excerpt

On Tears

A small article towards the back of a People magazine told the story of a little
girl named Ashlyn.(1) She was described as an incredibly happy child, eager and
energetic.  According to her mother, Ashlyn has the best laugh in the world, and
according to her kindergarten teacher, she fearlessly goes headfirst into
everything.  In many ways she is a typical, lovable five year-old.  But Ashlyn
is one of only 50 people in the world with a genetic condition that leaves her
unable to feel pain.  She can feel touch and be tickled, but she cannot sense
pain or extreme temperatures.

Ashlyn's parents are used to being asked why such a condition is daunting news
at all.  Their reply is one racked with the sting of experience: Pain is there
for a reason.  When she was a toddler, they had to wrap her with athletic tape
because of all the damage she was causing to limbs that knew no fear. She has
knocked eight teeth out and dug a hole in her eye without shedding a tear. 
She once came in from outside proclaiming she couldn't get the dirt off her
skin.  But it wasn't dirt.  Ashlyn was covered with hundreds of biting fire ants.

It is hard to read such a story without coming away with the difficult conclusion
that pain is necessary. Imagine not knowing when you have scalded your mouth on
a hot meal or bit your tongue so badly that it bled.  Imagine your child
reaching out for the flickering light of a candle and not having the pain of
burned fingers to reinforce your scolding plea not to play with fire.

The great majority of our philosophical frustration about pain is aimed at asking
why a loving God would allow it in the first place.  And yet, the closing lines
of Ashlyn's story were the words of a heartbroken parent:
"I would give anything, absolutely anything, for Ashlyn to feel pain."(2) 
Pain is the body's signal for danger, however severe or slight.

"A Slice of Infinity"
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There's more to today's email from Ravi Zacharias's ministry and you can find
the rest of it online. It forced me to think about why certain kinds of pain
are "necessary"--the columnist offered no answers but the assurance that God
keeps track of our tears and that they are not superfluous or unseen. "You have
kept count of my tossings, put my tears in your bottle" (Psalm 56:8, ESV)

It seems so natural to think of certain kinds of pain as necessary and desirable
even, but I have a really hard time with other kinds of cries of the soul as
necessary and desirable. One day, all will become clear.