Every time something bad happens to me, I work extremely hard to make it go away. For example, if I am sick I rush to the doctor and pharmacy as quickly as I can to get better. If I lose my job, which has happened a few times, I work as hard as I can to find a new one. If I have some kind of financial setback, I try to make it up immediately by saving more, and changing my spending patterns.

I don't like hardship. I try and avoid it, and when it comes I resist it with all my might. In today's Gospel reading, Jesus tells his followers of some serious hardship that is about to befall him: "Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised."

When Jesus tells his followers that he is going to suffer, die, and rise again, Peter's response is swift: "God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you!" Then Jesus answers Peter: "Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do."

Peter responds to Jesus the way I probably would. I mean, if someone I loved told me they were going to suffer and die, I would immediately pledge my allegiance to my friend and promise to help him avoid this fate. This, as Jesus points out, is how human beings think. It is not, however, how the kingdom of God operates.

Of course, Peter only hears the first part of Jesus' prediction about suffering --- not the second part about being raised on the third day. But like me, when you're in the midst of a crisis, you tend not to hear the promises of a rosy outcome. I am usually too focused on getting out of trouble.

I remember once when a company I worked for folded suddenly and I was without a job, many friends told me how it was "for the best" and that "something better will come along." In my anger and frustration I ignored these predictions as facile, wishful thinking. When I did end up in a far better position than I had before, I had to admit that my friends were right.

While we are not told to seek suffering, we are told that in the case of Jesus Christ suffering turned out to be a doorway to redemption. Part of our task as followers of Jesus Christ is to understand when to resist and when to embrace the hardships that come our way. Perhaps we will only be able to appreciate the redemptive value of suffering in hindsight.

That seems most likely in my case. I can't quite imagine welcoming misfortune. And we are certainly not called to be complacent in the face of the suffering of the poor and helpless among us. We are, however, called to think as God does, and not has human beings do, when it comes to our response to hardship.

Bill Peatman writes from Napa.