What is Suffering?

Most people would say it is when someone is in pain. This is true, but suffering also means love. When you love someone, you are willing to suffer for them. Everyone can think of a beloved family member or friend they would be willing to suffer for. I have someone in my life who has taught me what suffering really means. She lost her daughter in a tragic accident and suffers everyday because of it. Because she took up her cross, she shows not only me, but others what it really means to suffer.

Many people think those who are Pro-Life are just against abortion. This is not true. Those who are Pro-Life are not only against abortions, although that is the main focus, we are also against any and all ways of unnecessary killing of human life. These ways include euthanasia, suicide, and very much abortion. All these things have become normal in our modern society, but we should not feel normal about it. If we think any of these things are moral, we need to take a closer look to realize they are, in fact very wrong. When we know it is wrong, we should not feel ashamed to speak out about it and how it is wrong, even though we might be looked at differently by the world around us. We might even be persecuted for our opinion, but all that matters is that we know it is wrong because Jesus told us it is wrong. It doesn't matter what people think, it is about what Jesus thinks because that is the only thing that will matter in the end.

The one person I thought of immediately after reading this prompt was my preschool teacher Mrs. Maureen Goonan. Mrs. Goonan wasn't only my preschool teacher, she was also me and my siblings' babysitter, a very good family friend, and is practically considered part of my family to me and my family. She has known my family for a while, and is always here for us. I am blessed to still know her and to still have her in my life. She is truly a saint. Unfortunately, earlier this year, her one and only daughter Jennifer passed away in a tragic car crash. Although Mrs. Goonan's daughter wasn't aborted or anything like that, this still hit Mrs. Goonan and her family very hard. She and the rest of her family loved Jennifer to the moon and back, and still do. The Goonan family have to live with the pain everyday and will have to for the rest of their lives. This is where I saw where suffering mainly means love. Mrs. Goonan loved her daughter so very much, and she and her family will have to suffer everyday because they can no longer give to their daughter, or in her siblings' case sister.

I thought of Mrs. Goonan immediately after reading this prompt because looking at her life, she teaches us a very important lesson. Although she lost her one and only daughter she loved so dearly, she still finds strength to carry on with the rest of her life. She still, to this day is a phenomenal preschool teacher, a devoted mother to her other two children, and a great role model for the rest of us. Mrs. Goonan still has great faith in Christ after all that she went through, and is a very kind and loving lady to everyone she knows and meets. After all she has gone through throughout her life so far, she really shows what it means to suffer. She lives with the pain of losing a child everyday, but she has taken up her cross, and carries it everyday, still carrying on with the rest of her life. Those who know Mrs. Goonan see how the loss of one life, her daughter Jennifer's, can change so much in not only Mrs. Goonan's life, but also the lives of everyone else who knows her.

Mrs. Goonan is a great role model for all of us. She shows us that the impact of one life can change not just one person's life, but many others too. This also stands for the lives of those who were unjustly killed through abortion, euthanasia, and suicide. This is why we all need to stand together against these wrongs. This teaches me what suffering really is, not only through Mrs. Goonan's life, but from the lives of all others I have known and loved that have passed on from this world. I'm sure this also stands for everyone else who has lost a loved one whether it be a sibling, parent, aunt, uncle or grandparent. No matter what, our family teaches us things that we take with us throughout the rest of our lives, and removing them from our lives would change who we are as people. Because Mrs. Goonan took up her cross, she shows not only me, but many others what it means to suffer. I am truly blessed to have her in my life.

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