The goodness of God

The question was honest. I don't remember it precisely, but it went something like this:
"How can a good God allow suffering? If He is able to remove/prevent all suffering, why doesn't He?"
And although I answered the question to the best of my understanding when it was asked, it haunted me. Perhaps it was because I had never heard that particular configuration of the question before. I had heard
"If God is good, how can He allow suffering?"
and similar questions. But this question was almost a question of faith. Knowing that God is good, how can He allow suffering? I have an answer for that, too. I must, to be self-consistent in my beliefs inside my head. But this question made me think of another. What is the goodness of God?

We immediately and rather logically assume that God's goodness is like ours.
Good: morally excellent, righteous, pious
           high quality
           kind
But beyond the dictionary, 'good' has its connotations: 'a good kid' (who is usually primarily distinguished by not doing bad), a 'goody-two-shoes' (who is 'too good', and knows it too well) and so on...

Is God's goodness like that?
Why not?
He is righteous, He is certainly high quality, He is beyond kind, He never does evil, and He knows His own goodness (though not in a bad way!)!
But this misses the point. If we say that He is morally excellent, what do we compare Him to to make that judgment?
If we say He is high quality, what standard of quality do we use?
What is kindness? What is evil? What is good? How can we judge those things?

He is righteous and morally excellent. But our righteousness we earn (according to some definitions) or are given (according to our definitions). It is something external applied to us. Not so with God! He is righteousness itself.
He is the definition of quality
Kindness is Him at work in love.
Evil is what-is-not-Him.
Good is what-is-God or what-is-of-God.
His goodness is not quantitatively but qualitatively different! He is the definition of good itself. We call good what reminds us of Him.

What if suffering reminds us of Him?
Then is suffering bad?

Yes, suffering stinks. It is nothing like fun. And it will most assuredly not be in Heaven. It is part of our sinful world. BUT
Can any deprivation, distress, hardship, heartache, unfulfilled desire, unhappiness, starvation, sword...be bad if it brings us nearer the Good?

"I delight in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities --for Christ"
"For this light and momentary trouble is working for us an eternal glory which far outweighs it all"
(2 Corinthians 12:10 & 4:17)