Randy Pausch died on July 25th, 2008. The last year of his life was highly published after giving the ‘Last Lecture’ to his students at Carnegie-Mellon University on September 18, 2007. For those of you who may not have heard of Randy Pausch, he was a a computer science professor at this prestigious university who was given months to live after he was diagnosed with terminal tumors in his liver. He wrote a book on his lecture, which chronicles his life’s achievements to date. I have read the book and watched the lecture. Very inspiring. Highly recommended.

I came across this article today on Mercatornet. It made an interesting point of how suffering is the last taboo of our times. Randy’s Last Lecture and his book, a good portion of his time spent before his death, does not glimpse into the pain that he was going through. Suffering does not pervade his outlook whatsoever. From this standpoint, I agree. Suffering has yet to be accepted by society. Society has yet to embrace the reality of suffering in this life and the value it brings to living life to the fullest.

Suffering does have great meaning. With our Savior’s death and resurrection, suffering ‘acquires a new meaning, it becomes a participation in the saving work of Jesus’ (Catechism, 1522). St Josemaria notes, ‘I want you to be happy on earth. But you wont be if you don’t get rid of that fear of suffering. For as long as we are ‘wayfarers’, it is precisely in suffering that our happiness lies’ (The Way; 217).

But, that begs a further question: How would you suppose Randy, or therefore anyone who is suffering or facing death, to bring forth their suffering? My father stared death in the face after being diagnosed with skin cancer, yet he did not pay homage to his suffering in a way that had any impact on me. He lived like he had never lived before- fighting with every last ounce of fight he had- and he won. Randy does not deny his suffering- he just completely avoids the topic. Would his message be the same if were to pay homage to his suffering? Better, worse?

Society does not want to hear about suffering. We want to put to death those that are, to humanely relieve them of their suffering. We kill millions to avoid suffering the inconvenience of children. We look for every cure for every ailment to avoid all possibility of suffering. If someone asks you, ‘How are you doing?’, they are not looking for how any suffering is affecting you. It becomes uncomfortable if you are to say anything other than how wonderful you are.

With messages of the horrible state of suffering all around us, how are we to embrace our suffering? Should it affect our Christian joy, our joy of the prospect of eternal life in heaven? How are others to see our suffering? Is it wrong to ignore our suffering, or to hide it from others, as Randy Pausch did?

I see Randy’s message as one of hope and full of life. He has been an inspiration to millions of people. You read his book or watch his lecture, and you come away with a renewed feeling of the preciousness of life and the great rewards for following your dreams. I see this as a message of suffering, but showing the world that it provides new life and serves as an example of how to grow through it.

God Bless.

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