Pleasure and Pain

 We must begin with the premise that we will be rewarded for our earthly actions in death. It is the things we deny ourselves that open the gate to heaven. They are the things that our God has told us to avoid. There is no rationalization required, only obedience. If we do that, the gate is wide open. The path is not an easy one because we are frail creatures subject to whimsy. We seek pleasure and the avoidance of pain. That is not to say God requires pain of us, only that the choices are not always pleasurable to ourselves. The pain we feel may be an emotional one, but the reward is great. It is a paradox in life that the very thing we seek, pleasure, is the one thing that may prove the most damning and the thing we avoid, pain, is the very thing that may provide the reward. Discovering the median is the key.
 What if we remove that premise entirely.Does that then mean our lives are nothing more than a game of survivor ? A game where everything goes ? It is acceptable to lie, cheat, steal and manipulate others for our own gain ? An existence where our outward appearance and actions only matter inasmuch as they promote our own goals ? They only become negative actions if discovered by others. In that scenario , love, is reserved only for yourself. That would seem a bit pointless from my view as our lives are finite. How do you win ? Just what is the reward, the prize ? A comfortable life ? Or is it as simple as , I get my way ?
 I think about this in society today. Many are abandoning the first premise in favor of the later. This effort is being disguised as progress and enlightenment. The term liberal is used, well liberally ! It is portrayed as a bold new approach, the modern scholars explaining the workings of the universe. We are busy making laws and revising the old laws, attempting to legislate the game. All of those attempts are nothing more than spelling out the rules but they do not address the real " game. " This game we call life. We all know the basic rules in life and in society. No one needs to write those down. The founding fathers called them " unalienable " rights and they stemmed from God. That they are universal laws can not be denied, is it that important to define their origin ? I would have to say ,no. What is important is following those rules.
 There is a natural order of things. This natural order has been observed by man since the beginning of time. Yes there are aberrations in this order, oddities and freak occurrences. Man has been known to interfere with this natural order and the results are never good. The damage to the earth is only one example of man's interference. On a social level we have seen many disruptions of this natural order and the results have proven disastrous in some cases. Think Nazi Germany, the Communist states and feudal Japan. Our nation was founded as one nation under God for a reason. It is the natural order of things that man should live free. Is it perfect ? Of course not and that is due to man, not God. When man seeks only the pleasures in life, the things that please him, that is the result. The more we deny that natural order, the worse the situation becomes. It is our choice.
 All I'm saying here is, whatever you wish to label that " natural order " makes little difference. What is important is adhering to the principals displayed by nature. Those unalienable rights that we all know and understand. Following those rules may include self denial of pleasure and involve some pain. It requires the giving of self, not the denial of others. Are we " just dust in the wind " as the song says, or are we a breath of fresh air ? The air that sustains man on this earth. When that air becomes stale and foul a cleansing will take place. That too is the natural order of things. We call them " climate changes " and " global events " like ice ages, floods or perhaps meteor impacts. Man's knowledge is limited to observation and supposition.