Hypothesis: Suffering = Blessing! Nothing the Lord does is by accident, so the pain I experienced, the pain I caused, and the torment I left behind me hopefully will lead to much greater virtue and grace. The challenge of accepting the will of God in my life, for better or worse, was a challenge that I not only made much harder than it should have been, leaving a lifetime of debt and burden behind me, but an opportunity I lost in serving Him, my brothers and sisters, and the greater good for the world. Like the fig tree, I deserved to be cursed, cast aside, and left to burn in the unyielding desert sun. But . . . His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. Maybe, just maybe, He has a greater plan.