Seth -- How to account for the pain and suffering in the world

 Seth on "Question 21." or "Suffering, "Creativity" and "Learning how to use Energy, Creatively."

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"(“Well, you’re leading into the next question then. Number twenty-one: How do you account for the pain and suffering in the world?” Many people have asked us this question.)"

"(9:43.) I am indeed. A great painting of a battle scene, for example, may show the ability of the artist as he projects in all its appalling drama the inhuman and yet all-too-human conditions of war. The artist is using his abilities. In the same way, man is using his abilities, and they are apparent when he creates a real war.

"The artist who paints such a scene may do so for several reasons: because he hopes through portraying such inhumanity to awaken people to its consequences, to make them quail and change their ways; because he is himself in such a state of disease and turmoil that he directs his abilities in that particular manner; or because he is fascinated with the problem of destruction and creativity, and of using creativity to portray destruction.

"In your wars you are using creativity to create destruction, but you cannot help being creative.

"(9:48.) Illness and suffering are not thrust upon you by God, or by All That Is, or by an outside agency. They are by-products of the learning process, created by you, in themselves quite neutral. On the other hand, your existence itself, the reality and nature of your planet, the whole existence in which you have these experiences, are also created by you, using the abilities of which I have spoken.

"Illness and suffering are the results of the misdirection of creative energy. They are a part of the creative force, however. They do not come from a different source than, say, health and vitality. Suffering is not good for the soul, unless it teaches you how to stop suffering. That is its purpose.

"Within your particular plane of activity, and speaking practically, no one fully or completely can use all the energy available to them, or completely materialize the inner sensed identity that is multidimensional. This inner identity is the blueprint however against which you judge, ultimately, your physical actions. You strive to express as best you can the entire potential that is within you.

"(9:58.) Within that framework, it is possible to have sane and healthy minds within healthy bodies, to have a sane planet. The release and use of creative energy expended simply to maintain your planet and your existence, is impossible to conceive of. The great amount of energy available to you gives you great leeway in its use.

"I have mentioned before that everyone within your system is learning to handle this creative energy; and since you are still in the process of doing so, you will often misdirect it. The resulting snarl in activities automatically brings you back to inner questions."

— Seth Speaks: The Eternal Validity of the Soul; Part Two: Chapter 20: Session 580, April 12, 1971, by Jane Roberts