I have never thought that a Christian would be free of suffering, umfundisi. For our Lord suffered. And I come to believe that he suffered, not to save us from suffering, but to teach us how to bear suffering. For he knew that there is no life without suffering.
Interpretation
Suffering is an inevitable part of life, meant to teach us resilience and endurance.
In this quote, Alan Paton reflects on the nature of suffering as an integral aspect of the human experience, suggesting that even Christ himself endured suffering not merely to alleviate our pain, but to guide us in learning to cope with it. The message emphasizes that suffering is a universal reality and to live a full life, one must learn the art of bearing it gracefully, as it shapes our character and understanding of existence.
In practice
A speaker at a conference on resilience could reference this quote to highlight the importance of learning to cope with life's challenges.
Cry, the beloved country, for the unborn child that's the inheritor of our fear. Let him not love the earth too deeply. Let him not laugh too gladly when the water runs through his fingers, nor stand too silent when the setting sun makes red the veld with fire. Let him not be too moved when the birds of his land are singing. Nor give too much of his heart to a mountain or a valley. For fear will rob him if he gives too much.
Ask yourself not if this or that is expedient, but if it is right.
One day in Johannesburg, and already the tribe was being rebuilt, the house and soul being restored.
What broke in a man when he could bring himself to kill another? What broke when he could bring himself to thrust down the knife into the warm flesh, to bring down the axe on the living head, to cleave down between the seeing eyes, to shoot the gun that would drive death into the beating heart?
It is not permissible to add to one's possesions if these things can only be done at the cost of other men. Such development has only one true name, and that is exploitation.
If you wrote a novel in South Africa which didn't concern the central issues, it wouldn't be worth publishing.
If the end of the twentieth century can be characterized by futurism, the twenty-first can be defined by presentism.
We know that we cannot live together without rules which tell us what is right and what is wrong, what is permitted and what is prohibited. We know that it is law which enables men to live together, that creates order out of chaos. We know that law is the glue that holds civilization together.
Truth exists, only falsehood has to be invented.
One curiosity of being a foreigner everywhere is that one finds oneself discerning Edens where the locals see only Purgatory.
The human mind moves always forward, alters its viewpoint and enlarges its thought substance, and the effect of these changes is to render past systems of thinking obsolete or, when they are preserved, to extend, to modify and subtly or visibly to alter their value.
There's a long tradition of black folks pleading with white people. It's a tradition that emerges from political necessity, so I get it; I'm just not very interested in it.
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