The Essence of Religion

Whoever lives their life rightly experiences sorrow not as a problem, but as joy.
That's so hard to live by. Problems in their current state are named "problems" because that is what they are, or else they would be named "joyfulness". I don't necessarily enjoy having problems, but I do enjoy having joy. I guess by turning my problems into joy, then I can make my own joy. But then again. They just wouldn't be problems anymore. Wittgenstein seems to be able to grasp this concept better than I can.
It just seems like if I get in a car accident, I'm going to say "This sucks" as opposed to saying "Oh, What joy!" and even after the fact, looking back... I think I still would have preferred to have not gotten into the car accident at all, as opposed to having to deal with the PROBLEM of it all.
It would be nice to achieve a state of oblivion though. To where there are no worries or concerns, except for to satisfy the hunger of your belly. But then again, what kind of life is that? With no spontaneity. I might die.

Bakhya Ibn Pakuda

This reading made me think about our discussion in class today. About God existing despite the evil and sorrow in the world. How can this be? There is a sentence here that says that "if he afflicts her, she suffers patiently, and her love for him only grows." It's something I don't really understand. If I were afflicted, I doubt if I would love the person who harmed me even more. Unless of course it was for my good. Like- my tooth was getting work on it, because it had a cavity. But even then, I rarely fall in love with my dentist.
There was a point made in class today about how we can't really appreciate the good without the evil being present. And then it was rebutted that we just wouldn't know any different, but would instead feel the good all the time. But what about being able to appreciate the good without the evil anyways? For example, if we are outside in our California heat, sometimes it is unbearable. And then a wind blows. We know that it is good. And we appreciate it. Or a baby's cry isn't evil, but just a way of saying "Feed Me" or "Love Me" or "Hold Me", but despite it NOT being evil, we are made to appreciate when the baby laughs.