The Christian doctrine of suffering exlains, I believe, a very curious fact about the world we live in. The settled happiness and security which we all desire, God withholds from us by the very nature of the world: but joy, pleasure, and merriment He has scattered broadcast. We are never safe, but we have plenty of fun, and some ecstasy. It is not hard to see why. The security we crave would teach us to rest our hearts in this world and oppose an obstacle to our return to God: a few moments of happy love, a landscape, a symphony, a merry meeting with our friends, a bathe, or a football match, have no such tendency. Our Father refreshes us on the journey with some pleasant inns, but will not encourage us to mistake them for home.
The Problem of Pain, C.S. Lewis
2 comments:
Very interesting indeed!
I've read a couple other posts on this topic recently--on how many Christians lack a "theology of affliction" that teaches us to approach and endure suffering in the correct context; and on sadness in general, and how it is a substantial part of the Psalms--and, thus, perhaps of a Christian life; that we are not meant to go from happy to happy in this life. Sobering thoughts.
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