SUFFERING proves to be an overwhelming maze of not only pain, but also of inescapability. The worst of thoughts is that the pain and inescapability could both prove to be fatal, not least of the spirit, as the soul seems to die by the day. Of course, these are thoughts very reminiscent of hopelessness, of loss of vision, of desperation, and aberrant lostness. There is no irony lost in the coincidence of suffering and hopelessness. These convergent poles tend us toward despair.