The Problem of Pain

To read articles in the journals of the day by the likes of historian Niall Ferguson and his myriad fellow prophets of doom, you'd think that America and much of the West have seen their last days of prosperity. But just a bit of time in even a relatively affluent African country like Botswana reveals how vast a gulf still exists in the experience of life between the average third world resident and the average American.

I do not wish to offend, but having spent a good bit of time in both places I think I can say with some authority that many Americans don't really know the meaning of the word "pain," and do the word a great injustice when they use it.

Shelley and I are reeling a bit today from the news that the first friend that Caleb and Malena made here in Botswana, a shy but lovely and clever girl of ten, is living with HIV, contracted in all likelihood from her abusive father who has full-blown AIDS. And she doesn't know it. Her "Aunt," who herself is living under the constant threat of contracting this disease, tells this girl that the mix she must drink each day is a vitamin supplement.

This is a story that plays out, multiplied hundreds of thousands of times, every day all over sub-Saharan Africa. And we in the West, myself included, have grown weary of hearing about it. I largely ignored it until it showed up, in the form of a girl that we have grown to love, digging holes in the dirt and making forts in the back yard with our two kids.

What to do with what C.S. Lewis called "the problem of pain?" I would deny it intellectually, but do I at a functional level believe that my family is destined for lives of comfort, health, and ease, high levels of education and opportunities to not only chase but achieve dreams? Do I by default believe that the haunted woman I pass in the guard shack each morning, or the guy selling oranges day after day on the noisy and polluted side of the road are due less? If you dig just a bit into many peoples' lives here, you discover stuff that just crushes you inside, stuff that would likely render me helpless and hopeless.

For now, no attempts from me at resolution of these questions. Just some time for prayer and reflection. And in the meantime, please pray for this young friend of ours.