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2011-07-16T17:12:03Z

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 The reader might respond that this is a somewhat cynical view of human nature because we probably would have formed societies simply to express empathy and love. I do not doubt this for a moment.  However, I also believe that necessity is not only the mother of invention, but also the mother of social organizations for mutual benefit and specialization of labor.  An imperfect world complements the human desire for empathy and love.  While empathy and love allow us to enjoy one another, the imperfect world challenges us to extend that love to meeting others’ needs and making up for others’ weaknesses.  Challenge (arising out of an imperfect world) induces us to extend our empathy, friendship, and enjoyment of one another into the domain of meeting one another’s needs, organizing ourselves for optimal mutual benefit, and creating societies which take on a life of their own beyond any specific individual or group of individuals.  Yet an imperfect world does far more than this.  It calls us to make a better world, to the discovery of the deepest meaning of justice and love, and even to create better cultures and systems of world organization.
- (2) Room to make a better world.  An imperfect world reveals that God did not do everything for us.  He has left room for us to overcome the seeming imperfections of nature through our creativity, ideals, and loves – not merely individual creativity, ideals, and loves, but also through collective creativity, ideals, and loves.  As noted above, individuals can receive a tremendous sense of purpose and fulfillment by meeting challenges and overcoming adversity.  Yet we can experience an even greater purpose and fulfillment by collectively meeting challenges which are far too great for any individual; challenges which allow us to be a small part of a much larger purpose and destiny within human history.
+(2) Room to make a better world.  An imperfect world reveals that God did not do everything for us.  He has left room for us to overcome the seeming imperfections of nature through our creativity, ideals, and loves – not merely individual creativity, ideals, and loves, but also through collective creativity, ideals, and loves.  As noted above, individuals can receive a tremendous sense of purpose and fulfillment by meeting challenges and overcoming adversity.  Yet we can experience an even greater purpose and fulfillment by collectively meeting challenges which are far too great for any individual; challenges which allow us to be a small part of a much larger purpose and destiny within human history.
 It would have been noble indeed, and a fulfillment of both individual and collective purpose to have played a small part in the history of irrigation, the synthesis of metals, the building of roads, the discovery of herbs and medicines, the development of elementary technologies, the development of initial legal codes, the initial formulation of the great ideas (such as justice and love), the discoveries of modern chemistry, modern biology, modern medicine, modern particle physics, contemporary astronomy and astrophysics, the development of justice theory, inalienable rights theory, political rights theory, economic rights theory, contemporary structures of governments, the development of psychology, sociology, literature, history, indeed, all the humanities, arts, and social sciences; to have played a small part in the great engineering and technological feats which have enabled us to meet our resource needs amidst growing population, to be part of the communication and transportation revolutions that have brought our world so much closer together; to have been a small part of the commerce which not only ennobled human work, but also generated the resources necessary to build a better world; to have been a small part in these monumental creative efforts meeting tremendous collective challenges and needs in the course of human history.  Yet, none of these achievements (and the individual and collective purpose and fulfillment coming from them) would have been possible without an imperfect world.  If God had done everything for us, life would have been much less interesting (to say the least) and would have been devoid of the great purpose and achievement of the collective human spirit.  Thank God for an imperfect world and the challenges and suffering arising out of it.  We were not created to be self-sufficient, overly-protected “babies,” but rather to rise to the challenge of collective nobility and love – to build a better world.
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 In any case, the imperfect world and the history of human suffering have given rise to a concrete reality of remarkable beauty and goodness in the areas of justice, rights, legal systems, governance systems, medicine, biology, chemistry, physics, psychology, sociology, and every other discipline which has as its noble end the advancement of the common good.  Without an imperfect world, without some suffering in the world, I find it very difficult to believe that any of this would have arisen out of the collective human spirit in the course of history.
 It would seem that the price paid in pain has been at least partially offset by the gains made in culture, society, the individual spirit, and the collective human spirit. I do not mean to trivialize the history of human suffering and tragedy nor the lives of individuals ruined by human injustice and an imperfect natural order.  Yet we should not fail to find some hope in light emerging from darkness, and goodness emerging from evil.  Inasmuch as God is all-powerful and all-loving, He can seize upon this goodness and light to reinforce its historical momentum, and more importantly to transform it into an unconditionally loving eternity.  An imperfect world shaped by an imperfect, yet transcendently good human spirit brought to fulfillment by an unconditionally loving God, may well equate to an eternal symphony of love.
 == The Fifth Purpose of an Imperfect World:  Building the Kingdom of God ==

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-MOERF – Unit L
+The Magis God Wiki: Suffering Caused by Nature
 Why Would God Allow Suffering Caused by Nature?
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 © Robert J. Spitzer S.J. Ph.D./Magis Institute July 2011
-I'''ntroduction'''
+'''Introduction'''
 It is somewhat easier to understand why God would allow suffering to occur through human agents than it is to understand why He would allow suffering to occur through natural causation.  After all, it would seem that if God creates the natural order, He could have created it perfectly – so perfectly that there would be no possibility of human suffering.  He could have created each human being in a perfectly self-sufficient way, so that we would have no need.  Or, if we had need, He could have created us with a perfect capacity to fulfill those needs within a world of perfectly abundant resources.  So why did God create an imperfect natural order?  Why did He create a natural order which would allow for scarcity?  Why did He create a natural order that would give rise to earthquakes and volcanoes and tsunamis?  Why did He create a natural order which would permit vulnerabilities within the human genome that allow for blindness, deafness, or muscular degeneration?  Why did He create a natural order which would permit debilitating diseases?

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 Yet, none of this would have occurred if I had not appreciated empathy and humility (which led to the recognition of the unique goodness and lovability of others).  As noted above, my appreciation of empathy and humility was greatly assisted by suffering, which allowed me to move (partially) beyond the spell of self-absorption and autonomy.  This freedom which came through a combination of suffering and the love of God has enabled me, albeit imperfectly, to forgive from the heart.
- I have a long way to go in the pursuit of humility and empathy, of care and respect, and forgiveness; so I expect that I will need further assistance along that path.  But I have come to realize that God’s unconditional love in combination with suffering is one of the best vehicles to this freedom to love and forgive.  I have also come to realize that true happiness consists in this love, which seems, at least in my life, to come inevitably through the vulnerability of an imperfect physical nature in an imperfect world.
+I have a long way to go in the pursuit of humility and empathy, of care and respect, and forgiveness; so I expect that I will need further assistance along that path.  But I have come to realize that God’s unconditional love in combination with suffering is one of the best vehicles to this freedom to love and forgive.  I have also come to realize that true happiness consists in this love, which seems, at least in my life, to come inevitably through the vulnerability of an imperfect physical nature in an imperfect world.
 Compassion.  Compassion is yet another gift which suffering helps to appropriate.  As might be obvious to most, “compassion” means “to suffer with.”  Though some ancients recognized compassion as virtuous, others did not.  The Old Testament has a progressive awareness of the goodness of compassion, but it is Jesus who brings it to its fullest and deepest meaning.   I would like to explore briefly the teaching of Jesus here because I believe that it goes far beyond philosophical treatments, and probes the depths of both the divine and human heart.
- Jesus elevates compassion to the very perfection of God:  “Be compassionate (oiktirmones) as your Father is compassionate” (Luke 6:36).  This passage parallels Matthew’s rendition, “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:48).  The Greek word here, oiktirmones, has multiple connotations.  It implies mercy in the sense of forgiveness, and also in the sense of genuine sympathy for the poor and the marginalized.  It carries with it every implication of the heart of the father of the prodigal son (Luke 15) where we see the root of compassion (“to suffer with”) quite deeply.
+Jesus elevates compassion to the very perfection of God:  “Be compassionate (oiktirmones) as your Father is compassionate” (Luke 6:36).  This passage parallels Matthew’s rendition, “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:48).  The Greek word here, oiktirmones, has multiple connotations.  It implies mercy in the sense of forgiveness, and also in the sense of genuine sympathy for the poor and the marginalized.  It carries with it every implication of the heart of the father of the prodigal son (Luke 15) where we see the root of compassion (“to suffer with”) quite deeply.
 The father of the prodigal son (who represents God the Father, for Jesus) is not simply merciful to him, he sympathizes with him in his suffering.  Even though the boy has betrayed him, his family, his country, his election, and the Law, the father cannot help but be moved by his son’s misery.  He so sympathizes with his son in his suffering that he forgives him and restores him to full membership with the family (signified by giving him a signet ring).  Compassion (“loving sympathy with another who suffers”), here, is not only the source of forgiveness, it is also the source of healing and the imparting of dignity.  We are now getting to the essence of compassion.
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 God works through this suffering.  He doesn’t waste any of it.  For those who are open to seeing the horizon of love embedded in it, there is a future, nay, an eternity for each of us to manifest our own unique brand of unconditional love within the symphony of love which is God’s kingdom.  Without suffering, I do not think I could have even begun to move freely toward that horizon which is my eternal destiny and joy.
 == The Fourth Purpose of an Imperfect World: Interdependence, Human Community, and a “Better World” ==

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 == The First Purpose of an Imperfect World:  Identity Transformation ==
-As explained in UNIT A, human beings tend to move through four levels of happiness or purpose:  (1) happiness arising out of external physical and material stimuli; (2) happiness arising out of ego-satisfaction and comparative advantage (such as status, admiration, popularity, winning, power, and control); (3) happiness arising out of making an optimal positive difference and legacy to the people and world around me; and (4) happiness arising out of being connected with and immersed in what is perfect, ultimate, and eternal in Truth, Love, Goodness, Beauty, and Being (for those with faith, God).
+As explained in UNIT A, human beings tend to move through four levels of happiness or purpose:
 It so happens that the lower levels of happiness/identity are more surface-apparent, immediately gratifying, and intense than the higher levels.  They tend to more easily attract us and hold our attention from without (instead of requiring discipline from within), so we more easily gravitate toward them.  However, they are much less pervasive, enduring, and deep than the higher levels of happiness/identity.  For example, making an optimal positive difference to others and the world with my time, talent, and energy (Level 3) can have effects far beyond my ego-gratification (Level 2), so it is more pervasive than Level 2.  These effects can last much longer than the acquisition of a new car, the enjoyment of an ice cream cone, and the enjoyment of status and power – so they are more enduring than Levels 1 and 2.  Finally, they are deeper than Levels 1 and 2, because they involve my highest creative and psychological powers (i.e., my powers of intellection, moral reasoning, ideal formation, love, spiritual engagement, etc.).
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 In light of death, the choice of one’s fundamental essence (say, love) becomes transformative and “life-giving.”  Death gives life – an authentic, reflective, and free life through a more pervasive, enduring, and deep purpose in life.
 == The Second Purpose of an Imperfect World:  Stoic Virtues ==

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