When they were in the field Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. [The Bible, Genesis 4:8.] We will be greatly misled if we feel that the problem will work itself out. Structures of evil do ... Read More about Evil
Week 04: Suffering
Ego – Selfishness
. . . evil is always the assertion of some self-interest without regard to the whole . . . [Reinhold Niebuhr, The Children of Light and the Children of Darkness (Scribners, 1944), p. 9.] The ... Read More about Ego – Selfishness
Mortality
. . . approach thy grave Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams. [William Cullen Bryant, "Thanatopsis."] Quietly they go, the intelligent, the ... Read More about Mortality
Powerlessness
The second great spiritual pain is powerlessness. We will come to Niebuhr's serenity prayer but before we do, we acknowledge that pain that makes us seek that comfort. ... Read More about Powerlessness
Separation and Alienation
This is true of every creature, and it is more true of man than of any other creature. He is not only alone; he also knows that he is alone. Aware of what he is, he asks the question of his aloneness. ... Read More about Separation and Alienation
The Material World; The Physical Body
Though the Earth gives us life and the body is the sine qua non of every experience we will ever have, still people are tempted to view material things as constraints. The biblical story of the ... Read More about The Material World; The Physical Body
Suffering
Suffering is the price of being alive . . . [variously attributed to Judy Collins and others]Suffering is permanent, obscure and dark, And shares the nature of infinity . . . [William Wordsworth]Birth ... Read More about Suffering