THE OVERCOMING OF LIFE'S DIFFICULTIES Part 1

The true object of life is that man may attain wisdom through experience. This cannot be accomplished by giving in to the travails of life, but only by overcoming them. The promises of the the Almighty are not made to those who fail in life's battle, but to those who overcome. Neither are there any promises that man should have an easy time and be happy ever afterwards. Yet, it is after this that the majority of people are forever seeking--an easy life, a good time, freedom from suffering and care. But, in spite of all their seeking, they can never find that which they desire. There is always a fly in the ointment of their pleasure, something that robs them of true happiness; or, possibly, combinations of circumstances conspire to upset all their plans.

Life is a paradox; the true object of life is not the attainment of happiness, yet if we attain the true object of life we will find happiness. Those who are ignorant of life's true purpose and who seek happiness high and low, year after year, fail to find it. Like a will-o'-the-wisp, it for ever escapes them. On the other hand, those who recognize the true object of life, and follow it, attain happiness without seeking for it.

In times past, people have made the Almighty a convenience. They have thought they could drift through life, learning none of its discipline and then, when in trouble, or things were not to their liking, they could pray to Him and have the unpleasant circumstances taken away. The same idea is prevalent to-day. People have left the old orthodoxy and look to various "cults" and "isms" to get them out of their difficulties. They do not believe now that they can curry special favour with the Almighty by prayer, but they firmly believe that they can get what they want from the Invisible by demanding it. They think that by this means they can have their own way after all. By this they mean having a good time, with no unpleasant experiences, trials, difficulties, adversities. They are, however, merely chasing rainbows. The easy life they seek constantly eludes them, simply because there is no such thing. The only life that is easy is the life of the strong soul who has overcome. His life is not easy in reality, but appears relatively so because of his strength.