Pain

Why is it that my solution for everything painful is: "it's part of the beauty."

Blisters = Music
The struggle to express ourselves is what makes expression so valuable.
If we didn't have sickness, we wouldn't know what it means to be healthy.

And, yes, I still think that's all true. But pain sucks! Pain is painful, screw it! Who wants pain?

First. Pain was never part of the plan. It was part of the fall. We were not made to feel pain, which is why it feels so painful, it's something that was never supposed to be felt. That is a state we have lost, the painless state, the Eden state. It is a real loss, and one which cannot be recovered here on this earth.

Second. God can work good through anything. I am so very disappointed that I returned Perelandra to the library before I got to write down all the quotes I wanted from it, but you may remember Ransom's first great victory over the Un-Man in debate, speaking of good lost and good which came from the loss. Nothing can deny that good comes from pain, even the best good possible, the cross. Nobody can refute the fact that even though we have lost the painless state, we have gained new good through the painful state.

Third. We cannot know which is better. But it is my firm belief that pain, no matter what good comes from it, is not itself a good thing. It is a utility, a necessity, wothwhile only because of what it brings, and worthless by itself. We can't know what would have happened, but given the posibilities of a painless state and a painful state, one which produces gain without loss and one which produces good with loss... it seems clear to me which is better.

Fourth. We cannot live for the lost state. Nothing we do will return the painless state to us, we must live in the state that exists, the painful state. This means not avoiding pain, but embracing the good that it can bring. One day, pain will be meaningless. Now, it is a very real hurt, but one necessitated by our transgressions.

Fifth. Pain is part of the beauty. The beauty of humanity. Any good that pain can accomplish gives testement to the power of God to create good through the evil we have imposed upon ourselves. I cannot pretend to understand the cross, why it was necessary, but I think that pain was a part of it. Pain was part, a necessary part, of that beauty.