Scott Cairns' most recent book,The End of Suffering: Finding Purpose in Pain, is included in Publisher's Weekly Best Books of 2009. I haven't read it yet, although a new clean copy is near me, waiting. Several years ago I heard him speak on this topic in a keynote address at the Glen Workshop and have never forgotten his call within that address that we not waste our suffering. The video below is of Cairns reading from his book during an event at Wabash College commemorating 9/11.
“Thou takest the pen – and the lines dance. Thou takest the flute – and the notes shimmer.
Thou takest the brush – and the colors sing. So all things have meaning and beauty in that space beyond where Thou art.
How, then, can I hold anything back from Thee.”
— Dag Hammarskjöld, Markings
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