A Few Half-Baked and Discombobulated Thoughts

(From Book 1 of The Ballad of the White Horse)

"The wise men know all evil things
Under the twisted trees,
Where the perverse in pleasure pine
And men are weary of green wine
And sick of crimson seas."

per·verse
1. willfully determined or disposed to go counter to what is expected or desired; contrary. 2.characterized by or proceeding from such a determination or disposition: a perverse mood. 3.wayward or cantankerous.
4.persistent or obstinate in what is wrong.
5.turned away from or rejecting what is right, good, or proper; wicked or corrupt.

Where the perverse in pleasure pine

The first defintition is just what it is fashionable to proclaim to be, to be "different". And I think many of the others could easily describe the popular mood. And what is more important in the eyes of the world then pleasure. Yet can merely pleasure bring happiness? "The real difference between the two words is that happiness is an end and pleasure can only be a means. " (GKC, of course as we saw in recent posting here) Real, satisfying happiness does not usually come through pleasure, but often through pain and suffering. After all:

"The men of the East may spell the stars,
And times and triumphs mark,
But the men signed of the cross of Christ
Go gaily in the dark.

"The men of the East may search the scrolls
For sure fates and fame,
But the men that drink the blood of God
Go singing to their shame.

Our own paths to Heaven are paved with sorrow and suffering, in the footsteps of the One who went before. "Can we drink of the cup that he drank from?"