Chelsea Zimmerman wrote what I consider a must read of the day about how suffering must be accepted as part of life. A refusal to accept suffering has disastrous consequences.

If you don’t know her, she’s a Catholic pro-life activist/blogger who knows a bit about suffering. She’s been in a wheelchair for the past 11 years but her writing is always optimistic, faithful and full of light. She blogs at Reflections of a Paralytic:

After several years of rigorously defending and promoting the dignity and sanctity of all human life, it has been my observation that one of the supporting pillars of the culture of death (those kneejerk proponents of abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, cloning/ESCR) is a desire to avoid or alleviate human suffering at all cost. A woman with an unwanted pregnancy doesn’t want the “burden” of a child; sick people want cures for what ails them or they want to be put out of their misery altogether; what good is imperfection, anyway? We see suffering, more than evil, as the worst thing there is, so much so that we will commit evil acts in an attempt to avoid it, often under the pretext of mercy and compassion.

But a culture that expects life to be lived to its fullness must be able to embrace and make peace with—even find joy in—the normalcy of human suffering.

Continue reading this excellent piece at Patheos’ Catholic Portal.