Suffering?

A few days ago, a friend of mine from school told me of his loss of faith because of what he had seen in the world. I did not have any kind of answer or consolation because whatever I thought sounded too intellectual, self-righteous and smug. In this post Dan of poserprophet reflects on the debate between Bart Ehrman and the Bishop N.T. Wright of Durham and gives what I think is a good description of how a Christian could talk about suffering. Read the whole article for a good summary and his reflection. A small quote below :

"Thus, in response to Ehrman's question, "Why do we suffer?", I wish Wright had responded, "I don't know. But I continue to believe in God, and here's why...". Of course, I don't believe that others will find the "here's why..." to be compelling, because I think that the only reason why we continue to believe in God, when confronted with the magnitude of suffering, is because we have met God. The reason why I find faith to be compelling is because God has chosen to come out to meet me, and I suspect that the only reason why a person like Ehrman would believe in God would be because God comes out to meet him as well. Now I can't help but wonder if Wright, in his efforts to engage in a substantial and reasonable dialogue, deliberately avoids this track, and where it leads, because it seems entirely too subjective and experiential."