Claire Bennet, Lepers, and the Gift of Pain

I'm so excited that Heroes is back on the air. And after last season, I'm relieved it's not lame.

They seem to have found their foooting again by telling a great story.
Who is your favorite Hero? I've always been partial to Peter Petrelli-- the younger brother who could only do whatever the Hero standing next to him could do. As the youngest child, I always liked how he wanted to be like his big brother, and when his brother, who could fly, was standing close by, then the little brother could too. A psychological, birth order, sibling rivalry gold mine!
But now, I think I am really liking Claire. She's the cheerleader who can heal from anything. But this season, there is a new development. SPOILER ALERT! DON'T READ ANYMORE IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED THIS SEASON!

Are you still with me? Okay, good. This season, after a run in with Sylar, Claire has lost her ability to feel pain. Before, she could walk through fire, get hit by a train, or throw herself off a water tower, but it would still hurt. And now, she misses the pain. She tells her mom that she wonders if she is even human anymore.

Who knew we could find such deep theology in prime time? Philip Yancey, in his book "Where is God When it Hurts" talks about leprosy. He says that the disease known as leprosy in Jesus' day was actually a deadening of nerve endings. A leper would lose the ability to feel a cut on his foot. So he would just keep walking, allowing the cut to become more and more infected. Or he would never know to blink away the grain of sand in his eye and would go blind. When Jesus healed a leper, He gave them the ability to feel pain again. Pain is vital. It makes us human. It is what makes us cry out for help, helps us learn from past mistakes, makes us aware of danger. Whether you believe in God or not, you at least must concede that without the gift of pain, we would not survive long as a species. And if you are willing to consider the possibility that there is a God, then maybe you can see pain as a gift from a god who loves us, rather than proof that God doesn't love us.

I understand the rebuttal. "How much pain is enough? When does it stop becoming a gift?" And for people who have suffered unimaginable loss and pain, I'm imagining that after standing over the grave of a child you've outlived, or signing your divorce papers, or watching your life savings swept away by natural or financial disaster, you're feeling quite human enough, thank you.

What Christians hang on to that makes us different from Hindus and Buddhists is the idea that suffering is redemptive. Hindus see it as punishment for the past. Christians see it as refinement for the future. Buddhists see pain as meaningless. Christians find meaning in pain and suffering when they understand it as part of the process of making us more like Christ.