Suffering
We have never met the Murrays, but they are in our homeschooling group, TORCH, and since we know about the difficulties their daughter Claire has suffered, we have prayed for her healing. Her brother, Matthew, wrote a touching article for the Contra Costa Times about his sister and how her strength in the face of suffering has inspired him.
I think this ties in with the post Don wrote about selective abortion of Downs Syndrome children. We have the idea in our society that suffering has no meaning. Matthew's article about his sister's suffering, about his love for her, and about her inspiration to him show in one crystal example only the tip of the value of suffering, and that tip is in itself already a mountain.
One of the things I love about being Catholic is the Catholic understanding of the redemptive value of suffering. If our culture really believed suffering had meaning, people who suffered greatly would no longer be viewed as disposable. But we reject suffering, reject imperfection, reject anything that reminds us of our own mortality. We refuse to be inconvenienced. Non serviam.