Pete Gall's Pulp Theology

If we’re going to have a relationship with God, we will either speak in the language of contract (and breach of contract) or covenant (a promise initiated and fulfilled by God).

And in either case, eventually the giant question arises: why does suffering exist?

If you’re a covenant person, looking to make sense of pain within the relationship without keeping an eye on the exit signs, The End of Suffering: Finding Purpose in Pain, by Scott Cairns, will immediately become a treasured friend, full of gems culled from centuries of monastic wisdom and brought to you in rich, whole grain prose every bit as savory as Buechner or Dillard on a good day. If you’re like me, you’ll read the whole thing in a single sitting, and a few days later you’ll be drawn to read it again. And you’ll be better for it, because you will have found this new friend, and because you will be eager to lean into the mysteries once again, because that is where your Father lives.

If you’re a contract person, pain and suffering are particularly challenging aspects to life with God. At what point does the pain become breach of contract? Is pain something to be solved? Managed? Learned from and made good use of? Is suffering a reflection of God’s displeasure? For as much as covenant people will love and embrace The End of Suffering, if you’re a contract person, this book is really for you.

First off, it’s not written in sermon style. Cairns doesn’t resort to clichés like five-point solutions or cute anecdotes, and there is absolutely no intention to offer an easy, quick fix to suffering and your experience of it. This book treads sacred ground, and it does so with a careful reverence and theological deftness you can trust.

Secondly, Cairns shows his readers a better way of approaching the question, and God. There is nothing “how to” about this different approach – just a quiet discussion that takes its time (one gift of this amazing poet is his ability to take his time and still only need 85 pages to deliver the experience) and demonstrates the depth of life lived in covenant with God, where God is the lover and this life is His gift to us.

There is a richer way to share life with God. There is mystery that can be embraced and explored, where answers don’t always show up, but where God still lingers in the air. There is a long legacy – a cloud of witnesses – standing beside Cairns and the clean musings of his book. If you let it, this book will bring you, and the way your life guides you, closer to a God worth knowing.