Consider the greatest stories you’ve been told. They all involve a protagonist facing an immense challenge to achieve a noble outcome that will redeem a perilous situation.
PICTURE: Hu Chen/Unsplash
Our hero will face intense pain along the way, that will almost break their resolve, but we hold our breath with them, waiting for that climatic resolution to celebrate.
Do we consider the author malevolent for placing their characters in such peril and pain? No, the bigger the odds, the greater the story. Why do we consider the Author of Life malevolent for placing us in situations where our resolve will be tested; where heroic and noble actions can emerge?
Doesn’t this make us rethink suffering? I don’t want to add pain to anyone’s life, but there’s something in us that needs challenge, adventure, even at risk of great suffering, to really live.
Paul Clark’s musings can be heard on radio across Australia and at atthetop.org.au.
