Already Plato used bodily health as a helpful analogy for understanding health of the soul. The entire complex realm of cultivating and restoring bodily health is rife with truths applicable to spiritual health, which two healths, of course, while distinct are not unconnected. Calling a physician for help at the appropriate time is a significant aspect in both.
We can get insight into this by the question why it was fitting that God wait for some time after the fall of man to send a Redeemer. St. Thomas Aquinas quotes a biblical commentary that argues that this delay allowed man to experience our profound need for God: “so that having recognized his infirmity he might cry out for a physician.”
In bodily health there are certainly times that we need to cry out for a physician; and while at times it is not clear just when to do so, the need is sometimes very evident. Our need for a higher physician for the higher human health is surely even more serious. And urgent. Yet for various reasons we often do not see this. And so we might not really seek the help we need.
I think that some (if not many) people turn to a medical physician when they really don’t need to. Others fail to do so when they really should. Discerning when to do so is challenging and important.
Now in any analogy between two things there are some dissimilarities. The great news about spiritual health is that there is no such thing as turning too soon to the divine physician. Learning this, strangely enough, can be something of an ordeal.
According to Aquinas’s explanation, integral to God’s plan for redemption was that humanity learn from its suffering. And suffer it did. We have occasion then to meditate on a dramatic reality: a loving fatherly Providence that is willing to see children suffer always with a higher end in view.
What is God doing in my life that is a providential, and thus loving gift, to open my eyes to my need for his help? Perhaps this can help me make sense of, and then respond better to, significant aspects of my life.
“So that having recognized [my] infirmity [I] might cry out for a physician.” Cry out!
“The Lord hears the cry of the poor.” But of course we must recognize our poverty, and so cry out. And never was it known, that such a cry was not heard. ~ ~ ~
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Dr. Cuddeback, depending on one’s stage of spiritual growth, I believe part of allowed suffering is to draw us closer to God. God loves us so unimaginably completely, he may use trials, etc to awaken our dependance on him. Prompting a turn (perhaps) to Him.
Did I believe/understand this 5 years ago? No.
Much more to say about this subject…I appreciate your article.
Thank you, Edward. It is remarkable how patient God is in bringing us to deeper understanding of His ways.
Question for Dr. Cuddeback:
Have you attended a Parish Presentation by the Priest to High School students on the topic of “Catholic Courtship”?
I have not. Would be happy to know why you ask (of course, I presume question is prompted by the podcast!).
Thanks
You’re welcome, David.
Great discussion. I want to add- on the topic of maturity and preparation-that years ago I spoke with an RN who had just retired from a career in adolescent psychiatric care. Almost 15 years ago she advised that “26 is the new 18.” Of course this was a broad generalization and by no means universal, but I believe (and it need not be judgmental) this is an important consideration for parents and for young people navigating early adulthood together these days.
Thank you, Leo! I completely agree: that is a key consideration.
Hmm? God allows suffering so that we can cry to him? Kind of a tautological argument built on the presumption that somehow there was a perfect world (Eden) until munching on the fruit! The reality is nature is indiscriminate and wasteful astronomically speaking in order to manage survivability. The myth of paradise is a projection of what is hoped for than any basis in fact. I’m sure the woman held for 20 years as a sex slave in Germany understood how great it was that God allowed this to happen so she could turn to Him in her suffering when by chance a day came for her to escape. Yup, makes perfect sense in the world where the mystery of a loving God covers the cognitive dissonance inherent in religious systems.
Lee, I thank you for your comment. I will say a few words. In a tautological argument there is no truly distinct conclusion asserted (e.g., if one said: God allows suffering so that there might be suffering). I don’t think that’s the case here. The point here is that there is a real, serious reason that God would allow suffering. Suffering can serve to turn our faces toward him, and so deepen both our self-understanding and our relationship with him. You might disagree with this; but it is not a tautology. You might also find cognitive dissonance in this view. I do not. I find that this actually solves a certain dissonance that we find in the experience of suffering. To discover that God has a plan for suffering sheds an amazing even if at times challenging and even painful light on human life.