Human Pain

In this chapter of Lewis's book "The Problem of Pain," he talks about the what, how, and why of pain. He defines pain and also gives its operations. As I have to expect, Lewis takes a topic that all of us are familiar with and brings new light and a fresh perspective to it. In this case, he makes pain feel different, though still very hard to deal with (he describes it as "anxiety that gnaws like fire and loneliness that spreads out like a desert, and the heartbreaking routine of monotonous misery, or again of dull aches that blacken our whole landscape or sudden nauseating pains that knock a man's heart out at one blow"), it is somehow more understandable. He explains that "Christianity teaches us that the terrible task has already in some sense been accomplished for us--that a man's hand is holding ours as we attempt to trace the difficult letters and that our script need only be a 'copy,' not an original." In typical Lewis fashion, his enlightenment brings hope.
One part that really stuck out to me in this chapter:

"I am progressing along the path of life in my ordinary contentedly fallen and godless fashion...when suddenly a stab of abdominal pain that threatens serious disease, or a headline in the newspapers that threatens us all with destruction, sends this whole pack of cards tumbling down....I try to bring myself into the frame of mind that I should be in at all times....For a day or two [I] become a consciously dependent on God and drawing its strength from the right sources. But the moment the threat is withdrawn, my whole nature leaps back."

This scenario plays out in my life time and time again. I often ignore God when things are going well in my life, and I do not even realize how distant from Him I have become until something goes wrong and I find myself on my knees, praying to God with the frequency and intensity that I should possess every day. This was a great reminder to me to always rely on God instead of only when I need something.