Our journey through life is a slog through hostile territory.
Stewing in the Evils of the Valley of Tears makes firm our Grip on the Gift of Paradise
All of our complaints against God's rescue plan originate from our intimate contact with the evils of the Valley of Tears. Yet, our baptism in the evils of the Valley of Tears brings multiple blessings to us. It is harsh but effective medicine. One of the blessings is that our baptism in the evils of the Valley of Tears makes firm our grip on the gift of paradise.
Between the gift of life and the gift of paradise, God inserted a delay. During the delay, we stew in the evils of the Valley of Tears like pickles in a barrel of toxic brine.
Why? Why are we baptized in the evils of the Valley of Tears before we are given the gift of paradise?
God did not baptize Lucifer, the gaggle of angels who follow Lucifer, Eve, Adam and the prodigal son in evil before he gave them the gift of paradise. They were given the gift of life and the gift of paradise simultaneously. Yet, all of them fumbled the ball. They let the gift of paradise slip through their fingers. God does not want the children of Adam and Eve to repeat the mistake (a/k/a original sin) of their parents. So God lets us stick our fingers into the flames to learn for ourselves the hard way that the fire is hot. The prodigal son will never return to the pig sty. Neither will we. When the gift of paradise is given to us, we will not fumble the ball as did Lucifer, the gaggle of angels who follow Lucifer, Eve, Adam and the prodigal son. We will keep the gift of paradise. Our own personal experience teaches us that the alternative to paradise is a shithole. Rational creatures avoid living in a shithole. It is against their self-interest to do so. It is crazy to do so. Our baptism in the Valley of Tears is harsh but effective medicine. Once bitten, twice shy.
P.S. The sour truth is the medicine. The sweet truth is the sugar that helps the medicine go down in the most delightful way .
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The Gift of Paradise
Original Sin
Having experienced the pig sty for himself, the prodigal son will never go back there. Neither will we. Having put our fingers into the flames, we know that the fire is hot. Our faculty of obedience is broken but not our faculty of rationality. The truth is the fuel of our rationality. When fueled by the truth, our rationality steers is in the right direction. When the fuel is contaminated by illusions, our rationality leads us astray. Our intimate contact with the sour truth of the Valley of Tears educates us about many things including our need for God. In the Valley of Tears, we undergo a baptism by fire. Our baptism in the evils of the Valley of Tears like pickles in a barrel of toxic brine transforms us. The experience puts iron in our grip. When the gift of paradise is delivered to us - and delivery is ineluctable - we will keep it. We will not fumble the ball as Lucifer did, as the gaggle of angels who follow Lucifer did, as Eve did, as Adam did and as the prodigal son did. All of them were given the gift of life and the gift of paradise simultaneously. Simultaneous delivery of the gift of life and the gift of paradise does not work. Therefore, God inserted a delay between the gift of life and the gift of paradise. The delay is harsh but effective medicine.