Underwear and Socks

I am going to admit something that many men out there will not talk about. I love the show "Grey's Anatomy". There it is.....I've said it. I will run home from a meeting or end conversations early to make sure that I am there when this crazy hospital in Seattle opens it's doors each week. I apologize to men everywhere for admitting this guilty pleasure but sometimes it is better to just give in.

This past week they centered the show around a little girl that had a disease which caused her to be able to endure great amounts of pain. She could take a couple of beatings with a baseball bat and not even bat an eye. Because of this disease she ends up having to go into surgery for massive internal bleeding and in the middle of the surgery one of the doctors says something along the lines of: "God gave us pain for a reason". Of course there is this profound silence as the other doctors take in this grand statement and then all of a sudden I am watching a commercial for some person running for some political office. Such is the life of a hospital drama.

"God gave us pain for a reason"

Really?

This great loving entity that we call God gave us a gift of pain? It doesn't seem like much of present to me. In fact it feels like I just raced down the stairs on Christmas morning only to find out that the really big package in the corner is a lifetime supply of underwear and socks.

Wait a minute.....that actually makes sense!! (I am having a Eureka moment!!)

Follow me for a second. Nobody wants underwear and socks for Christmas, let alone a lifetime supply of them!! The problem is that underwear and socks tend to be a necessity in our lives, which means that we should actually be overjoyed that someone would be smart enough and would love us enough to give us the ability to have it for the rest of eternity. That big box over in the corner may not be shiny, colorful and full of toys.......but we will probably use it more than any of the other gifts that we receive.

This parallels the gift of pain. Think about your life without pain. At first it sounds like a great idea but dig a little deeper and it quickly becomes apparent that life would be an empty shell without it. I love my wife. How do I know that? Because without her I would feel great pain. Having the knowledge that my life would be painful without her causes me to love her. That is what pain does for us. It is a cause and effect issue. The knowledge that pain exists directs us in most of our relationships and actions. Think about all of the things that you have gone through in your life....good and bad. How many of those things were determined by either the actual feeling of pain or the fear of pain? How many times have you done something "painful" just to remind yourself that you are alive? How many times have you broken down in the dark of night because you have been hiding pain? How many times has the "pain" been so great that the only option has been to fall to your knees and pray? How many times has life actually felt good because you know how you felt when the "pain" was present?

In order to truly love life......you have had to hate life. In order to feel true love.......you have to feel true pain.

Pain may hurt but it has the power to love. This was proven on that fateful day when a 33 yr old man hung on a cross, nails embedded in his flesh, pain wracking his body, and died. This man had a horrible death....but from the pain of that day came a Love that surpasses all understanding.

God not only knows pain.......He lived it.

It is a gift that we may not want but it is one that we must have. Don't be afraid of the box full of underwear and socks.....in fact open the gift and wear them proudly.

I may not be able to see your gifts of pain, but they are still there.

Just like underwear and socks.