For patients and families faced with health catastrophes and serious chronic medical conditions, the experience of suffering is not just a personal one, but is strongly influenced by cultural and historical changes in the processes that contribute to moral life being distinctive in different eras and societies. Faced with a threat of pain, disfigurement, loss of function, and serious disability, individuals and families reframe the experience of suffering within their local moral world by remaking meanings, emotions, and values via ethical, religious, and aesthetic activities.