We sometimes indulge in self-pity by thinking that disappointments, failures, heartaches and tragedies are peculiar to us. But they are the common lot of all of us. We are not singled out for an undue share of life's woes. Suffering is a principle of life itself. As long as we live in this world we have to suffer.

Thoughts by the late Rev. Paul Osumi are selected weekly by his family.