Human happiness is conditional; suffering is a given. No matter how rich we may be, no matter how intelligent, no matter how kind and good, at some point life is going to grab us by the lapels, give us a shaking, and take us down.
It’s a Wednesday, and you arrive home to find the one you love collapsed on the bedroom floor. The rescue squad brings her to the hospital. Now she lies in neurological intensive care with a brain aneurysm, her skull shaven, kept alive with breathing and feeding tubes, monitored for heartbeat and brain activity. Surrounding her are other patients, many of them unconscious from blood clots in the brain, blows to the head, or some other trauma.
Jeff Minick has four children and a passel of grandkids. He has written two novels, “Amanda Bell” and “Dust on Their Wings,” as well as “Learning as I Go” and “Movies Make the Man.” You’ll find more of his writing at JeffMinick.substack.com.
The Megaphone of Pain, Suffering, and Nobility