Thank you again for a very good article. I have received so much validation and comfort knowing that I'm not the only one who asks these questions and the answers that have come to me are unlike anything I learned in church.

The Buddha says that suffering is caused by our desire, so that if we can get rid of our desires then we can get rid of suffering. This mirrors (at least in my interpretation) the same lesson when the Bible entreats one to rely on God. As Jesus said, "...consider the lilies of the field...".

The deeper truth that I've come to is that all of these dualisms, pain/pleasure, joy/suffering, life/death, good/evil... are all constructs within our own minds. They don't exist for God. They only exist for us from our limited perspective on infinite Creation.

Moreover, these dualisms are relative. What is "good" for us/me/you, is "bad" for something/one else. For us, the coronavirus vaccine is incredibly good. For the virus, it's the worst kind of evil!

None of this is very comforting to someone currently suffering. So perhaps we should stick with your conclusion of "I don't know", when faced with another's suffering. At least it's honest.