the questions of the world

anyone can feel pain, loneliness, joy, laughter, anger...

one does not have to have faith in God to experience what is true and real about this world. we are all alive. so often in various art forms one finds the artist able to share or represent certain features of life with great accuaracy and passion. in one sense it doesn't matter what you believe or don't believe, everyone can ask the questions of life if they will have the courage.

good art has often asked the right questions.
while reading a novel called Tinkers by paul harding i was thinking about this.

"Your cold mornings are filled with the heartache about the fact that although we are not at ease in this world, it is all we have, that it is ours but that it is full of strife, so that all we can call our own is strife; but even that is better than nothing at all, isn't it? And as you split frost-laced wood with numb hands, rejoice that your uncertainty is God's will and His grace toward you and that that is beautiful, and part of a greater certainty, as your own father always said in his sermons and to your at home. And as the ax bites into the wood, be comforted in the fact that the ache in your heart and the confusion in your soul means that you are still alive, still human, and still open to the beauty of the world, even though you have done nothing to deserve it. And when you resent the ache in your heart, remember: You will be dead and buried soon enough."

then it goes on with a character reflecting...

"Howard resented the ache in his heart. He resented that it was there every morning when he woke up, that it remained at least until he had dressed and had some hot coffee, if not until he had taken stock of the goods in his brush cart, and fed and hitched Prince Edward, if not until his rounds were done, if his dreams were not tormented by it. He resented equally the ache and resentment itself. He resented his resentment because it was a sign of his own limitations of spirit and humility, no matter that he understood that such was each man's burden. He resented the ache because it was uninvited, seemed imposed, a sentence, and, despite the encouragement he gave himself every morning, it baffled him because it was there whether the day was good or bad, whether he witnessed major kindness or minor transgression, suffered sourceless grief or spontaneous joy."

i was thinking about this.
it felt a little familiar to me.

whatever is true and real in this world is connected to a God who created, according to believers. the only real difference between us and those who don't include God in the conversation is the particular hope we hang onto - hope that is filled with the answers and the reasons we possess. we spend our lives feeling the same things, having similiar experiences, and they include questions and doubts...and maybe an ache at times or sometimes more than others.

i remember an honest line from the bible, a man saying 'i believe, help my unbelief.'

i like to hear the stories of people with real questions.
i like art that is honest.
i like people who are honest.
i like having some answers to go with the questions.