Then Tobit composed this joyful prayer: Blessed be God who lives forever, because his kingdom lasts for all ages. For he scourges and then has mercy; he casts down to the depths of the nether world, and he brings up from the great abyss. No one can escape his hand. Praise him, you Israelites, before the Gentiles, for though he has scattered you among them, he has shown you his greatness even there. Exalt him before every living being, because he is the Lord our God, our Father and God forever. (Tobit 13: 1-4)

We suffer. Whether it is caused by God or not, Tobit and I would need to discuss. But certainly the suffering is real.

The possibility of transcending the suffering is also real.

The Israelites have been conquered, oppressed, and scattered. But Tobit insists that even in this condition there is cause for exaltation and praise.

Viktor Frankl, a Jewish pyschiatrist, endured 1944-1945 at Auschwitz and Turkheim concentration camps. Frankl wrote,

If a prisoner felt that he could no longer endure the realities of camp life, he found a way out in his mental life - an invaluable opportunity to dwell in the spiritual domain, the one that the SS were unable to destroy. Spiritual life strengthened the prisoner, helped him adapt, and thereby improved his chances of survival. (Mans Search for Meaning)

The spiritual domain - God's kingdom - is imperishable, always open to us and ready to receive us.