain” more than anyone else.
We instinctively have a fear of “pain”. The negative feeling of “pain” is probably because of the pain we are experiencing right now. Or, it may be a natural reaction to avoid the experience of being recalled as much as possible because the scars remain from the pain experienced in the past.
So, the story of pain I want to share today is the story of the patients I met so that it is not too painful for all of us to face, and the later 150 psychiatrists around the world who studied with so much interest in guessing about 30 medical diagnoses. We would like to share about the Impressionist painter Van Gogh, his painful life, spirituality and art.
But on the other hand, we are helplessly looking at the tremendous suffering of the great earthquake and tsunami that occurred in Japan in early March, the whirlwind of the nuclear accident, terrorism, famine, war, disease, and various natural disasters that are still taking place around the world... , Moreover, even at this moment today, some words come to us because of the unpredictable pain of life, where close friends may be diagnosed with cancer, and precious family members may have an accident... I have a meeting to see if I can come.
After the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, in which an uncountable number of people were buried, I remember young secretary Shinjini giving a testimony under the title “In front of your pain”. Quoting Isaiah 53 that day, the reason Jesus suffered as a servant and was despised and despised was because of our sins, that the suffering of our neighbor was because of our sins, and that suffering was because of us, so we shared the suffering. I remember the content of the testimony of the Word at Saegil Church. What I want to share with you today is that if we are followers of Jesus, the suffering of Jesus must become our suffering, and we must meet Jesus and Christ in that suffering. You will also have to meet Jesus in your neighbor's suffering.
Suffering, pain, must be understood for both physical and psychological reasons. Objectively, there is pain and pain depending on the disease, special situation, condition, disability, etc. When it comes to physical pain, doctors often ask you to rate the pain on a scale of “0” to “10”, but as you know, pain is subjective. Chronic pain patients and doctors are always at odds with each other. This is because, in the case of chronic pain patients, there are often people who require stronger painkillers than those judged by medical diagnosis and examination. It is true that it is difficult to objectively understand the subjective pain experienced by each individual.
Although it is a common-sense conclusion, there has been an effort to scientifically prove it in an American paper recently titled “Can your pain be mine?” Brain images of the person experiencing the pain and another person viewing the person showed that the brain regions that were commonly stimulated responded to both groups, but eventually more extensive brain regions were found in those experiencing the pain directly. is said to have responded to So it can be said that pain has many subjective factors.
So will the pain. For many years, religious people seeking spirituality have sought the experience of drawing closer to God through painful refinement, temperance, and abstinence. When I was young, I grew up in a Korean Presbyterian Church. I spent my 5th and 6th grades in Busan, and I was a child who ran to church without missing a prayer meeting even in the morning when Typhoon Sara blew. One day in those days when I was truly spiritual, I made a promise to God that I would devote my life to, and as a token of that promise, I experienced the agony of injuring my arm with a needle, soaking the thread with ink. Although it was not done by anyone, he seems to think that an oath must be fulfilled only when there are painful moments. After that, I went to America and I unilaterally canceled my oath with God in a life where I just said, “It's nice to be here...”. But later, my husband, Brother Il-Young Lee, left me alone in the United States and returned to Korea in 1994, and after I returned to Korea, he continued to wander outside, and I thought that God was using Brother Il-Young Lee instead of me. . Still, because I had a sin against God, I could not complain to Brother Il-Young Lee or to God.
There are people who commit suicide. There is a martyr's reason, such as “if you die, you will die”, and there are also cases where you go beyond self-harm to achieve justice and even commit suicide. On the other hand, some adolescents and young people use knives or cigarettes to injure their wrists and body, which they believe reduces mental and physical pain. It was mentioned in the testimony of Brother Yoon Yeo in last January, but it may be a phenomenon caused by endorphins that appear in moments of pain. On the other hand, the pain experienced by self-injury awakens emotions from the paralyzed state that has become numb and makes you feel alive.
These self-harm and suicidal behaviors may have complex causes, such as mental illness, but many people try to free themselves from suffering, such as anger, shame, despair, and guilt, both externally and internally. And this is a kind of signal for help.
At the US military hospital where I work, I meet a lot of people who suffer from <Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome>, which occurs especially after going to war.
On May 7th, I happened to be watching TV and KBS aired a documentary about <Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome>. Many of you must have seen it. The broadcast depicts the suffering of people due to the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island, the sinking of the Cheonan, the dismissal of Ssangyong Motor, the Daegu subway disaster, firefighters, and domestic violence through various examples. 5