Leaders vs Dictators

Leaders vs Dictators 

A good leader believes in and respects the ¹rule of law and seeks to enforce it. He/she sees truth and law as objective realities, not something they create. 

A strong leader is unwavering in the enforcement of the law and is guided by the ¹rule of law. Unyielding enforcement of the law is not dictatorship. 

A dictator considers themselves the law and seeks to overthrow absolute objective law, so they can become the law-giver.

A good leader recognizes the law and acknowledges there is an ultimate ¹law-giver (God) that is the highest authority and not them. 

In the dictator's eyes, they see themselves as the highest authority. This, in large part, is why they seek to be a dictator i.e. power. 

Ironically, this is why a dictator will accuse a law enforcer of being a dictator. The law and those who enforce it are a direct obstacle and threat to dictators who are lawbreakers seeking to establish themselves as the only absolute authority and ruler over others. 

This is also why dictators despise followers of any religion, because followers of a religion see themselves as answering to a higher authority other than those who seek to rule over them. 

Dictators do not recognize that law comes from a source outside of themselves. They believe instead they are the law or should be if they are not.

For a discussion on the basis of morality, click here.

For a discussion on what it means to "obey the authorities" in Romans 13 Click here

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Footnotes:

¹To understand the founding of the United States of America and what distinguished it from any other governments up to that point, we must understand common law, it's history and philosophical/theological underpinnings. If you do not know this background you can not truly understand the USA.

What did the founders of the United States mean by common law? 

The founders of the United States—figures like Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, and others—understood  "common law" primarily as the English legal tradition they inherited as colonists. This was the body of unwritten law developed over centuries through judicial decisions (precedents), customs, and practices in England's courts, rather than through comprehensive statutes or codes. It stood in contrast to "statute law" (enacted by legislatures) or civil law systems (like those derived from Roman law on the European continent). 

* Core Meaning to the Founders

Common law embodied principles of justice, rights, and procedures that were seen as ancient, customary, and rooted in reason and immemorial usage. Key aspects included: 

- Rights and liberties — Protections like trial by jury, due process ("law of the land"), habeas corpus, prohibitions on unreasonable searches, double jeopardy, and safeguards for property and contracts. Many viewed these as "birthrights" of Englishmen, traceable back to documents like Magna Carta (1215), which the founders often invoked. 

- Judge-made development — Law evolved case by case through court rulings, guided by precedent (stare decisis), but judges were ideally "finding" or declaring existing law based on custom and reason, not inventing it arbitrarily. 

- Limited government and rule of law — No one, including the king or Parliament, was above the law. This included remedies in equity (fairness where strict rules fell short) alongside common law courts. 

The founders were steeped in this tradition. William Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England (1765–1769) was enormously influential in America as a systematic explanation of it; many lawyers and statesmen studied it. 

* Context in the Founding Era

Before independence, colonists repeatedly appealed to common law rights against British policies they saw as violations (e.g., in petitions and the Declaration of Independence's list of grievances). The First Continental Congress in 1774 declared that the colonies were "entitled to the common law of England." After the Revolution, there was debate:

- Many saw it as their inheritance, adapted to American circumstances (e.g., rejecting feudal elements or monarchical overreach).

- Others, especially Jeffersonians, worried about federal judges imposing a national common law, fearing it could undermine republican government or states' rights. The Supreme Court later ruled in cases like United States v. Hudson and Goodwin (1812) that there was no general federal common law of crimes—federal power was limited to statutes and the Constitution. 

States generally received (adopted) English common law as it stood around the time of independence or settlement, modified by local conditions, statutes, and constitutions. The U.S. legal system remains a common law system today (with exceptions like Louisiana's civil law roots). 

* Relation to Founding Documents

- The Declaration of Independence (1776) grounded rights in "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God" and "unalienable Rights" (life, liberty, pursuit of happiness). Founders often saw natural rights as underlying or harmonious with common law protections, not in conflict. Grievances against King George III frequently referenced violations of English constitutional and common law norms. 

- The Constitution and Bill of Rights built on this foundation. For example: 

  - The Seventh Amendment preserves the right to jury trial "in Suits at common law." 

  - Criminal procedure rights in the Fourth through Sixth Amendments (searches, self-incrimination, confrontation, jury, etc.) drew directly from common law practices. 

  - Terms like "judicial power" in Article III were understood against the backdrop of common law courts deciding "cases" and "controversies." 

Founders like James Wilson and John Adams emphasized common law as a bulwark for liberty under popular sovereignty, not parliamentary supremacy (which they rejected). They adapted it: America had written constitutions as supreme law, appeal to natural rights for justification of independence, and republican institutions. 

In short, when founders referred to "common law," they meant this inherited English system of customary, precedent-based law that protected individual rights and limited arbitrary power—viewed as compatible with (and informed by) natural law principles. It was not "judge-made law" in the modern pejorative sense of activism, but a reasoned evolution of customs and decisions serving justice. This background deeply shaped how they designed the Constitution and understood its terms. Debates persisted (e.g., federal vs. state application), but the core tradition endured as the foundation of American jurisprudence. 

In referring to "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God" what did God have to do with law in the mind of the founders 

In the minds of the American founders, God had everything to do with law—specifically as the ultimate source, author, and authority behind the moral order that undergirds legitimate human government and rights. The phrase "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God" in the Declaration of Independence (1776) was not a vague or purely secular reference. It reflected a widespread founding-era understanding, drawn from classical, Christian, and Enlightenment-influenced natural law traditions, that law is not merely a human invention but rooted in a divine moral framework discoverable by reason and, for many, confirmed by revelation. 

* What "Laws of Nature and of Nature's God" Meant

Founders distinguished (yet saw as harmonious) two closely related ideas: 

- Laws of Nature: These were the moral principles and rules of human conduct implanted in creation—accessible through reason, conscience, observation of human nature, and the "moral sense." They included self-evident truths like equality in natural rights, the wrongness of harming innocents, obligations of justice, and the duty to pursue happiness without violating others. These were not primarily physical laws (like gravity) but ethical ones governing free human behavior. Thinkers like Cicero, Locke, and Blackstone influenced this view. 

- Laws of Nature's God: This emphasized that these natural laws derive their binding authority from God as Creator and Lawgiver. God established the moral order of the universe, including human relations. The phrase pointed to God's will as expressed in creation (nature) and, for many founders, also in Scripture (revelation). As James Wilson (signer of the Declaration and Constitution, Supreme Court Justice) explained, God's law for humans is communicated "by reason and conscience, the divine monitors within us, and by the sacred oracles [the Bible], the divine monitors without us." 

In short, God was the supreme Legislator. Human laws (including the adapted English common law) had to conform to this higher law or lose legitimacy. Violations of natural law—such as tyranny—justified resistance, as the Declaration argued against King George III. 

* Key Influences on the Founders' View

William Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England (widely read by American lawyers, including many founders) was pivotal. Blackstone wrote that the law of nature is "the will of [man's] maker" impressed upon creation. When God created humans with free will, He laid down "certain immutable laws of human nature" discoverable by reason. This law is "superior in obligation to any other" and "dictated by God himself." Positive (human) law contrary to it is invalid. Founders adapted this to reject parliamentary supremacy in favor of higher principles. 

Other figures reinforced this: 

- James Wilson: Natural law flows from God as the source of justice and moral obligation. Only God deserves absolute obedience; governments derive just powers from consent and must align with divine moral order. Wilson saw common law as ultimately rooted in this framework. 

- Thomas Jefferson (primary drafter of the Declaration): Rights come from the "laws of nature" and are "endowed by their Creator." In earlier writings, he affirmed God as the giver of life and liberty together. While Jefferson was more rationalist and skeptical of orthodox Christianity than some peers, he still grounded rights in a Creator who designed human nature with moral capacities. 

- John Adams and others: They viewed politics as a "divine science" and saw the common law as arising from the laws of nature and dictates of God. Alexander Hamilton described an "eternal and immutable law" constituted by the Deity from human relations to God and each other. 

The Declaration mentions God four times overall ("Nature's God," "Creator," "Supreme Judge of the world," "divine Providence"), showing a theistic framework where God is active in moral governance and the affairs of nations—not a distant clockmaker who abandons creation. 

* Connection to Common Law and Government

This understanding tied directly to the founders' view of **common law** (as discussed previously). Common law was seen as an inheritance of customary rights and procedures that, at its best, reflected or at least did not contradict natural law. Judges were to "find" law aligned with reason and justice, not invent it against God's moral order. Human governments exist to secure God-given rights (life, liberty, pursuit of happiness). When they become destructive of those ends, the people have a right and duty to alter or abolish them—because ultimate sovereignty rests with God, not kings or majorities. 

Founders were not uniform in theology (some leaned toward Christian orthodoxy, others toward rational theism or "theistic rationalism"), but virtually all agreed that: 

- Rights are unalienable because they come from a source higher than government (the Creator). 

- Moral law is objective, universal, and authoritative because it reflects God's design for human flourishing. 

- Just civil law must conform to this higher standard; otherwise, it becomes tyranny. 

This provided the philosophical foundation for independence, republican government, and limited power. It was "common sense" to them—not novel invention—drawing on a long tradition where God, nature, reason, and (for many) revelation converged on justice. 

In essence, to the founders, God was not incidental to law but its origin and sanction. Without this divine grounding, rights would be mere grants from government (revocable at will), and law would lack transcendent moral force. This belief helped justify revolution and shape the constitutional order that followed.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick

Proverbs 13:12-14 ESV

[12] Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.

[13] Whoever despises the word brings destruction on himself, but he who reveres the commandment will be rewarded. [14] The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death.

The "tree of life" is mentioned in several verses but only three books - Genesis, Revelation and Proverbs. As we look closer at the above passage we see the connection between all three. 

12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a ¹tree of life.

How does obtaining what we desire bring us life? What constitutes life?

It is experiencing a sense of ²value, importance, significance etc.

When we obtain what we desire, it makes us feel valued and important. It gives us a sense of purpose, and meaning. When we don't, we feel rejected and worthless, cast aside, forgotten i.e. it makes the heart "sick..."

13 Whoever despises the word brings destruction on himself, but he who reveres the commandment will be rewarded.

What was the word Adam and Eve despised..."Do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or you will die."

What would have been the reward for Adam and Eve, if they had obeyed? Wisdom i.e., knowledge of good and evil. 

14 The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death. - Proverbs 13:12-14 ESV

Wisdom is knowing the difference between good and evil. To act wisely brings life and avoids harm, destruction and death.

Death and life are compared and contrasted in vs 14 just like the two trees in the center of the garden of Eden (Gen 2:9, 3:3).

Why does God say obtaining what we desire is like a tree! Trees bear fruit. The tree itself is not life but eating fruit from the tree brings us life i.e. not only nutritionally but emotionally as well i.e. a sense of value. 

And what does that eating consist of i.e. how do we eat its fruit?

Obedience. It is through our obedience to God we experience life. Obedience addresses what we must do to have life versus what we are not to do.

Obedience brings life. Rebellious disobedience brings death. Wisdom or the knowledge of good vs evil helps us see the difference.

Eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil represented disobedience. It was evidence that we are not wise when we act on our own and attempt to be our own god.

For a further discussion on where desire comes from click here.

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¹What is the essence of life? To experience our significance, importance, value. How does our experiencing significance, importance and value give us life? Because God is significant, important, and valuable i.e. He is life and we experience our own value in enjoying his. In this way we are like Him. 

"And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God (i.e. true Source of life, love, and all things), and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." - Jn 17:3

²why do we need to experience a sense of value importance and significant? It is so we can appreciate and enjoy the value, importance, and significance of God i.e. we can only enjoy the value, importance, and significance of God to the extent we experience our own in, by, and through our experiencing Him.  

In order for us to appreciate and enjoy Him, we must have corresponding qualities within us that match up or align with who God is in order to partake of and experience these qualities in Him. I.e. we must be like God - in His image - in this same way, so we might partake of His greatness - His significance, importance, and value.

Everything that is, exists because God created and sustains it. If God was not, nothing else would be. This makes Him the most significant, important, and valuable of all other beings or things. He alone is the Alpha and Omega -  the King of kings and the LORD of lords. All things are from, through, and to him. To Him be the glory (the recognition of His infinite worth/value), forever and ever. Amen!

whats wrong with the forbidden tree?

Was there something inherently wrong with the forbidden tree?

There was nothing inherently magical, different or evil about it. Eve saw that it was good for food (Gen 3:6). It probably was very similar to or the same kind as the tree of life near or next to it (Gen 2:9, 3:3) - Don't forget, God said all the trees were good for food (Gen 1:12; 2:9, 16-17).

The main purpose of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil didn't lie within the tree itself. 

The primary purpose of the forbidden tree was to see whether Adam and Eve (and now we) would follow God's direction as instructed  i.e. would they trust God and follow His directions or not.

The fear of the Lord (perfect regard and respect for God and His directions/instructions) is the beginning of wisdom i.e. of true understanding of right from wrong. If Adam and Eve had listened to God's direction - i.e. had proper regard for God and respected His direction to not eat - they would have taken the first step onto the road of true wisdom and understanding of right from wrong - good and evil - the right way i.e. by following God's direction and not trying to gain this knowledge on their own i.e. through their independent (rebellious) efforts.

To gain the knowledge of good and evil the right way was by trusting what God said and acting accordingly. To believe (trust) Him even if something seemed wrong (the tree looked good for food, so what's the problem in eating from it) regarding any direction He gave or circumstance He allowed. We are to still trust Him no matter what we encounter. We either believe God is good or we don't in any and every given situation. 

The purpose of the tree was to simply test whether they trusted God or not. It was a test of whether they recognized their total dependence on God for true life and wisdom or believed they could somehow find it on their own and make life work without him.

They choose to believe the lie that they could gain wisdom - and thereby life - without God. The tree was forbidden so they might acquire wisdom the right way i.e. through obedience to God's direction. 

They rebelled and rejected His direction and instructions. They did not trust God but suspected He was holding out on them, so they turned away from Him for life and to created things instead e.g the forbidden tree, to each other, and their own understanding. 

We do as well today and continue to wrestle with our obedience to God everyday. Only by faith in His love for us - proven by Christ bearing the consequences of our rebellious disobedience - are we empowered to live for Him. 

"The just (righteous) shall live by faith" is quoted in 4 different places in scripture for an important reason. God wants to be sure we "get it." It is the heart of the gospel - the "good news." We not only enter into God's kingdom by it, but we live out His kingdom daily through it. 

death and hell defeated

When Scripture says Satan is defeated and Christ now holds the keys to death and hell, what does this mean? 

This is simply saying that death no longer holds the same meaning and effect it once did. Satan and death no longer have the final word regarding our eternal destination i.e. our eternal separation from God and loss of all the gifts of life we now enjoy. When we are in Christ, death now means we are ushered into his presence when we die and exit this veil of tears. This is why Paul said,

When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:“Death is swallowed up in victory.”  “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1Co 15:54-57

This does not mean pain and suffering (or Satan) are eliminated in this life, or that death no longer exists (people die every day). It simply means if we are in Christ, death no longer signifies judgment and our ultimate separation from our Creator, nor do the accusations of Satan that we are worthless, guilty, and justly condemned. Why? Because our acceptance by God is based solely on Christ's efforts, not ours. 

Pain, suffering, and death have been conquered, neutered, defused, altered, and are even redeemed and used to bring life in this present world (i.e. to draw us closer to God, who is life). Ultimately, they will no longer be useful or necessary and will eventually be done away with altogether. 

If we are in Christ, they are no longer tools or instruments of destruction and eternal separation from God but are now used as a means of deliverance from our focus and preoccupation with self.

Death no longer means final and eternal death because the sting of death has been removed. Before Christ, the sting was that it ultimately led to condemnation and eternal separation from the Source of life, love, and all the blessings of creation. It no longer does for those who are in Christ. Now death is used as a means to life and ushers us into His presence in this life, with fullness of life awaiting us. 

" 'O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?' " The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."  1Co 15:55-57

Christ fulfilled the demands of the law and our just condemnation for all the harm we caused others by ignoring it!

2Co 12:7  So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited (who do you think gave the thorn...it wasn't Satan himself. And note it is described as a gift, not a curse or punishment).

When the Bible says that Christ now holds the keys to death and hell, it does not mean he's eliminated these, but by his resurrection, he overcame them, and now he's redeeming and using the challenges for our ultimate good and his glory. All this is offered to us if we receive His gift of eternal life in, by, and through Christ! Only through Christ is this true. 

Words of life or death?

All God's commandments are given so we might find, expand, and preserve life. God calling us to obey Him is an invitation to advance, grow, and multiply life i.e. God - through His commandments - is calling us to flourish, not: 

Decline — gradually becoming weaker or less successful 

Wither — shriveling, fading, or losing vitality (often used for plants, success, or energy) 

Fail — not succeeding or collapsing 

¹Struggle  — having great difficulty or barely managing 

Languish — losing strength, growing weak, or remaining neglected 

Deteriorate — becoming progressively worse 

Stagnate — showing no growth or development; staying stuck 

Wane — decreasing in strength, power, or prosperity 

Flounder — struggling clumsily or failing to make progress 

Perish — dying, decaying, or coming to an end 

But when we trust and obey God, it often looks and feels like death (i.e. the above list) when in reality it is the path to life. 

"For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong." - 2 Cor 12:10 

When I am weak in my natural strength, I am strong in the strength God gives me.

Christ told us that if we wish to find our life, we must lose it. If we are to live as He designed us to, we must die...i.e. die to seeking life on our own terms; outside of or apart from God. 

The fact that we bristle so much at God's commandments reveals and exposes how much we distrust him and are in rebellion against Him. When we trust and love God, we gladly embrace His direction (commandments), not avoid them. 

"For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome." - 1 John 5:3

It is our rebellion that Christ came and bore the consequences of, with all its harm and destruction we see all around us. When we trust the work that Christ did on our behalf, we are no longer in Adam, who rebelled, but in Christ, who obeyed. 

In Christ His obedience is assigned to us as if we were perfectly obedient to God as Christ was. We are now the righteousness of Christ i.e. we are in Christ and no longer in Adam.

For a further discussion on going from Adam to Christ, click here.

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Footnotes:

¹Struggle is the natural consequence of our rebellion and disconnection from God, the source of life, love, and all things.

After we turned away from the Creator (Source) in rebellion, nothing worked properly as designed and intended. 

Can there be peace on earth?

Due to humanity's spiritual bankruptcy (i.e., brokenness) and the resulting inclination to first take care of "number one" (self), there will never be a complete utopia in this life - the goal of ¹all economic or political systems.

To have a true utopia, the individual parts must be sound. A system, no matter how perfect, cannot work properly if the individual parts are not whole and working properly. If you build a wooden structure with boards eaten out by termites, the overall structure is unsound and must be reinforced or artificially propped up, or it will collapse under any sustained weight or pressure.

This does not mean we should abandon living a ²productive life and seek to love God and our neighbor as He has called and designed us to. However, the only way we can is when we are fully plugged in and engaged with Him who is the Source of life, love, and all things. If we are not in union with the Source of life, we are empty vessels at best, trying to fill the void. This results in us being takers - in need of being made whole - not givers. The emptiness must be filled in the way it was designed to be if we are to be givers. 

The solution isn't implementing (or imposing on us or others) a particular economic or political system ¹externally but being fully connected and plugged into God himself, which is an internal solution that restores wholeness, resulting in things working outwardly as designed. 

If all the individual parts of a system - i.e., you and I - are not sound, the system will not work, no matter how perfect the outward design of that system may be. Any system composed of flawed individuals (parts) can only be flawed and result in flawed outcomes. 

For this reason, a perfect system will never work; only perfect values and people willing and able to pursue them. Ultimately, this can only occur through people who recognize the greatness, worth, beauty, and glory of the Creator, and their dependence on Him and accountability to Him.

The solution ultimately is spiritual, not political or economic. It is in first knowing God and then making him known (the first and second greatest commandments), not just in word but in deed. To make Him known, we must first know Him in all His infinite love to and for us.

The real question isn't if there can be peace on earth, but when will it occur. For more on this, click here.  

For a discussion on giving as you have received, click here.  

For a discussion on obedience as the fruit of abiding, click here.

For a discussion on being fruitful, i.e., sewing and reaping, click here.

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Footnotes:

¹I am referring to economic systems - such as socialism or communism - externally imposed on us by the state and not internally and organically developed. We are social-relational creatures, and as God's image-bearers, we are designed to receive and give love, not forced to.  

However, we are also spiritually bankrupt and broken - i.e., unplugged bearers of God's image made to be in union with their Creator. We can no more fully be who we're designed to be than a Christmas tree ornately decorated, sitting in a dark room unplugged from the electrical outlet. 

For more on our brokenness, click here.  

²We are clearly instructed in many places within the bible to be "fruitful." Most of these verses address spiritual fruit. However, spiritual fruit is usually manifested by actions that often produce material fruit. In fact, any action that produces material fruit should be driven spiritually i.e. by the Spirit. If it is, it is valid. It is spiritual in motivation (i.e. for God's glory) with a material outcome.  

For several posts addressing operating in the Spirit, click here. 

³There is nothing wrong with personal consumption. Not in itself. If we do not consume vital resources -- water, food, shelter etc. -- we die. Consumption is not just necessary but vital. 

A pursuit that is solely driven by personal and excessive consumption as a substitute for God (i.e. an idol) is our challenge, not consumption itself. 

*Private ownership of property and the opportunity to acquire property through diligence is assumed throughout the bible. The founding fathers who penned America's Constitution and the Declaration of Independence acknowledged this when they declared we had a "right" to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. What most don't know is that the pursuit of happiness is the right to the fruits of our labor, i.e., property.  

Christ instructs us to pray for his rule and reign to come on earth as it is in heaven. 

"Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven..." - Matt 6:10 

Is this a prayer to usher in the Kingdom now or in the future? Both. 

For a discussion on what the kingdom of God is, click here. 

Disconnected from the Source of all things

We suffer because we, along with all of humanity, are ¹disconnected from our Creator; the Source of life, love, and all things. As a result we don't function as we were designed to. In a word we are ¹broken.

We also suffer because the rest of the created order is in bondage as a result of our choosing to turn away from God.

Our rebellious distrust of God is the core reason for ²pain, suffering, corruption, and death.

God did not (and does not) cause evil or suffering. It is the organic result of our choosing to reject and walk away from Him; to live independent of Him and attempt to make life work without Him who is the Source of life, love, and all things. If you turn off the light switch (or unscrew the lightbulb), the light goes out. The one who made the device - e.g. light switch - isn't the problem; the one who doesn't use the device as designed is.  

However, God uses the resulting pain of our disconnection to reveal to us that He is the ultimate Source of love, life, and all things. Pain itself is not good. But God uses it for good by showing us our need for Him who is not only good but best. He is best because He is the Source life. We were created to experience our highest good in and through a relationship with him.

Pain does not have the last word regarding evil; God does.

How does God use evil for good?

 

Suffering can reveal to us how life does not work (as intended) without Him, so we might be drawn back into a loving relationship with him i.e. learn how to flip the light switch on or screw in the light bulb.

He does not (and did not) cause evil itself but he does use it. It becomes a tool to turn us back to Himself and shape us, making us a more perfect bearer (reflector) of His image i.e. He uses it to make us more like His Son who is the perfect reflector of God.

God is greater than evil. Evil doesn't win, God does even in and through evil. 

¹For a further discussion on being broken click here.

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Footnotes:

¹We are not completely disconnected objectively. In Him we live, move, and have our being. Without Him we or anything else would not be.

But we are disconnected subjectively, consciously, willfully, and personally.

²Pain is the ³loss (or absence) of the good things God has created that we use to ease or mask our pain. Pain is a reminder to turn back to God, our ultimate good, and no longer to the good things we use to self comfort. 

Nothing is wrong with creation in itself. It is the misuse of it that is our problem. Creation is not the Source, but only the means by which God seeks to convey his love and goodness.  

The reason created things don't work long term - meet our deepest need - is our need is permanent not temporary - we are designed for infinite love (God's love) not temporary comfort. Created things are temporary. They do not have life in themselves but are sustained by Christ. "... And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together"

³For an extended discussion of this last point, click here.