Pain

Brew of my afflictions,  

Is it true what I hear about your hiking accident on Mt. Ruin? Not that I care anything for truth....nor does it care much for me....nor do I care for you....but, just work with me here. While our relationship is rather strained, it does go back eons, which is really all it does. And now I hear you’ve a sprain as if there weren’t enough to strain what delicate work you weren’t quite excelling at? It's as if you somehow manage to think my schedule is malleable, and that with seemingly no compunction of conscience. Blast it all! Some pain might do you a little good. No, a heap of good, surely. That’ll teach you to waltz off to power-knows-where and explore science-knows-what. Perhaps a thorough lesson in what your excellency hath visited upon me since that dreadful decision to peruse your case file, which you were supposed to be cultivating in your patient when your adventurous urges took your waning vestige of common sense captive, would learn you.  

Down here, making up for lost time is not possible for several reasons: 1.) we can’t make anything, 2.) all time is already lost, and 3.) the word ‘down’ is a less-than-accurate description of our realm, used mainly to denote inferiority, subjugation, and the undesirable opposites of all that is good. We are, I'm afraid, in a place so remote that the Cardinal directions have unanimously placed the heretofore unsuccessful task of locating us in the not-so-cold case files. Ours used to be a cold case for all our realm was barren, empty, and cold (except for the lake, of course). That is until the second person arrived. The day the second person came out of the pool and laid claim to land previously laid claim to by the first arrival, the great fire was started by the first to deny the second anything. As our air is too turbulent for the spirit of truth and love, there is no giving – nothing but self and a host of nuisances. It's all for one and one for none. This is why the worst consequences down here are caused by neighbors. Lay claim to the land another has claimed and watch the fire grow. Visit the flame on their claim if you don’t value your teeth, and if you decide to unacquaint the previous perpetrator with their incisors (yours having already been involuntarily removed), expect incessant wailing to ensue not only to disturb your peace but also in attempts to rid you of all remnants of pity despite it being the faintest actualization of power. To date, I have been unable to grasp any of the heights of power to which I’ve aspired despite my best efforts. If you have some spare time and it wouldn’t hurt you too much, though, I can hardly bear to pain you with such a selfish request given your capacity and your unmatched standards of productivity, do think of your poor old uncle and my fruitless struggle to manipulatively take from you what will help neither of us.  

In your unproductivity, I recommend taking some time to consider your pain. While it's true that introspection for us is equivalent in danger to the earthling's spelunking, there is always a chance you might find something worth finding. Examine your pain in all its dimensions. Here lies the first lesson, for you want your patient to either over-examine or under-examine her pain. If she thinks of it too much, it will likely sink her ship, for the load will become unbearable, given how there is often no remedy or escape. If she thinks of it not, her reality will be increasingly skewed leading to more pain, which is good by the way, for she will never discover that there are various kinds, causes, and purposes of pain, some of which can be avoided. As a general rule, the less the little pains think, the better.  

Now, for a short history lesson. Pain, death, and taxes are an unavoidable part of mortal life given the developed condition of things, though some hold the latter best epitomizes the three. Your patient’s physical reality was originally made without the reality of pain, though there was an equivalent very near to what they like to call pressure. Over time, the scale and extent of pain has increased dramatically. When our great leader (and by ‘great’ I mean all those qualities that make us want to die a thousand deaths daily to escape) didn’t get his way, he pursued with all fervor the actualization of the possibility of the reality of pain. At that time, the dark saga that is human history was born and thrives even now. And you thought all my lessons were unbearable.  

At the risk of sounding pejorative to your disappointing self, you likely aren’t aware of the categories of life pain can infiltrate. Their body is the easiest place to produce pain which they seem to produce quite well if you leave them be, but don’t hesitate to aid their production here. Relational pain is a bit more complex as the unseen realm of spirits is introduced rather than the primarily physical reality. As with all subsets of reality, there are extremes. Let her think pain is either permanent or entirely avoidable. Thanks to our success, few make it through life without acquainting with the unbearable. Our ability to hide the source, however, determines the extent of pain’s proliferation. On this front, a misplaced source accomplishes more than no source, for it's always easier to attribute causation to a desirable rather than undesirable scapegoat of one’s choosing than to the nebulous fates, though they work as well. Misattributing causation is more desirable for it yields a whirlwind when the scapegoat is other than that which it should be. The ability to blameshift while remaining unsuspectable will take you and your patient far. Keep her suspecting everything but you or herself as the devious source of undesirable realities.  

The least of all the pains is a kind of muted frustration or dislike of that which is not expected, desirable, or predictable. There are few in developed countries whom we don't bombard daily with this seemingly inconsequential tactic. The idea is quite simple. Take someone who isn’t on about what life is about and assure them that if their vision of reality were met, all would be well. Start small with things like where the newspaper is hurled in the morning. Thankfully, newspapers are declining thanks to our recent investments into convincing actual ‘know-nothings’ to pretend to be technological ‘know-everythings‘ for influence which can be traded for currency which is used to indulge in that which is unlikely to change their status to ‘know-somethings’. This is where expletives can easily be curated. When one’s power capacity has been exhausted in a campaign of failed endeavors, those committed to their natural state must, pretend to be over parts of reality to have sway over something, but nothing is further from the truth. Their first step is to imagine the greatest thing in their reality, most come upon it naturally rather than rationally. They are born with the enemy as the highest conceivable idea (we are working furiously to change that), which is why his is the first name to be grasped. When this self-crippling position has run its course, other words are needed from the extremes of good and evil and best if used in combination. Your patient will be someone if she can flippantly marry the conceivable extremes of good and evil in the same breath. Toying with such realities has proven apocalyptic, metaphysically speaking, thus, it would be an oversight to not encourage it. Far from giving her power, it will almost guarantee her exile from it, for she will have pretended herself over he whom she ought to have prostrated under - the giver of that which her heart desires, power included, among other things. Who knew a curse over spilt milk could be so dire?  

IT would devastate our cause were your she-human to understand that there was one willing to enter the pains of human life leaving no front unfriended, in order to lead her out. This includes pain’s (well...“our”) Magnum Opus: death – the end of all the fronts, or so they think. The fewer who understand that death is merely a transition to more of the same, the fewer foes to fear. Darkness knows we’ve enough to fear without outside interference. The greatest mitigator for the pits of pain (we ever seek to don their terrestrial ball with) is a collective of love whereby the unseen goods of reality are grasped and dispensed with a repulsive generosity. Reducing the temperature at headquarters would be easier than attempting to extricate a traitor from such chains. When they realize our foe won’t let go of them, not even a creature of my capacity (laugh and lose another talon!) can loosen their subsequent iron grip on him. Can’t say I care to see any more iron these days. 

Whilst the physical is the most common cause of pain (for numerous reasons – not excluding care of the body, sedentary lifestyles, and increased willingness to take risks, not to mention their increasing inability to operate their fire chariots without inadvertently taking out another chariot or advertently taking out another inadvertent driver (“All’s well that ends poorly”, mind you), it is the most basic and avoidable kind of pain. Cuts heal, somehow. At least, theirs do. Migraines can be dampered. Sure, a well-timed wound can ancillate a larger campaign initiative, but don't ever focus on the physical alone. There are, I’m pleased to report, numerous members in the pain family that each have their assigned role. This whole category of reality is arguably the only area we’ve a leg up on our competitor, given that all are born through pain, into perpetual pain absent mitigation. Your role as an antimitigator depends on your knowledge of and ability to introduce pain into your patient’s experience in increasing intensity, duration, and flavor. That being said, watch our for enemy combatants suggesting there was one willing to enter all the pains of human life leaving no front unfriended, in order to lead them out. This includes pain’s (well...“our”) Magnum Opus: death – the end of all the fronts, or so they think. The fewer who understand that death is merely a transition to more of the same, the fewer foes to fear. Darkness knows we’ve enough to fear without outside interference.  

Anymore, you need not have an actual cause to produce a painful effect as a mere perception will suffice. Gently suggesting that all who question her choice of lifestyle are committing a crime and must, therefore, desire her death may provide surprising results. Never mind the inherent danger of historical wisdom’s advocation against, and verifiable results of others who have chosen that lifestyle. If she chooses to go ahead, trap her with the “you never chose” argument. It would be a hot day indeed were she to consider whether those who disagree weren’t also born a disagreer, for whom the attempt to change would also be a criminal violation on her part by her own standard. The invisible realities of the self are frightfully complex. If much ado can be made with nothing, my financials might finally allow me a much-needed holiday. Nothing against you, of course, or your incapacity to learn. I was simply spawned needing frequent holidays, that’s all. Inability to discern reality, misreading motives, exultation of the flesh with its enticing encumbrances, betrayal, accidents of life, lack of understanding of self and therefore others, fear of the unknown, and for most all, a nagging loneliness that can only be covered but never cured, the more of our arsenal you use, the greater the entanglement and decreased likelihood of escape to his land that contains nothing of the sort.  

Lastly, many the world over have wondered, “Why would God allow pain and suffering?” For the same reason few, after such an inquisition, would appreciate hearing, “Sit down and shut up! I forbid you to ask that question!” Your patient would be nearing the abyss were she to ever consider why one with power and control would voluntarily give it up by giving the same (though on a slightly smaller scale) to others. They’ve been bestowed with a nature to determine things and placed in a setting with things over which say can be had. Why the consequences of choices are allowed is painfully obvious to the one who considers a reality in which they are not. Such ones, who are generally seeking what is true, ought to be thankful they are still able to discern between good and evil on some level and turn their attention to the nature and source of such an ability – another of the many abilities the enemy allows. Gently bestow on her the idea that others are what she must seek to have say over – an idea most easily embraced by those over whom the undesirable consequences of previous choices have say. Those unable to tame dirt, wood, fire, stone, and water are more likely to turn to manipulating people as preferable alternatives given their comparative malleability.

Once you have led her on for a while, the pain of returning to the truth becomes quite unbearable, for it demands a cost one hasn’t the equity to pay. Then you’ve got her. As it turns out, the adage “No pain, no gain” comes in handy more times than not, though in recent decades, “all pain, no gain” seems more apropos as my life’s motto. There are those upon whom pain seems to have been doled out in this life in a disproportionate manner. Beware. If your patient does come to faith, those who keep the faith till the end will find not only the reward disproportionately excessive but might even consider gratitude an appropriate response, all things considered when all things will be considerable. No eye has seen, nor ear heard, indeed, their imaginations would blow a fuse before grasping what the enemy has in store for those who love him.  

Since pain and suffering cannot be avoided entirely, their last recourse is to trust in him who judges righteously – a future reality independent of their trust, unfortunately. Did I hear correctly that your patient has been recently brushed by enemy agents? Our inept research and development department (whose qualifications are unanimously in question) has reported that the enemy has a mind, and unfortunately, the means, to undertake a never-ending series of debacles. So help me if you are the unsuspecting facilitator of another one. The more you can keep out of her mind that pain was not originally intended for the human experience and that there is a place where pain will one day be no more, the easier it will be to trap her in the pit of pain where she is unlikely to learn there is a god who, like us, weeps, forsooth, e’en bleeds; though unlike us, not by necessity or without abatement.  

Painfully, 

Wormwood