We often try as hard as we can to avoid pain. As Christians we are called to understand that we might suffer. We are called not to turn away from this, but to accept it. To live more fully like Jesus we must be prepared to suffer. Jesus accepted the suffering that was put upon him.
I live in a society where no one wants to suffer. We avoid risk in the hope that we won’t get hurt. When I encouraged one person to peregrinate, they told me that if they did it, when they woke up in the morning their feet would hurt. This to me truly shows how much our society is afraid of pain. Even that little bit of suffering of a sore muscle turns us off.
We must understand that pain is unavoidable. I think the fear of pain is a distance from God. If you go through pain when you are far from God, it is hard. It is much easier when we are close to God. So many people have experienced suffering separated from God that they now fear suffering. So we must grow close to God and then accept suffering.