Learning From Mark Twain’s Suffering
As a pastor, it pains me when I hear people upset with God or even deny divine existence because of human imperfections and limitations. It is a reminder that we pastors have not emphasized enough the theology of human frailty. Mark Twain’s condemning argument against God included, “A God who could make good children as easily as bad, yet preferred to make bad ones; who could have made every one of them happy, yet never made a single happy one; who made them prize their bitter life, yet stringily cut it short; who gave his angels eternal happiness unearned, yet required his other children to earn it; who gave his angels painless lives, yet cursed his other children with biting miseries and maladies of mind and body; who mouths justice, and invented hell—mouths mercy, and invented hell—mouths Golden Rules and forgiveness multiplied by seventy times seven, and invented hell; who mouths morals to other people, and has none himself; who frowns upon crimes, yet commits them all; who created man without invitation, then tries to shuffle the responsibility for man’s acts upon man, instead of honorably placing it where it belongs, upon himself; and finally, with altogether divine obtuseness, invites his poor abused slave to worship him!”
Before we address Twain’s accusations, it is helpful to reflect on the life experience that influenced Samuel Clemens’ bitterness. Samuel Clemens’ wife, Livy, had frail health throughout her life and died several years before Samuel. Samuel and Livy Clemens’ first child, Langdon, was born prematurely and continued with physical issues until his death at 19 months of age from diphtheria. Their second child, Susy, was a baby when Langdon died. Susy suffered from regular bouts of depression and other issues. Susy died at the age of 24, after suffering from spinal meningitis. Second daughter Clara was the only child to live a long life, but struggled with depression under the weight of caring for the rest of their ailing family. Their youngest child, Jean, struggled throughout her life with horrific epileptic seizures until her death at age 29.
Rather than face his family’s physical challenges with courage and determination, Clemens often nurtured his fame as a prolific writer and public speaker by embodying Mark Twain. He toured the world, enhancing his fame, while he hired others to care for the family he often could not face. Even before his family’s ill health began, Samuel Clemens walked away from the Presbyterian faith of his childhood and youth. Now, amid his devastating familial suffering, Clemens did not have the tools to care for his family emotionally or spiritually properly. Instead of relying on his faith, he blamed and mocked God. Clemens exacerbated his situation by frequently using his and his wife’s fortune to create deep financial holes through poor investment decisions, and then viciously attacking those around him, only to later shame himself.
Samuel Clemens could not control his family’s life situations, so he continued to flail about, making many poor and sometimes destructive decisions, attempting to control the pain around and within him. He used his fame as a medicine to numb his pain through the momentary comfort of the adulation of others. His humor was often biting, clearly sharpened against others, which allowed him to avoid judging himself. He was guilt-ridden throughout his life, writing later in life about his emotional pain from not being there enough for his wife and children. Like many people, it is easier to blame God than face one’s mistakes and limitations.
The way I affirm God amid living in a corrupt, unjust, unfair, and often painful world is through seeking our Triune God’s motivation. The Hebrew Bible and the New Testament both describe God’s involvement in human life. We are not promised a perfect or peaceful life. Jesus didn’t receive one, and he was the only fully human being who deserved one. A mistaken life expectation can destroy one’s motivation and existential meaning. Clemens suffered, and his actions made his loved ones’ suffering worse due to his inability to define the meaning of human existence. Clemen’s suffering was inevitable because he did not nurture the tools to face and overcome life’s inevitable pain and death. If you cannot admit the reality of life’s agony, you will not know how to experience freedom from existential despair.
Samuel Clemens received the tools for hope through the gift of faith his mother gave him at the Presbyterian Church in Hannibal, Missouri. Unfortunately, it was easier for Samuel to blame God for what Clemens did not understand than to seek a deeper understanding of who God is and how God works with us in this imperfect world. Samuel Clemens’ life choices were detrimental because they led to continual, avoidable, emotional suffering. God is the only answer to life’s existential pain. We may never be able to prove God’s existence through physical phenomena, but through the act of trusting the process of faith, our decisions become more courageous and loving. Those around us feel affirmed and cared for because our priorities are compassionately focused.
Each of our lives is defined by the voluminous decisions made over a lifetime. Several decisions create an ethical template that determines what we value and who we are in our world. Faith in our Triune God helps us determine who we are and how to live in a flawed world. We find God’s actions in the world and our lives through Scripture. How God acted with others in the past helps us learn how God may respond to us presently and in the future. Jesus proclaims in word and deed a love through divine grace and mercy. Further, Jesus opens the door to our eternal redemption. Until it is our time to follow Jesus’ pathway to ascension, we have the Holy Spirit to guide our decisions so that we may act with a Christ-like love, and in a way that makes a lasting difference in the lives of others.
Trust in God, live for others, and you will find a way through this life’s labyrinth of pain, without succumbing to cynicism, narcissistic responses, and fatalistic despair. Instead, God will guide your way as a peacekeeper and giver, while you ride the pain with emotional maturity and Christian compassion. When you do, your life will not be simple or even peaceful, but it will be faithful, and you will look back and know you did your best, and others around you were better for your loving presence in their lives.