Last night after Stranger Things ended, Cameron, Meg and I spent about an hour talking. The conversation at first focused mainly on the characters of the series, what they were undergoing as teenagers and how accurate their representations were compared to real life drama. While we were talking, Meg shared a few posts that she had read recently on social media surrounding current topics in the news - the war in Ukraine, gas prices, the formula shortage and gun violence. What she found most interesting about these posts were people trying to compare the suffering of individuals. She felt that some were being chastised for complaining because others "had it worse."
After Meg finished reading several of the posts and comments, we talked for quite awhile about the absurdity of equating anyones grief, fear or sorrow with another's. It reminded me of the "Finish your plate. Don't you know there are starving children in Africa?" mentality. I couldn't understand how anyone still believed that belittling a person for being concerned about how they were going to pay for gas to get to work or find formula for their child during the nationwide shortage would benefit a person living in a war torn country. In fact I thought the lack of sympathy and caring would only make the problem worse. Meg echoed my sentiments and said that was why she had steered clear of social media lately.
In the end I thought Cameron said it best when he stated that he didn't understand how anyone could quantify suffering. If his grief was rated a "two" and another's was an "eight", did that lessen his sorrow? He also wondered how anyone could believe that there was a ratio for suffering. Emotions were individual feelings, not to be minimized, but to be empathized with and acknowledged as real. Cameron's words resonated with me. I was reminded of all that he had been through these past few weeks. By sharing his own thoughts on suffering, Cameron reminded me that God called all of us to "Bear one another's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the laws of Christ." - Galatians 6:2
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