In the secular view, suffering is never seen as a meaningful part of life but only as an interruption.
Interpretation
Suffering is often viewed as an obstacle rather than a significant aspect of life.
Timothy Keller suggests that in secular perspectives, suffering is merely perceived as an inconvenience that disrupts life's flow, lacking any inherent meaning or value. This view contrasts with perspectives that embrace suffering as an integral element of the human experience, offering growth and depth to life.
In practice
In a discussion about resilience, this quote can highlight the role of suffering in personal development.
Falling in love in a Christian way is to say,'I am excited about your future and I want to be part of getting you there. I'm signing up for the journey with you. Would you sign up for the journey to my true self with me? It's going to be hard but I want to get there.
Only in Jesus Christ do we see how the untamable, infinite God can become a baby and a loving Savior. On the cross we see how both the love and the holiness of God can be fulfilled at once.
All human problems are ultimately symptoms, and our separation from God is the cause.
While your character flaws may have created mild problems for other people, they will create major problems for your spouse and your marriage.
To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God. It is what we need more than anything. It liberates us from pretense, humbles us out of our self-righteousness, and fortifies us for any difficulty life can throw at us.
God's Kingdom is "present in its beginnings, but still future in its fullness. This guards us from an under-realized eschatology (expecting no change now) and an over-realized eschatology (expecting all change now). In this stage, we embrace the reality that while we're not yet what we will be, we're also no longer what we used to be.
It is harder to preserve than to obtain liberty.
Donβt consent to be hurt and you wonβt be hurt β this is a choice over which you have control
Let's be clear. The planet is not in jeopardy. We are in jeopardy. We haven't got the power to destroy the planet - or to save it. But we might have the power to save ourselves.
Utopia is in the moment. Not in some future time, some other place, but in the here and now, or else it is nowhere.
I think that cosmetic enhancements in my profession are just an occupational hazard. But I think, more culturally, I'm interested in starting the conversation about aging gracefully and how, instead of making it a cultural problem, we make it individuals' problems.
I am not a pretty girl. I don't want to be a pretty girl. No, I want to be more than a pretty girl.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.