“Do you not see how necessary a World of Pains and troubles is to school an Intelligence and make it a Soul?”

This reflects an understanding of the words of One even greater:

“Blessed are you who weep and mourn…”

If you are hurting – and it makes no sense to you – put every effort into understanding this mystery. It is your very salvation.

Often it takes a real setback – a tragedy sometimes – for man to stop his advance toward destruction. For him to realize he is not God, and that his will should yield to His. But, sadly, some still refuse to hear.

If man would pause often enough in his life to hear His calling – to be taught by Him – he might avoid much sadness.

A life of faith is not one without trouble – for such is the product of imperfect man in an imperfect world – but it is one of joy, despite one’s circumstances. The healing has begun.

You might want to take a hint from a baby or a small child who knows nothing of the tragedies and travesties of the world.

It seems to me that those tragedies are more common today, either because they, in fact, are with the ongoing crowding of the planet (and can thus be expected to become moreso) or because the 24/7 news cycle constantly pounds them into our consciousness.

Focusing on negativity is not healthy state for a being designed to be joyful (if you accept that premise)

Rather than reject the pain, embrace it. Consider it a blessing.

Do the unthinkable. Trust the One who’s created you. The ultimate healer.

You’ll know His work. The heart changes. You become less and He becomes more. You count yourself less and your fellow man more.

And looking back, you’ll give thanks. That pain – a faint memory now – was a treasured gift from God.

In short, the answer is yes.

Let me give you an example: this morning’s news headlined a situation in Florida where several men died when refrigerant leaked from a faulty container. Friends and family will grieve, others peripherally involved will be momentarily made aware of their own mortality. For the rest of the viewing audience the response was undoubtedly something on the order of “Damn that’s a shame… honey, have you seen my socks?”

That is as it should be. A rational human being knows that not every tragedy or injustice can be internalized, leastwise, not and retain one’s sanity. Life goes on, and just because someone died in Florida, or China, or some godforsaken hole in Africa, does not mean that we must feel guilty because we laugh and joke, or hold our grandchildren in our arms, and feel reasonably content with our lot.

If you’re sooooo worried about not having any rough patches, I’ll lend you mine! No charge!!

Man has pretty much mastered self-medication. Alcoholics, drug addicts – even shopaholics – abound. We look to numb our feelings rather than explore the source of our discontent. And so we never heal. And far too often, we leave a trail of other lives destroyed as we go about avoiding the truth.

Instead of turning our thoughts inward and upward, searching for what might make sense of “what should not be” in our lives, we look for answers in the world or from our fellow fallen man. And it appears the scientist is once again stepping in to offer his solution.

There’s almost a shallowness to the sound of “happiness” – is the heart involved? Or is there a deep and abiding “joy” that we might have instead – no matter our circumstances.