I've been dwelling on a Raymond Chandler quote recently. It goes roughly "Getting over alcoholism means accepting the world isn't as shiny and bright as you'd like it to be". Seems to me true about the way we view the world today 1/4

We – including the Church – oversell the image of a beautiful creation. I don't mean that the world isn't beautiful, only it isn't as beautiful as we'd like it to be. The kind of happiness we hope for isn't in this world, and it doesn't matter how much we promise it is. 2/4

The Church didn't create suffering or sin, but it has to begin by acknowledging them, as does any other religion or philosophy – any other starting point is dishonest. Without that context, the call of the Cross is meaningless. That's why people today want the fantasy of a 3/4

good life rather than the reality. We are encouraging generations of fantasists by promising them a type of happiness that doesn't exist. It's simply not as colourful or as bright as we'd like it to be. It can't fulfil our deepest needs 4/4