H,

There is a certain reality
to life that robs us of the luxury of dwelling too much on fantasy. The great
poet Yeats put it best:
We have fed fat on fantasies/the heart’s
grown brutal from the fare”
There is no let up against
truth. There are only placebos, fleeting moments of escape but no cure for what
is true. You will have to face what is true about yourself, others and the
nature of reality at some point. You will have to deal with it.
In large and small places,
we have all already encountered these things. We have found the depths of our
own depravity from liberty, we have seen the flaws of others exposed by
intimacy and we have felt the call of the sublime speak to us about all we are
in space and time. We know that we are broken but we are split on if we can be
fixed. We are hurt by others and we struggle between the two daemons of
forgiveness and vengeance. We believe there is a cosmic being or we believe
there is nothingness after this present reality. We are joined by these bands
of humanity, by the classic fleshy struggles of our age and we are one because
we are all dealing with it.
My faith shows me a bold way
to understand all three. It tells me I am flawed but redeemable and redeemed. It
shows me that others are no better or no worse than me in general and
forgiveness of others is how I learn to forgive myself. It speaks to me of love
as the powerful person at the centre of the universe.
This is how I learn to deal.