Thank for this essay, ma’am. Your questions are both timely (considering the global unrest and rising antisemitism) and yet they are also timeless. Playwrights have made fortunes exploiting those questions! Shakespeare, or Steinbeck any one?
You asked if your recent hardships are a punishment, or simply the result of a random order of change. It is both, it is one, or, as a third option, it is neither. I believe that part of “suffering” is our inability to deal with its ambiguities. One can always assign a specific wrongdoing and at the same time assign some probability of its randomness. Why was my father stricken with this horrible disease? Why was my friend taken from me so early? The answer is both specific and random. We search for meaning in something in which there is none. Some people call it simply “God’s will,” (the third option) and accept it without question. My own personal experience with suffering fostered guilt (why did I inflict such pain on my family, even though it was a random occurrence), followed by resolve (what do I need to change to avoid future occurrences.
Too often we associate “suffering” with a specific act or event – death of a family member, a bitter divorce. Yet suffering is also brought about through societal pressures; that is, it is plainly self-inflicted. We allow the ugliness of world to infiltrate and taint our outlook on the future. We see it as something we cannot control and therefore a threat to our well-being, and we suffer from the fears of that looming threat. Their perceived suffering is expressed as outrage and, if we don’t agree with their perspective, we immediately become an accomplice to their suffering. The world’s obsession with “climate change is existential” is a perfect example of this.
If we search for “meaning” in suffering, we will be frustrated, as it has none, per se. Too many times we are unable to answer the question of “why.” But in the context of meaning, suffering does provide an opportunity to find purpose. The answer to your question isn’t why or how, but in reality, where do I go from here. What can I learn about myself, and how can I put those lessons to work to make me a better parent, adult, lover, or human being.
Good perspective. Suffering does provide an opportunity to find purpose; it is how we react that defines our character and this philosophy is rooted in Stoicism.
Boethius served the “Roman Emperor” who oversaw the Fall of Rome in 476—the worst thing to ever happen (to “good people”), arguably in world history. Christianity destroyed our ancient world, destroyed our ancient texts, destroyed our ancient philosophies & universities, destroyed our ethnic faith & temples,… destroyed the place where Family is from.
I am not sure it was Christianity that brought about the destruction of the Roman Empire. They Romans liked to blame them. There were many factors, and do not fogert the invasions from the north.
Not surprised to hear the “invasions from the North” (that Christian Rome failed to defend against or preemptively ceded land to); these are tired-old simplistic stories from grade school. The introduction of Eastern monotheism into our world was the fundamental-cultural upheaval that destabilized our ancient society (was it deliberate?); it is arguable that Multiculturalism ideology, which is borderline religious, is doing the same today, again over the course of generations. Throughout the Dark Ages & Medieval eras, the Crusades across Europe actively converted & killed remnants of our ethnic faith & identity; whatever remained was resurrected through the Renaissance.
Interestingly enough, I just taught Boethius to my Medieval Philosophy class last week. I will share your column. who says medieval philosophy is dead? They knew tough times... and we all can identify.
Thank for this essay, ma’am. Your questions are both timely (considering the global unrest and rising antisemitism) and yet they are also timeless. Playwrights have made fortunes exploiting those questions! Shakespeare, or Steinbeck any one?
You asked if your recent hardships are a punishment, or simply the result of a random order of change. It is both, it is one, or, as a third option, it is neither. I believe that part of “suffering” is our inability to deal with its ambiguities. One can always assign a specific wrongdoing and at the same time assign some probability of its randomness. Why was my father stricken with this horrible disease? Why was my friend taken from me so early? The answer is both specific and random. We search for meaning in something in which there is none. Some people call it simply “God’s will,” (the third option) and accept it without question. My own personal experience with suffering fostered guilt (why did I inflict such pain on my family, even though it was a random occurrence), followed by resolve (what do I need to change to avoid future occurrences.
Too often we associate “suffering” with a specific act or event – death of a family member, a bitter divorce. Yet suffering is also brought about through societal pressures; that is, it is plainly self-inflicted. We allow the ugliness of world to infiltrate and taint our outlook on the future. We see it as something we cannot control and therefore a threat to our well-being, and we suffer from the fears of that looming threat. Their perceived suffering is expressed as outrage and, if we don’t agree with their perspective, we immediately become an accomplice to their suffering. The world’s obsession with “climate change is existential” is a perfect example of this.
If we search for “meaning” in suffering, we will be frustrated, as it has none, per se. Too many times we are unable to answer the question of “why.” But in the context of meaning, suffering does provide an opportunity to find purpose. The answer to your question isn’t why or how, but in reality, where do I go from here. What can I learn about myself, and how can I put those lessons to work to make me a better parent, adult, lover, or human being.
Good perspective. Suffering does provide an opportunity to find purpose; it is how we react that defines our character and this philosophy is rooted in Stoicism.
Boethius served the “Roman Emperor” who oversaw the Fall of Rome in 476—the worst thing to ever happen (to “good people”), arguably in world history. Christianity destroyed our ancient world, destroyed our ancient texts, destroyed our ancient philosophies & universities, destroyed our ethnic faith & temples,… destroyed the place where Family is from.
I am not sure it was Christianity that brought about the destruction of the Roman Empire. They Romans liked to blame them. There were many factors, and do not fogert the invasions from the north.
Not surprised to hear the “invasions from the North” (that Christian Rome failed to defend against or preemptively ceded land to); these are tired-old simplistic stories from grade school. The introduction of Eastern monotheism into our world was the fundamental-cultural upheaval that destabilized our ancient society (was it deliberate?); it is arguable that Multiculturalism ideology, which is borderline religious, is doing the same today, again over the course of generations. Throughout the Dark Ages & Medieval eras, the Crusades across Europe actively converted & killed remnants of our ethnic faith & identity; whatever remained was resurrected through the Renaissance.
Interestingly enough, I just taught Boethius to my Medieval Philosophy class last week. I will share your column. who says medieval philosophy is dead? They knew tough times... and we all can identify.