Suffering can be.... good?

We are children of G-d; G-d is our Father.  A father can love his children and allow them to suffer.  In his letter to the Laodiceans, Jesus says, "Those whom I love, I reprove and chasten" (Revelation 3:19). - Fr. Richard Veras, Wisdom for Everyday Life from the Book of Revelation; p. 35.

two of my children and i watched the U17 World Cup semi-final match between Germany and Mexico the other day. awesome game!  heart-breaking for German fans.  Mexico was up 1 - 0.  Germany came back and was up 2 - 1.  Then Mexico tied it -and went ahead on a bicycle kick!  very impressive.

as the Mexican players celebrated their win (and good for them by the way!), there were German players on the ground sobbing.  it struck me that the suffering of the German players may serve them better in their lives than the euphoria of the Mexican players.  i made the comment to my children that perhaps, in the long run, the German players were the real winners....

this is from the very next paragraph in the book from todays quote:  "... if you consider suffering in your own life, can you recognize moments that were so painful that you would not want to live through them again, but that you would not delete from your life because they have made you who you are?  There is a way in which suffering increases our humanity." (emphasis added)

one of life's paradoxes that fascinates me is that out of suffering, pain, and even evil, can come more beauty, goodness, and love than if the 'bad' thing had not happened.  whether it was my teenage heart being broken (i thought life was ending!) or being homeless in orange county; every time i have had 'great suffering' my humanity has increased. i truly never want to go through those things again, and yet, i am immensely grateful that my father in heaven loves me enough to have let me experience them.