other peoples pain

I have been told that the most intense pain one can endure comes from passing a kidney stone. But nobody writes about it. There are no psalms crying out to God about kidney stones. There are no Carly Simon or Hank Williams songs about stubbed toes.

The thing that folks write about is emotional pain. At most there are comparisons to physical pain. When a singer claims something cuts like a knife, he is typically whining about the end of a relationship. There are all kinds of somebody done somebody wrong songs.

So, I guess that physical healing does not require the spiritual attention that expressing pain provides. And conversely, that emotional healing is definitely aided by talking about it.

The reason this all comes to mind: June 3 post on echotig.blogspot.com

My beautiful bride goes through this pain each year. Some times it hurts more than others. What amazes me is: this takes precedence over other things that I believed to be a bigger deal. I am relegated to bystander status. I want to help but, I really can’t do much. The onus is hers and I can’t carry it for her. We can’t take away somebody else’s pain. Not when it is your wife, not when it is your children.

This is why we sing pain songs. This is why the psalms are all about pain. This is the reason there are so many blogs. We need to communicate pain. We are relieved by letting it out. We are comforted by those who empathize.

I have mentioned the psalms a few times here. The psalms are much more than a reminder that we are not alone in suffering. The psalms are a reminder to express ourselves to our creator. 150 terrific reminders that God wants to hear from us under any and all circumstances. If you are not religious, and you spend any of your suffering time reading the psalms, you will become a religious person. It works every time it’s tried.

The other thing about this sharing of pain: it works. I’m going to spend a little time with my wife now. And she isn’t even sad. In fact, she is happy. I guess joy does come in the morning.