“For sometimes pain is more beneficial to a person than health, tension more useful than relaxation, and rebuke more helpful than leniency. So let us not become overconfident in good times, nor despair and break down in misfortune.” — Gregory of Nazianzus
It is a lesson that is not always easy for us to learn, for our nature loves the simple and uncomplicated path to our goal, and the things mentioned do not seem to fit into that. Actually, that was not the original intention, but life outside of Paradise, with its consequences, has brought it about. The shadows of death accompany us everywhere; our Father has not removed them, but in His wisdom, He uses them to forge a deeper path for us to master our journey into eternity.