******
There's a lot to think about here. First do the words go together? The word justification implies an intent or will is present as distinct from something outside the realm of conscious influence such as a tsunami.
At first it seems to me that suffering arises out of both realms, that which we could have done something about and that which is outside our control. Is that which arises outside our realm of influence suffering or merely pain? I would call someone dying a slow horrible death from an illness to be suffering. The word 'justification' doesn't seem to apply here because it is outside the realm of intent.
Yet there still seems to me to be a difference between the word 'suffering' and mere pain. One is transient while the other is not.
I think there is a metaphysical suffering from an experienced sense of separation. I think this is the type of suffering that is in question.
This suffering rests in a deeper place and endures while unconsciously influencing outlook and perception. It results in an ambient tinting of reality which often perpetuates itself because when one acts from a place of suffering there often is no clarity. Without clarity one can bumble along too and fro in a kind of feedback loop haze which amplifies and feeds itself.
I think this process is associated with the Wheel of fortune tarot card.
It's through spiritual practices of one kind or another that suffering is brought to the surface to where it is directly felt or seen. Sometimes a caring person who can see the suffering in another may point them to their own suffering as well. In buddhism I think this kind of action is referred to as “skillful means” but am not sure about that. I think there is a corollary in Gnosticism but don't know if it has a name either. It may be experienced that the practice of meditation, magic or whatever is what brings about suffering.
And then at this point it may be asked “Is suffering justified?”. But in this case the suffering was already there and merely brought to the surface. When this happens it is experienced as pain and there is an opportunity for healing to happen if one doesn't try to bury it again where it remains as suffering.
There is a verse in “The hymn of Jesus” that speaks to this:
“If thou hadst known how to suffer, Thou wouldst have power not to suffer.
Know then how to suffer, and thou hast power not to suffer.”
It has been my experience so far that the suffering is removed or healed in bits and pieces rather than as a big chunk.
The question still remains, was and is all that suffering justified? Was it necessary in any way?
I don't understand why suffering exists in the first place but only that it does. So I don't understand the answer to the question but hope to have more insight into it.
I suspect at one level it wasn't meant to be but because of our stupor or sense of disconnection from the Pleroma or the All we err and let suffering happen where it doesn't need to. For the most part if not the whole part it is through us that suffering happens. I'm not talking about pain which comes and goes but suffering. It is pain that is in the nature of things but suffering doesn't need to be.
I don't believe in running away from it or escaping it but facing it the best we can because that is where our humanity lies. I think real human warmth and love lie where the suffering is, not somewhere else. I read somewhere that there are two sides of the equation that are a part of reality. There is pain in creation but also love. Pain is okay because it is part of the whole but without love it turns ugly and becomes suffering.
So it might sound a little corny, but perhaps we are meant to wake up to love so that suffering can be healed. A real love that was never not there because it was always the case.
I agree with Sr. Shilo that it is for us not God or rather God manifesting as our actions that love can happen in the world and suffering can be mitigated. I like what Father Stratford+ said about the demi-urge being a construct or fabrication. When we evade our part of the responsibility for the way things are we often project it on the other. The demi-urge is a perfect projection canvas.
