A Series of Unfortunate Events

"It seems our problems solve themsleves when we look beyond us to those truly in Hell.
It seems our problems solve themselves when we look beyond our suffering."
-As I Lay Dying, Beyond Our Suffering

Sometimes life just really freakin' sucks. What seems just is instead unjust, what is truthful made dishonest, and what is lovely is made more hideous than we can possibly imagine. The question of why this is so or how we, as humankind, can overcome our suffering is a question that thinking men have pondered for centuries. The religious try to explain it with big words like "theodicy" and "natural order" and the irreligious either think that we will can solve all our problems by changing our society and coming together as one big happy human family or that problems are unsolvable and we should just accept it. Voltaire had his turn, now its my turn. Shall we?

Naturally, many of the events in the book are insane and blown out of proportion. How many people do you know of that have lost a buttock at the hands of a villainous pirate? That being said, life can be every bit as random and depressing as the events of Candide so surely its not all just multi-tiered madness, right? It's so easy to see our world as nothing more than a series of unfortunate events where everything goes wrong and nothing is right. We try to succeed, occasionally do, mostly don't, and don't know what exactly we're living for. It's as if the world is its own living, breathing entity whose purpose is to maintain order through suffering and punish those who actually earn success. Like the book suggests, politicians and such get theirs in the end, but how often is that really true? Does the world just punish them for being successful and getting their own way, or would the really unfortunate event for mankind be if they died happy? Of course, that would suggest a sort of moral code that this world is following, and we must also suppose that God wrote it and is therefore in contr-oh, shut up, Epicurus! Get your own blog!

This brings me to another point: what is suffering? Is suffering simply not getting what we want out of life when we want it or is something truly more sinister than simply not getting the best, right now? It's rather strange when we look at our lives here in America and then look at the rest of the world, where are poorest person is wealthy compared to an impoverished nation's poor. Are they suffering because they are poor, or are they suffering because there is a unfulfilled desire in their hearts for something truly meaningful. As is the case with the six poor kings and the unglorious glorious kingdom of Eldorado, there are untold numbers of unhappy rich people and content peasants, so the brokenness of man is not restrained to personal success. This should come as no shock, but in a culture so focused on personal success and glory, where Wall Street bankers commit suicide when the banks crash and people sing songs glorifying money while never giving it away, it seems pertinent to remind people of this. God gives all necessary glory to those who fear H-I told you to beat it Epicurus, get away from me!

Anyway, I actually side with the pessimist, Martin, in his view that suffering is everywhere and comes to all people. Jesus clearly told the people that tribulations will come as result of the Fall of Man (also aluded to in the first chapter) but stressed that He has overcome the world. See, Jesus agrees with me, the world is something to be overcome, it's not right, and unfortunately its all our fault. GOD WOULD GLADLY DESTROY THE SIN IN THIS WORLD AND ERASE SUFFERING, BUT TO DO THAT WOULD DESTROY SO MANY PEOPLE CAPABLE OF BEING SAVED, WHICH IS WHY JESUS DIED IN THE FIRST PLACE, OKAY EPICURUS?!?!?! Okay, I think I just hurt his feelings, which brings me to my final point, that I should comfort him anyway because even Epicurus suffered and went through pain. Pain is not because our dreams get crushed and our happiness dimished, that's just life. True suffering is not having a hope in something better than this world. This is not "the best of all worlds" or else there would be no need for a heaven and we would not have an inner desire for a better one. So no, Pangloss is wrong, but so is Martin, because he would just sit back and let the world stew in misery because he feels like there's nothing he can do. The best I've found of combatting suffering is simply to shut my mouth and be there for a person. That's what Job wanted, that's what Cunegonde wanted, and that's really what we all want-the knowledge that there is someone out there who feels how I feel and cares about me, and I am not alone in my sadness. In that respect I suppose the Turk is right. Sometimes, the best thing we can do is to just "cultivate our garden".
When mankind can come together in love and truth, life becomes more than just a series of unfortuante events-it becomes something truly beautiful.

So, yeah, that's my blog. Feel free to comment with any praise or criticism that you please, and have a wonderful day! BTW, below is my comment on Jamie Kilpatrick's post: This is the best? Come on, Epicurus, let's get some ice cream...

Yeah, I find it really hard to believe that this can really be the best world imaginable. The fashion of this world is to try and change the world through our own actions and create a better society. You've heard John Lennon's song "Imagine", right? The idea is that we can create our own peaceful, happy utopia and make things right ourselves. However, what most people don't consider is the condition of an unchanged man with a faulty heart and that a utopia is basically impossible because all men are greedy, selfish, and ultimately will just create more wars and end any sort of man-made utopia. I tend to be a pessimistic optimist, however, because I know that God's people have the key to utopia already, and that day is coming. You're on the money about sin, though, this world will always self-perpetuate sin and sadness, we as people must be made new in truth and in love.