The Finite & the Infinite

Be careful where you aim at
Be careful where you aim at

When I started working on this problem
Or I guess when it started working on me
Was probably really in the mid-80s
I found myself suffering from two things, one was
A very lengthy sequence of nightmares of nuclear destruction
They were very affective dreams
And associated with that was a sense of amazement that
The dream that was that awful could reflect
A reality that could be that awful
And additional amazement at the fact that despite the
Production of tens and thousands of weapons
Of unimaginable destruction
That people could go about their day-to-day lives
Without acting as if anything fundamental, whatsoever had changed
I've never really been able to figure out why that disturbs me
So much when it seemed to not disturb most of the people I knew
It doesn't really matter
Spent my whole life trying to understand what evil was
And more importantly, what might be done about it

Human existence consists of the confrontation between
The finite and the infinite, the finite and the infinite
Human existence consists of the confrontation between
The finite and the infinite, the finite and the infinite
Human existence consists of the confrontation between
The finite and the infinite, the finite and the infinite
Human existence consists of the confrontation between
The finite and the infinite, the finite and the infinite

Before you can dare to talk about something like evil
You should do some thinking about what it is that you're talking about
And I don't think you can talk about it at all
Until you distinguish it from tragedy
The nature of human being is such that
It consists of a confrontation with the bounded finite
With the unbounded infinite
That those are the bare facts of the matter
The world of experience as it presents itself
To us is literally and not metaphorically
Complex beyond our capacity to understand
And that means people deal in a real sense
On an ongoing basis with the infinite
That fact is the reason why religious experience is
Essentially endemic to mankind
It's a healing universal, and it's not because people believe

Human existence consists of the confrontation between
The finite and the infinite, the finite and the infinite
Human existence consists of the confrontation between
The finite and the infinite, the finite and the infinite
Human existence consists of the confrontation between
The finite and the infinite, the finite and the infinite
Human existence consists of the confrontation between
The finite and the infinite, the finite and the infinite

And religious systems merely take that into account
Now our finitude in the face of the infinite
Has some inevitable consequences
Those consequences are essentially the existential conditions of life
The finite is always overwhelmed by the infinite
It has to be, because it can't encapsulate it
So what that means is
Suffering is central to the nature of human existence