An Adventuring Sailor

Imagine that far beyond the shores of Civilisation in a remote part of the deep ocean there are two islands. One, called Paradise, has safe harbours and an idyllic natural beauty. To preserve the environment, commercial tourism has been discouraged and in keeping with this objective, the island's only radio station is low powered and the signal fades rapidly with increasing distance from its shores. Nevertheless, genuine seafaring adventurers are respected and treated well. The other island, called Hades, is very inhospitable, surrounded by jagged rocks and poor holding ground. Its inhabitants continue to practice piracy like their ancestors and sometimes use a more powerful radio transmitter that mimics Paradise Radio to lure ships to their shores so that the wrecks can be plundered. For political reasons, its existence is not officially recognised, its position is not shown on the authorised marine charts, and unofficial maps give conflicting information as to its whereabouts.

Think of being on this ocean in a sailing yacht headed for Paradise. At sea the more comfortable course is with the wind. The movement of the ship can be gentle even when the wind is strong. The more unpleasant passages entail working against the forces of nature, and in rough weather the motion can be violent, dangerous, very tiring and a real exercise in endurance. We prefer to find fair winds over safe waters, but there are no reliable forecasts for more remote areas.

Many of us set forth on the adventure of a lifetime relatively unprepared, often unsure of our own skills and the seaworthiness of our ship, not knowing with certainty which map to trust and whom to listen to. Complacency, impatience, gullibility and conflicting priorities can make us choose the wrong time to set sail, and even with the greatest diligence, we can still be blown hundreds of miles off course by a storm.

We encounter very bad weather that continues for days and, except for a simple radio receiver, our electronic navigation aids are disabled. As the waves moderate we re-establish our position as accurately as possible with the more primitive equipment that has survived the recent turmoil and find ourselves in unfamiliar waters. We restore some order and set course for Paradise again, but we have a serious predicament: We do not know the whereabouts of that other hazardous island.

The direction of the wind can change the nature of the situation. For example, the new course to Paradise might require beating against the wind all the way. We are ready to do this, for the reward will have been worth it, but the problem is that we could still get wrecked if those dangerous uncharted rocks lay on our track. Provided we spotted the hazard in time, the retreat would be simple, but it is a lot more difficult to see ahead in the dark on a pitching yacht with the wind and spray blowing in your face. On the other hand, if Paradise is down-wind, we could reach it in comparative comfort, but our pleasant ride could just as easily end in tragedy if Hades lies nearer to us in the same direction. Even if we saw the rocks before we were wrecked, we could face a desperate struggle to turn our ship against the wind and claw our way back to safety.

We are fatigued and disinclined to pay much attention to navigation and keeping watch. It is very tempting to steer blindly towards the radio signal assuming it to come from Paradise, but this might be a big mistake. The wise sailor would stop and take the opportunity to rest. If the wind is against him, he waits for a while in the hope that it will turn in his favour. He does not fight against the elements unless he must. But even with the wind behind him he exercises great caution to lessen his chances of a critical situation developing.

Suffering is like the endurance of sailing against the wind. Without wisdom, caution and enlightenment, it is not a reliable course to Paradise. Sometimes sailing against the wind is pointless or even detrimental and at other times it is the only way to succeed. It can become necessary and meaningful when we find ourselves close to a rocky shore, or if it is the only way to Paradise.

Some Philosophical Questions

A useful definition of suffering is to endure what we would prefer not to. In practical terms it is a continuum ranging from mild discomfort to intolerable agony that can be voluntary or imposed by forces beyond our control. Its existence has given rise to several philosophical questions such as: Why should good people have to suffer? What have they done to deserve it? Why should some people have easier lives than others?

I believe these are the wrong questions for they assume that suffering is necessarily a form of punishment, and the connotations of the word ‘deserve' suggest that retribution is the primary motive for its existence. However, the paramount law of the universe is love, and even justice must be guided by this overriding principle, namely the good of all concerned, including the perpetrator of crime. The notion of suffering as a form of punishment is misplaced partly because the concept of punishment is dominated by the mentality of retribution. We tend to forget that the reason why breaking the law must have enforceable consequences is that crime must be controlled, harmful character needs to be reformed and victims should be compensated. All of these motives involve love, but ‘evening the score' is only revenge, and serves no real purpose in improving anything.

People who harbour simplistic notions of causality often jump to the conclusion that the victim must somehow have brought their suffering onto themselves, but this is true only in a proportion of cases. The teachings of Christ indicate that the reasons often lie outside their own behaviour, even in some deeper purpose known only to the Almighty (John 9:1-3). Overall, the broader meaning of involuntary suffering can never be understood while the concepts of ‘deserving' and punishment cloud the picture, for they are fixated on accounting for the present rather than developing the future. The most important thing about enforced suffering is that with a positive attitude it can nearly always be treated as an opportunity to learn and grow in ways that might not have been possible otherwise. Where suffering is voluntary, of course, personal goodness, deserving and fairness are never an issue.

Why Should We Have To Suffer At All?

There are many theories. The Hindus believe in reincarnation, where a person who lives a good life will be reborn into a higher caste and an evildoer into a lower caste. To the Jews, suffering is a consequence of sin. To the Buddhists, it is the consequence of craving. Muslims may regard it simply as the will of Allah and seek no further explanation. Some Christian theologians offer esoteric explanations such as ‘suffering purifies the soul'. Those with more secular views may see it as a result of chance or choice – self inflicted or the product of circumstances beyond one's control. There is possibly an element of truth in all of them.

According to the Scriptural legend, the original plan was for human beings to develop happily towards eternal life. Originally, we were not intended to be ‘lost on the ocean' or to ‘have to sail endlessly against the wind'. It is we who were deceived by the rumours, asserted our freedom and insisted on ‘sailing off ill-prepared and ignorant of geography', in search of the ultimate experience. It is we who chose to learn the hard way and inflicted the same on our descendants.

This may well be symbolic of the historical origin of suffering, but for a deeper understanding, I prefer to anchor on the concepts of freedom, sensitivity and knowledge, where suffering is one of the possible outcomes of their existence, limitations and interaction.

• The concept of moral responsibility, the foundations of democracy and the fabric of the legal system all depend on the presumption of freedom, and our own experience suggests that we do have choices and make decisions. Thus it seems reasonable to assume that freedom exists. Freedom has no meaning unless we can assert it whenever we wish.
  
  
• Sensitivity is also an inherent feature of human nature, and it is arguable that in its absence, there could be no such thing as happiness or meaning, and of course, unpleasant experiences such as suffering could not exist either. Many of our desires, much of our human potential and our spirit of adventure are born largely from the union of freedom and sensitivity.
  
  
• A third factor enters the picture at this point, namely knowledge. Again, a deep philosophical analysis is unimportant, but it is elementary that for any individual their knowledge is limited. Some degree of ignorance is not necessarily a bad thing in itself. Without ignorance we could never experience the delights of a pleasant surprise or enjoy the process of discovery. Adventure would have no meaning. We could never indulge in a mystery novel or fully enjoy a joke for we would already know the punch line. Our development process from ignorance to knowledge, namely learning, can be tremendously enjoyable in itself. Ignorance, however, is very dangerous where it leads to unwelcome irreversible changes or jeopardises life itself.

Regardless of the natural or historical explanation, if we consider suffering only in terms of material and social values, then the inescapable reality is that its distribution seems unfair. Many are faced with a struggle from the start while others are born with undeniable advantages. Some have to work against greater adversities just to survive. The same applies to making progress: Given our starting point and chosen objective, it takes what it takes whether we like the process or not, and there is no guarantee that the way to our goal will not be harder than for someone else.

In terms of character building and deeper spiritual values, it is arguable that people are on a much more equal footing. The principle that 'from him to whom much is given, much is expected', suggests that relative improvement is the more important criterion of success, at least from the eternal perspective. Furthermore, the progress actually made is not always the tangible kind consciously being sought. Even where a person's suffering accomplishes no more than maintenance in the material or social sense, it can be making a significant contribution to progress at a deeper level provided this is not negated by resentment and bitterness.

Voluntary Suffering as an Investment

Why would we voluntarily endure something unpleasant? It could be that we fear the alternative even more. Perhaps the expected gain outweighs the price. Or possibly we believe it will permanently elevate us to a new level of existence. The first two reasons are obvious and self-explanatory, so we shall focus only on the third.

What constitutes comfort versus suffering is influenced by many factors including personal sensitivity, fitness and values. It varies widely between people and even within the same person in different circumstances. However, it is probably valid to say that human beings generally prefer to operate within their individual comfort zones in any given area of their lives, whether occupational, social, intellectual, recreational or other.

One's comfort zone in a particular area may be at any of three levels:

1. At the lowest level, comfort entails a continuous decline until the person has used up all of their limited resources. Ensuring any level of sustainability is an unwelcome effort.
   
   
2. At the next level, comfort is in a sustainable state of equilibrium, but any movement to a position of greater comfort involves suffering.
   
   
3. The most productive level is where the person thrives on the challenge and process of development and feels at ease with change. They no longer have to suffer to improve themselves for this dynamic state is their sustainable comfort zone. This level also has dangers, particularly when it is out of control, but these problems are beyond the scope of our discussion.

To a limited extent, most people can choose the amount and type of suffering they take on. The useful varieties are those undertaken pro-actively to move us to a better quality of life where the prospect of further suffering is greatly diminished. Often a little suffering of the right kind in the beginning, like learning to sail to windward more skilfully, increases our deeper abilities and fitness, and makes the rest of the process more pleasant. In this way the suffering can be a profitable investment.

Does this mean that voluntary suffering is a virtue? It can be, but only in pursuit of a worthwhile goal, when the total benefit outweighs the cost and there is no better way. Only a foolish person battles for long periods unless it is necessary. It is only where there is sound reason to believe that unpleasant processes are essential for good outcomes that voluntary suffering can be justified.

Conclusion

Given the present realities of the human condition in relation to our yearnings, the endurance of suffering is both largely inevitable and potentially useful. The benefits of involuntary suffering depend to a great extent on the person's willingness to look beyond the explanations for its existence that are rooted in the past and use it as an opportunity for personal growth. In contrast, the value of voluntary suffering relates more to the wisdom and rationality with which it is undertaken.

"Matters of Faith"
©Carl Jacob

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