"Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.  And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us."

Rejoice in suffering? Why would anyone want to rejoice in suffering? Or more to the point, how can anyone rejoice in suffering?  Those questions seem particularly poignant on the day after the tragic deaths of the seven astronauts aboard Columbia. Can Paul’s advice speak a word of hope to those grieving families and a shocked nation? I believe so because what Paul is pushing the Christian family to understand is that suffering is part and parcel of the human condition but it is NOT the last word on human life. The Bible points us to a greater reality: to the cross, to a God who conquers human suffering by suffering love. God does not make pain and suffering disappear, but God is present with us in the midst of that grief and in this time of mourning.