because of Easter, suffering isn't senseless

My mum sent me this quote from King's Cross - I've turned her into a Tim Keller fan! - and I read it myself and shared it with my son.

It's for all of you, especially those who suffer, on this Good Friday.

Christianity is the only religious faith that says that God himself actually suffered, actually cried out in suffering.

Now what good is that?… God came into the world and suffered and died on the cross in order to save us. It is the ultimate proof of his love for us.

When you suffer, you may be completely in the dark about the reason for your own suffering. It may seem as senseless to you as Jesus’s suffering seemed to the disciples. But the cross tells you what the reason isn’t.

It can’t be that God doesn’t love you; it can’t be that he has no plan for you. It can’t be that he has abandoned you.

Jesus was abandoned, and paid for our sins, so that God the Father would never abandon you. The cross proves that he loves you and understands what it means to suffer. It also demonstrates that God can be working in your life even when it seems like there is no rhyme or reason to what is happening…

If you look at the cross you can no longer go through suffering in the same way….

[This] passage from The Lord of the Rings...comes near the end of the third book, when evil and darkness seem overwhelming. Here is what Tolkien tells us about the thoughts of Sam:

Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the though pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach…Now, for a moment, his own fate…ceased to trouble him…Putting away all fear, he cast himself into a deep, untroubled sleep.

Because of Jesus’ death, evil is a passing thing – a shadow. There is light and high beauty forever beyond its reach because evil feel into the heart of Jesus. The only darkness that could have destroyed us forever fell into his heart…

It is going to be all right.

From King's Cross 170-171.