As a species, we human beings revel in our accomplishments. We take pride in our progress and how much we have evolved. Technologically we have advanced in wonderful ways. There is no denying the progress we have made in many facets of life. We are an intelligent, creative, determined and adaptable species.
That is why it is so difficult to understand why many people choose to create their own self-imposed punishments. We allow ourselves to remain captive in the clutches of negative habits and actually have ourselves convinced that they are enjoyable. The number of people that suffer from alcoholism or some form of drug addiction is astounding. People often turn to these outer influences in an effort to relieve stress or escape from problems. Unfortunately, they are trying to solve a problem by creating another.
Those that believe in God and the concept of heaven and hell may blame their problems on God but it seems quite obvious that we have a hand in creating our own hell, at least here on earth. We tend to blame God for our problems, assuming that we have fallen out of favor with him and that he is punishing us for something we have done. Others blame the devil for tempting us but let's be realistic – we humans do a good enough job of being self-destructive on our own. We can't continue to blame God or the devil for our own inadequacies. God and the devil are convenient scapegoats in our own game of denial. We refuse to admit that we are the ones to blame for the path we choose to follow, not some outside force. This is not to say that God does not exist or that there are no forces of good or evil existing in a spiritual realm. This is a matter of faith for those who believe.
Nevertheless, if we believe in God then we must also believe that God created humankind with free will. That free will is the very factor that prevents us from placing blame on God or Satan for our own choices and actions. Some people may reply that Satan still tempts human beings; that is not in dispute. But even so, human beings are imbued with the free will to choose. We are not mindless automatons destined to follow the carrot dangling in front of our noses.
It appears that part of the problem is that people tend to live by the precept, if it feels good, tastes good, looks good, etc., it is good. Of course that type of thinking is usually way off target. Haven't we yet learned that appearances, among other things can be deceiving? Apparently not. Pleasure and pain are opposite sides of the same coin. Experiences that seem to be pleasurable often turn out to cause a great deal of pain on one level or another. Some people might also feel that since this life is temporary we should extract as much pleasure from it as possible, like trying to force every last drop of ketchup out of the container. We're so busy having a good time we don't realize that many of the things we choose to take pleasure in are the ones that can lead to self-destruction.
It is not always easy to be tolerant of those we view as being on the wrong path just as it is not easy to forgive those who have wronged us or a loved one. But this is wrong too. It has been said that human beings are very young in the cosmic scheme of things. We search for the meaning of life and perhaps we will never be able to provide an adequate answer to that question but we do know that life is a learning experience for all of us. We make mistakes and we learn. Eventually we begin to understand that the consequences that result from our actions are not always pleasurable. We learn to be tolerant, to have patience and to forgive. We are all travelers on the spiritual path although it certainly may not seem that way most of the time. Some of those travelers are on the right path; some are lost. But sooner or later, we will all meet a fellow traveler who will point us in the right direction. It's just a matter of faith.
