Consume Product

I used to think that way, too. I felt like I had bad luck, that God was punishing me. My outlook affected my surroundings and my mental state, a negativity that constantly pulled me down into repeated bouts of depression off and on for many years.


I learned, however, that suffering is necessary, for being alive, for improving, for learning, and for building strong men. Look at the physical dichotomy between the political left and right. The left play perpetual victimhood, wallow in sin, and seek comfort and hedonism above all other considerations. They're weak and unchallenged, shirking away from all hardship, and when hardship does reach them, they cry out "woe is me". We're strong because we're challenged, because we overcome.


If God is all powerful and loves us, how can God let us suffer?


Part of the answer to this question is displayed openly right now, for all to see, a parallel in current society matching perfectly to the scenario I'm about to paint.


Imagine a scenario where God relented, and removed the worst half of human experiences from what could happen to us, leaving only the neutral experiences up to the very best. At first, we would be overjoyed and thankful. We would praise God every day. Then, slowly over time, we would begin to get used to the "new normal". We would begin to take our great blessing for granted, and come to expect it, forgetting how badly things were before. Our memory isn't perfect, individually or generationally. Over generations, the great blessing God bestowed on us would be entirely forgotten. The "new normal" of the top half of human experiences would be reshaped into the totality of human experience, with the formerly neutral experiences labelled as the worst things imaginable. We would see differentiation in human experience, see people experience better things than us, and would lament "why God do you let me suffer?" Through comparison, through envy and coveting what our neighbors have, we would rob ourselves of our own joy. The people would cry out, asking God the exact same question that began this path.


Let's say that God relents again, and removes the new worst half of human experience, leaving only the top quarter of human experiences. The process would repeat. People at first would be overjoyed and thankful. Then they'd get used to it, and then take it for granted, then normalize it, then forget where they came from, compare experiences, reshape their definition of reality to fit with their current worldview, and rob their own joy by being envious and covetous of their neighbors who have it better.


This is exactly what's happened to Western civilization, right now. We have central air conditioning, heating, cheap clothing, plentiful food and water, cars, phones, computers, internet, all manner of entertainment, relative safety, automated machinery to make our work much easier. Our ancestors, not even 100 years ago, grew most of their own food, made their own clothes, washed everything by hand, had no air conditioning, no electric or gas heating, no water pipes, the bathrooms were outhouses, no electricity, no cars, no phones, no internet, no washing machines, no dishwashers, etc. They lived tough lives, but they were happy, because they struggled and were thankful for what they had. Nowadays? People have far more than their ancestors could've ever dreamed, but most people are miserable, precisely because we don't struggle like our ancestors, because we've taken all of the blessings we have for granted. We've forgotten where we came from and reshaped reality into the "new normal", comparing our lot to those around us, coveting the good things other people have, and not thanking God for what we already have. And, who can say if God hasn't already removed the most horrific experiences we could've been previously subjected to?


The path that this toxic mindset inevitably leads towards is complete equality of experiences for all people, at all times, forever. Since we don't live the exact same lives, have the exact same parents, family, friends, job, hobbies, home, location, etc., it is literally impossible for people to have equal experiences. Just being in a different location means we'll inevitably be subjected to variance in good or bad things. This is why the globalist/lefty path of pursuing equal outcomes is so detrimental, destructive, and toxic. It produces perpetual victims who wallow in their own misery, rather than struggle to overcome the challenges they face, who take for granted all of the blessings they have, rather than thank God for all that they have, who want for more and more and more, rather than be content with where they are and how far they've come.


If someone gives you a gift, do you thank them, or become hostile toward them because they didn't give you more gifts?


If you subject yourself to actual struggle, in virtuous pursuit to improve yourself, or your family, community, and people, it will rewire your brain, and I promise you that you'll begin to become more thankful for what you have, and be able to suffer the inequities of life with joy. It's the kinds of things that will make you collapse in exhaustion after finishing, but you'll be filled with joy that you accomplished it. The more that this endeavor to struggle and overcome is directed to your own brothers and people, the more you help them, the more it will be returned in kind. As such, this is the primary danger of our modern corrupted world, convincing people that they're alone, removing the best safety net they have, their own family, friends, community, and people, who will help each other. People forget, though, that communities, all relationships, must be cultivated and tended, lest the vine withers and produces no more fruit.

I tried Eastern Orthodox. Like most of the heresies, on the surface they appear to be more just reactionaries against Catholics rather than a distinct faction. Easily 70% of their classes consisted of "Catholics bad."

I know a lot of young men who have fallen for the orthodox meme. They end up desperate and hopeless. The issue is that the EO fundamentally deny the gospel. They put the burden of salvation on yourself instead of Jesus which is the entire point of Christianity. When perfection is the goal and you constantly fall short it's exhausting, especially when you're surrounded by pharisees.

Beyond that it's just silly. They make lofty claims about being the one true church but if you actually look into the history it's clear they're a LARP. Look up Nikon's reforms or how their church as it is today was basically recreated by Stalin if you're curious, those are good starting points. There are other problems theologically, like how their essence/energies distinction is necessarily polytheistic, but most of them don't care about that as much as they just want something that seems cool and isn't western. Stone Choir did a great podcast on the topic, highly recommend.

Yeah I guess if you want to be like the early Christian's you have to find someone who is doing a good job of being Christ-like and listen to what they have to say.

Just read the gospels. Don't over-analyze it. Let the Spirit tell you what you need to know. It's not about solving an equation. It's about trying to get closer to the Master.

For many of us, including me.


Still, the Holy Spirit has been working with me in that regard, too. The Lord understands that men can err when this particular energy isn't properly directed toward a loving wife. That's why we're encouraged to marry and have kids, to give this energy a productive and healthy outlet. However, the Lord also understands our situation and the environment in which we live, of how much our society and people have been corrupted, making it much harder to find a good woman to marry.


There are no guarantees in this life, except that we will suffer, either in our sin or in our faith, and that we will die and be judged. If our lives were easy, if all of our decisions properly dictated by God so we could not sin or suffer, our lives and choices would be meaningless. Our righteousness is all the more meaningful because we face hardship. Do not give up, because God has not given up on you. The moment you give up, in anything, you have surrendered yourself to failure.


Specifically, if you're struggling to find a good woman where you are, look elsewhere. Look in churches as far outside of cities as you can. Ask the elders in the churches. Look into singles groups that partake in hobbies you're interested in. Don't use dating sites, though. Only meet women in real life.