Just briefly as my kids are being too noisey for me to compose anything eloquent ATM:

I'm a better person for having suffered. I believe in the saying "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger". However this doesn't mean I rejoice when others suffer (my logic doesn't extend to believing that suffering is good for other people). When I come across someone who is suffering I know that it is a chance for me to heal myself as well as ease their suffering. Because my suffering has usually been in isolation (of one kind or another) I cannot bear to see others suffering in isolation.

I don't become overly distressed by "needless suffering" when i am functioning on a 'higher plane'. It upsets my 'day to day' me... but ultimately I know that no suffering is pointless. I trust God's plan enough to believe that somehow all suffering makes sense. Perhaps there are spirits in the Heaven dimension who choose to improve themselves... maybe they know that a certain type of suffering on Earth is just what they need to be a little closer to perfection. So maybe they are the spirits who return to Earth as babies in Third World countries who die slow painful deaths of malnutrition? This is not to say we should therefore be more accepting of this kind of suffering. The opposite holds true: it is better for OUR spirit to ease the suffering of dying children. In the broader scheme of things Gods will celebrate either outcome. If the child dies then the spirit of that angel has been improved but if the child survives then the spirit will have further opportunity to improve anyhow.

Does this make any sense? I have a toddler demading "more apple juice!!!" at the top of his lungs now LOL better go deal.