{"id":2104,"date":"2016-08-26T21:51:44","date_gmt":"2016-08-26T21:51:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=2104"},"modified":"2016-08-26T21:51:44","modified_gmt":"2016-08-26T21:51:44","slug":"chronic-pain-wrong-not-like","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2016\/08\/chronic-pain-wrong-not-like.html","title":{"rendered":"Chronic Pain: Are we wrong to not like it?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SecondI don’t know anyone who\u00a0likes\u00a0<\/em>their constant life with pain. Given a choice, I’m sure most of us (if not all) would opt for relief – swift relief – from the aches, jabs, and jolts that punctuate our day and often cloud our ability to enjoy life’s more pleasurable pleasures.<\/p>\n

But, as Christians, we are called to be grateful. Grateful for the many gifts God has given us. Grateful for\u00a0now.<\/em> And if\u00a0now<\/em> is painful, well, I suppose we need to embrace that, too. Yes, all of our life, even the pain. Yes, I know well that embracing pain might bring on more of it. Sort of like opening our doors and homes to one stray cat invites others. Soon we’re fur-ther (pun intended) into cats and farther from a peaceable residence!<\/p>\n

Digression aside…<\/p>\n

Perhaps it would make more sense for us to not look up on pain as something we like or dislike, embrace or repel. Perhaps instead, we can view it as another state of life that God gives us to show us something, give us wisdom, or even help us recognize that He is supreme. Perhaps we can look beyond the pain, to something larger and outside ourselves. To the overall journey that God has set each one of us on. And in recognizing that journey, we can begin to see other aspects of our lives that do not have associated pain. We can see the love that surrounds us. The ways in which we make a difference to others, and they to us. We can begin to look outside and see God’s wonderful creation – and enjoy it. We can feel a soft carpet beneath our feet, or the brush of a breeze.<\/p>\n

As I type this, I am in severe pain. But my joy<\/a> at being able to convey even a little of the gratitude I feel for God’s presence in my life is motivation enough to keep going to the end of this post. The pain will still be with me when I finish. But in the midst of it, I will have done something I love for people I care about, including you. And in doing that, what’s not to like?<\/p>\n

Peace,<\/p>\n

Maureen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I don’t know anyone who\u00a0likes\u00a0their constant life with pain. Given a choice, I’m sure most of us (if not all) would opt for relief – swift relief – from the aches, jabs, and jolts that punctuate our day and often cloud our ability to enjoy life’s more pleasurable pleasures. 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She expected to be writing scripts. God had other plans. A few years after her graduation, Maureen was diagnosed with a life-threatening case of organ-involved lupus. Her life turned upside down as she grappled with the effects of the illness and other health conditions that ensued. She was no stranger to serious health challenges; even as a child, Maureen had survived numerous bouts of pneumonia, flu, and other infections. But lupus made her take a fresh look at her life goals - and took herlifelong, strong Catholic Christian faith and writing in a direction she'd never imagined. Today, Maureen writes and speaks about walking with the Lord while living with chronic pain and illness. Her most recent book is \"Don't Panic!: How to Keep Going When the Going Gets Tough (Franciscan Media). She is also the author of, \"Peace in the Storm: Meditations on Chronic Pain & Illness\" (Image Books\/Randomhouse), \"Beyond Pain: Job, Jesus, and Joy\" (Twenty-Third Publications), \"The First Year: Hypothyroidism, Second Edition\" (Perseus) and \"Taking Charge of Lupus: How to Manage the Disease and Make the Most of Your LIfe.\" She writes the syndicated column, \"Living Well,\" for Catholic News Service, and has also written for Saint Anthony Messenger Magazine, Journey for Women Magazine, The Upper Room Magazine, LupusNow, and Arthritis Today. Maureen's health continues to be a challenge, however she feels honored to be able to bring her perspective, from experience and knowledge, to others. \"Good Days...Bad Days with Maureen Pratt\" is a new way for Maureen to reach people who carry the burden of illness and pain in their lives, or who care for someone who does. Through the blog, she hopes to bring issues of health, wellness, and spirit into focus and, especially, inspire others that, no matter what health challenges, illness, or hardships they endure, each person can find a good way to realize the wonderful potential God has placed within each heart and soul.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.maureenpratt.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/author\/mpratt"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/548"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2104"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2104\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2106,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2104\/revisions\/2106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}