Quite recently, I had a conversation that brought me back to a question humans (I suppose keenly atheists) have been asking for thousands of years. If God is inherently good, as stated so many times within the Bible, then why does suffering exist? And even deeper than that. Does the idea of good even make sense without the existence of bad? This short but inspiring conversation took place in an Instagram DM, which had moved from a group chat after I brought about the idea of a particular theory. We had agreed that the universe seems to be governed by a certain set of laws and limitations that can be measured. And so I asked that perhaps we were in agreement on simulation theory as well. To which he denied. Thereafter, he invited me to a one-on-one discussion. It started simply. He posed his question to understand mine.
“Hmmm, so you are asking why don’t we live in a utopia if God is good?”
I replied, “Sure, a benevolent God, yes. It’s a paradox.”
He says, “If it was perfect and good, how would we know it’s good?”
To which I respond, “Well, good, I would say, is intrinsic. Not defined by the opposite. If we think about love, we experience it first in most cases before hate. We still identify love, connection, creativity, harmony.”
And here, a game of semantics began, which, admittedly, I had taken a misstep in my explanation.
He writes back, “I disagree. Good is an adjective, not a noun; it describes the nature of something. Love is a noun or verb, it doesn’t have an opposite. The opposite of love is not hate; it’s indifference, which is a neutral state. So my point being, you can’t know good without bad, especially if you have never experienced it.”
I read his message over a few times. He had a point, but I felt that the conversation had gotten away from its base. So I agreed and put forth another view.
“Indifference being the opposite of love makes sense. I agree with you there. But once we start talking about a “good” or benevolent God, it becomes a different conversation. Humans might need contrast to recognize good, but God would not be limited by human psychology.
So the real question is not whether we need bad to understand good. The real question is whether God needs suffering for goodness to exist.
This is where your point about free will comes back in. You said free will is limited, which means humans are not causing suffering through their choices alone. If that is true, then every form of suffering or most would have to be intentional or allowed directly by God.
Which is fine, but it’s still messed up and doesn’t really stay consistent with many other theories and claims of the nature of God.
And also, living in a utopia doesn’t have to be exact. There are certain things we suffer that could just not exist without throwing off the balance of “good” for contrast.” I fire back.
After this response, he retreated to prayer, as it was that time.
Reflection
That shifts the framework in its entirety. The question is no longer whether humans need contrast. The real question becomes, does God need suffering in order for goodness to exist? I think it’s a fair question to ask of an omnipotent, gracious, benevolent God. And to that, I have yet to receive a response from my friend. Perhaps he is still at prayer. But that is where our conversation took an interesting turn. And it would have been quite an insightful turn out. I plan to give an update if we are to ever pick up where we left off.
Another thing he mentioned was that free will does not exist. If that is true, then we are not deliberately choosing to suffer. This raises another layer of complexity. If God is infinite, benevolent, and completely unrestricted, would a being like that require suffering to define goodness? Perhaps there are restrictions to an almighty power?
At any rate, this is where my own reflection began. Humans rely on contrast. We understand joy more fully after pain. We appreciate peace more deeply after chaos. Our perception of good is often shaped by the absence of it. However, that does not mean good only exists because bad exists. It means our sense of meaning is shaped through experience.
A divine being, one not limited by human perception, would not need suffering as a reference point. Goodness could stand on its own. Love, harmony, joy, and compassion do not need an opposite to be real. They can exist as their own complete qualities without comparison.
Suffering does play a role in the human experience. It forces introspection. It strengthens empathy. It reveals our values and our inner structure. It can push us toward growth even if we never chose it. Yet that does not automatically mean suffering should be required by divine intention. This conversation helped me realize something important about perspective.
When we talk about God, we often give human limitations a divine label. We assume God thinks the way we think. We assume God learns the way we learn. We assume God values contrast the way we value contrast. It may be that the human experience of suffering says more about the way we understand reality than it does about what God requires or desires.
My takeaway is not that one of us was right or wrong. Instead, the conversation revealed something deeper about the way we search for meaning. We use our emotions, our analogies, and our limited understanding to reach for something that exists far outside our full comprehension. Of course. So the question I am left with is not simply “Why does suffering exist?”
It is something more personal. What does our need to explain suffering reveal about us? What does it reveal about the universe and God?
The Persistence of Connection: Melting Clocks and Missed Calls
There's a type of exhaustion only clocks seem to understand, a silent fatigue, ticking away within the seams of our hurried lives. In Salvador Dali’s most celebrated creation, The Persistence of Memory, we witness clocks melting across a barren landscape, their soft, gooey faces representing the fragility of time itself. Today, in a modern reinterpretation of Dali’s iconic dreamscape, we see more than just soft watches. We encounter something altogether more human and personal: the softness of longing, desire, and unresolved conversation.
Here we find a woman in vivid repose, holding onto an elongated phone cord, her lifeline and torment intertwined. The receiver melts gently in her hand, suggesting an intimate conversation turning ambiguous and indistinct. Communication is dissolving, literally slipping through her fingers. At her feet, clocks weep, losing all sense of measurement or predictability.
Yet, perhaps the deepest story here is not what melts, but what pours forth. We witness liquid dripping from the telephone, a poignant visual of raw vulnerability, hinting at words unsaid, tears unshed, and intimacy unresolved. An intimate openness spills uncontrollably, suggesting that what remains unspoken has its own way of escaping our carefully constructed façades.
This image is profound not merely because of its reference to Dali, but because it merges surreal symbolism with modern loneliness. Who hasn’t clung desperately to a phone call that left more questions than answers? Who hasn’t felt words fade into vague promises, slipping from meaningful conversation into silence? Like melting clocks, we distort and reshape our understanding of these exchanges until the original meaning is lost.
This woman, lost in a whispered, perhaps unrequited dialogue, reflects the quiet desperation many experience. Her relaxed posture contrasts sharply with the emotional chaos subtly implied. Does she await a voice that comforts or hurts, heals or wounds? The viewer, perhaps seeing themselves in her silent struggle, wonders how many unresolved calls they've carried in their own hearts, conversations that continue echoing softly even years later.
In the background, quiet waters linger calmly, indifferent to human drama, reinforcing the isolation of her emotional landscape. Behind her, a lone tree holds another clock, its branches empty, longing, perhaps, for leaves or blossoms it cannot bear. It is a metaphor for waiting, for things that never flourish or come to fruition.
Introspection arises naturally here, as we reflect upon our own personal "melting clocks." How many precious moments have we let slide through our fingers, lost to hesitation or fear? How many connections have faded, softened into vague nostalgia, irretrievable except through memory's distorted lens?
In an era of instant messages and hurried connections, we rarely acknowledge the emotional toll taken by unresolved communication, by silences that deepen into chasms, by words that flow endlessly yet fail to connect. Perhaps, then, it’s not simply our time that is melting, but our ability to hold onto each other, to truly communicate without distortion or disguise.
This modern visual allegory urges us to confront these melting moments directly, to catch the words before they drip away, to bridge the spaces where connection fades into oblivion. It calls us to see clearly those moments we let slide by, and decide if we dare allow more clocks to melt or, at last, pick up the receiver and speak our truths clearly, resolutely, before the chance forever slips away.
The philosopher Descartes believed that he had found the most fundamental truth when he made his famous statement: “I think, therefore I am.” He had, in fact, given expression to the most basic error: to equate thinking with Being and identity with thinking.
The compulsive thinker, which means almost everyone, lives in a state of apparent separateness, in an insanely complex world of continuous problems and conflict, a world that reflects the ever-increasing fragmentation of the mind.
The Art of Discretion: Mastering the Fine Line Between Tact and Truth
Discretion is the art of being subtle, tactful, and sensitive to the privacy of others. It is an important quality in many aspects of life, including personal relationships, professional situations, and social interactions. Here are some tips for mastering the art of discretion:
1 .Listen More Than You Speak: One of the key aspects of discretion is knowing when to speak and when to stay silent. Listen carefully to what others are saying and gauge the level of sensitivity around the topic. Avoid sharing confidential or sensitive information with others unless it is absolutely necessary.
2. Be Respectful of Others’ Privacy: Respecting the privacy of others is essential to mastering discretion. Avoid gossiping or sharing personal information about others, even if it may seem harmless. Keep information confidential unless you have explicit permission to share it.
3. Use Discretion When Posting on Social Media: Social media can be a breeding ground for oversharing and lack of discretion. Be mindful of the information you share on social media and how others may perceive it. Consider the potential consequences of sharing information before you post.
4 .Know When to Speak Up: Discretion is not always about staying silent. Sometimes, it is important to speak up in situations where someone’s safety or wellbeing is at risk. Use your judgment to determine when it is appropriate to speak up and when it is best to stay quiet.
5. Practice Empathy and Understanding: Practicing empathy and understanding is key to mastering the art of discretion. Try to see things from other people’s perspectives and understand how your actions and words may affect them. Be sensitive to their feelings and experiences.
In summary, mastering the art of discretion requires a combination of active listening, respect for others’ privacy, thoughtful social media use, knowing when to speak up, and practicing empathy and understanding. By focusing on these qualities, you can become a more discreet and thoughtful individual in all aspects of your life.
Gives a working explanation for the existence of the universe and rests on the premise that substance cannot create itself. Also suggests that the Big Bang was the result of mental creation, which may sound hypothetical but actually has some basis in quantum mechanics. And if the universe is mental in nature, you have the power to alter reality (bring things into manifestation) by being in full control of your thoughts through a process of mental transmutation.
2. Principle of Correspondence
“As above, so below; as below, so above.”
This principle tells us that everything in the universe acts in accordance with the same laws. This is easy enough to visualize when you know that geometric formulas obtained from the measurement of earthly objects can also be used to calculate the distance of stars and planets in space. The principle of correspondence states similarly, all the Hermetic principles (universal laws) operate on all planes of being - physical, mental, and spiritual. Basically, activity on the mental plane (your thoughts) has the ability to effect changes on the physical and spiritual planes. Thoughts mirror reality; by controlling what you think on the mental plane, you can control what you manifest on the physical plane.
This principle is the basis for string theory in quantum physics, which states that that reality is made up of infinitesimal vibrating strings which are smaller than atoms, electrons or quarks. It tells us that everything in the universe is in constant motion, and that just as all particles of matter manifest varying rates of thermal energy, all mental phenomena (thoughts, emotions, etc) manifest at varying rates of vibration on the mental plane.
4. Principle of Polarity
“Everything is dual; everything has poles; everything has its pair of opposites; like and unlike are the same; opposites are identical in nature but different in degree; extremes meet; all truths are but half-truths; all paradoxes may be reconciled.”
There are two sides to every coin; this principle tells us that all extremes are the same in nature but different in degree. For example, there is no such thing as absolute heat or absolute cold. There are only varying degrees of temperature. “Hot” and “cold” are the same thing, only different in degrees. Similarly, this principle can be applied to the mental plane - what is “absolute hate” or “absolute “love”? Are these not two emotions not essentially the same in nature? Knowing that two extremes are in fact the same thing will allow you to shift your mood from one end of the polarity to another; from hate to love, fear to courage, etc. This is what the Hermeticists call mental alchemy.
5. Principle of Rhythm
“Everything flows, out and in; everything has its tides; all things rise and fall; the pendulum-swing manifests in everything; the measure of the swing to the right is the measure of the swing to the left; rhythm compensates.”
This principle about the mathematical patterns in the universe, that everything is cyclical and phasic in nature. Stars are born and die, galaxies expand and collapse, empires rise and fall, cities are built and destroyed. Day follows night, sleep follows wakefulness. Everything is in rhythm, following the motion of a pendulum swing that goes one way then the next. Our own emotional states follow the same rhythm, shifting from positive to negative and then back again.
6. Principle of Causation
“Every cause has its effect; every effect has its cause; everything happens according to law; chance is but a name for law not recognized; there are many planes of causation, but nothing escapes the law.”
This tells us that everything is connected through cause and effect in a great chain of events. Think of phenomena such as butterfly effect, or even what we think of as ‘karma’. Nothing is ever manifested in an effect that isn’t present in the cause - every thought we think, every action we perform, has both direct and indirect effects on the cosmic chain of events that we observe as reality.
7. Principle of Gender
“Gender is in everything; everything has its masculine and feminine principles; gender manifests on all planes.“
Bear in mind the important difference between "sex” and “gender”. The former refers to one manifestation of gender on the physical plane, while the latter relates only to the process of creation and genesis. From Newton’s first law, we know that an object at rest will stay at rest unless acted on by an external force. We can think of the object at rest as the Feminine principle, which operates in terms of creative energy, generating the ideas and objects that form our world. The Masculine principle is the force, which “wills” the Feminine principle to begin its process of creation. Gender exists in everything; and in our minds both the Masculine and Feminine principles must be duly engaged in order to make the best use of it.
The truth is that I cannot see you damned. Or doomed to live without a hand. My shoulder can become your stand to lean on—when you need to be freed from observation. Left alone, but not alone. I understand. The complications of the world exist beyond command. A man could never interfere. The plan is never in your ear. So we can give the praise to God—alone—the only one to fear. My dear righteousness—cured to be the bane of my progression, in full health, I learn the lesson of resolve. I thought I knew it all until I did not know it all.
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