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I agree with the others . . . mostly. I wouldn’t remove their ability to feel the pain entirely. That’s wrong, without a doubt. It’s messing up a part of what makes us human, in a way. But to take the pain for them for a time . . . that I would do. Not permanently. Like others have said, pain is necessary for growth.

But it breaks my heart when I see so many of my friends experiencing more than their fair share of pain and suffering while I live a comfortable, easy life. And if I had a way to reach out and bear their pain for them for an hour or a day, to give them a chance to rest and sleep peacefully and not hurt, and in doing so, make the pain easier to bear when they get it back (because they have been reminded that there’s hope; that pain isn’t forever), I’d do it in a heartbeat.

Would it be right? I think it would be, in some circumstances. After all, we’re instructed to bear one another’s burdens and to love one another and encourage one another, to walk with one another in both joy and pain. However, identifying the right circumstances would require prayer and attention to God’s leading. And there would be some days when you’d have to do as Sam did; when you’d have to say “I can’t carry this for you, but I can carry you” and just be there to support them as best you can while they’re bearing their own burdens.