Pain & Purpose

 Dream: 02/10/2021

In this dream, I had an apartment with my brother. A narrator's voice asked me a question of purpose, the exact question I have forgotten. As I sat alone, waiting on Kamaree to return to the room, I began to contemplate the question of purpose. Sadly I have no recollection of those contemplations, so I will substitute with the movie I believe inspired the dream.

The Muse: SPOILER ALERT AHEAD! If you are still reading this, I will assume you have watched the movie or that you don't care about spoilers. Whatever the reason, here we go.

The night of this dream I had watched the movie "Hugo." The film was directed and produced by Martin Scorsese and adapted by John Logan. The film is based on a 2007 book by Brian Selznick called "The Invention of Hugo Cabret." The film itself is a piece of historical fiction that observes from afar, through the eyes of Hugo, the life of a legend from the real world within the early history of film. Most of his feats in the movie are entirely factual, that character being George Melies, Isabellas God-father.

Partway through the movie, Hugo talks with the young lady, Isabella. He describes the world through a clock fixer's perspective, how every piece in a machine serves a function in the grand design; this then leads them to begin to discuss the topic of purpose. Hugo ponders if it is his purpose to fix her grandfather and not just the broken clocks he is used to. Everything in Hugo's life before that pointed him to be a fixer. His father was a fixer, his uncle was a fixer, and he was good at it. Yet after he fixed this one man, the world opened up to him in a new way. Once its purpose had been fulfilled, he began to pursue an interest in cards and magic tricks. However, as the station master mentions, he remained a very capable tinkerer and could use those skills to help others.

One could propose that purpose is not something that is passed down from parent to child. This can be seen in Isabella, who did not have parents to pass a purpose down to her, and we can see this in Hugo, who is seen in pursuit of a magician's role. One could then say that what he had learned served a purpose even if it was not specifically his purpose.

One could propose a similar idea by looking at the movie "Slum Dog Millionaire." The film was directed by Danny Boyle, written by Simon Beaufoy, and produced by Christian Colson, with Loveleen Tandan credited as co-director. The film is based on the novel "Q & A" by author Vikas Swarup. In the movie, a young man suffers a series of traumatic events; each of these experiences is the secret behind his success in the game show "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire." His suffering may not have been his purpose, but it served a purpose.

"Zima Blue and other stories" is a book written by Alastair Reynolds and adapted into the Netflix series "Love, Death, and Robots." It was directed by Robert Valley, written by Phillip Gelatt, and created by Tim Miller. Zima Blue tells an artist's story through an interview and an examination of his works. SPOILER ALERT AHEAD! In all his artwork, there is an obsession with the color Zima blue. At first, it appeared in a minor way in all his work before eventually being the sole focus of his career.

It is then revealed that he was originally designed as a pool cleaning robot that got upgraded into something more human over time. His final work was to return to his original purpose by rejecting all of his upgrades until only a pool cleaning robot remained, and he silently set to work once again. He found his purpose by returning to his creator's intended design. With that in mind, let's do the same.

Let's now look to the bible and see what it has to say about the purpose of pain, if there is any to be found at all.

In John 9:1-3, the disciples ask Jesus, "Lord, who sinned that this man was born blind? Was it his parents, or was it him? So right here, we can see that the disciples assumed that it must be God punishing him or his parents.

Ignoring the nonsensical accusation that he must have sinned before he was born to be punished with blindness at birth, we can look at the next conclusion, that being it must be due to his parents' sins that contributed to his blindness. Jesus responds by saying, "It was 'neither the actions of him or his parents that he was born blind." In other words, sin had nothing to do with his condition. If not because of sin, then why? Let's see if we can answer this question.

In Exodus 4:10, Moses says, "Pardon your servant, Lord, I have never been eloquent of speech. I am slow of speech and tongue. This is when God says to Him in Exodus 4:11-12, "Who is it that makes men born blind deaf, or dumb? Is it not I the Lord who does these things? Now go, I will help you speak and teach you what to say." Take a moment to soak this in. God says that he does it. Don't believe me, let's continue.

John 9:1-3. So who sinned that the man was born blind? Was it his parents, or was it him? Jesus said it was neither the actions of him or his parents that he was born blind. It happened so that the works of God might be made manifest in him. That means that his blindness was not a punishment as the disciples had thought. It was a part of God's plan so that God's wonderful works would be made known to the public through him. Blindness was purposed for him by God.

In Acts 9:3-19, We see God confront Paul with a blinding light that only he had witnessed; God said to him, " Saul, Saul, Why do you persecute me." After this encounter with God, Paul walks away entirely blind. God then reaches out to a disciple in Damascus named Ananias and sends him to heal Saul of his blindness. Saul responds by dedicating his life to the service of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This happens despite God blinding him for three days.

Now let's wrap this thought up and get ready to mail it home by looking at a few more verses that I believe will shed some light on the situation. Acts 4:27-28, "Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. This was all God's plan, and an innocent man died because of it, that being Christ." Christ's suffering and death on the cross paled in comparison to what God would accomplish through His suffering. In our living and in our home going, let it all be for the glory of God.

We might look at this and think that God must then be unjust. But one might also ask the question, is it unjust for God to do good to those that have done evil? Matthew 5:44-45, "Love those that persecute you. Does not your father in heaven bring rain to the unjust as He sends His rain upon the just?"

If it is unjust for God to do good to those that perform evil, then Christ's death for us is unjust, and we would have to assume that God is unjust. But this, of course, is not the case. We see this with Jonah, who is frustrated by God showing mercy to people he thinks do not deserve it.

Ending Verse: Romans 9:19-21, One will say to me: "Then why does God still blame us? For who can resist His will? But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to the one that formed it,' Why did you make me like this?'" Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for particular purposes and some for everyday use?"

The things we experience in this life can serve a function or be given to us by God for His purposes. Whether they feel good or not.