censurable feature of the universe when we think
them more than we can bear, seems arbitrary in
theory, and, as we have reiterated, and as experience
constantly shows, would mean, if our choice had
effect, the repudiation of our greatest chances.

What is important is to see that the incidents of
our finiteness are more than finite incidents. They
belong to the tension of our double being, in which
it affirms its unity with the absolute. We have
spoken of the spiritual induction to which the
experience of suffering is instrumental, ¹ and have
indicated the direction in which to look for the
pleasure that would be higher than pain, and not
its co-ordinate opposite. Our pain, I repeat, has
the same root as our value, that is to say, both lie in
the tribute of our finite self which we bring, not
rejected, but transformed through reconciled con-
tradiction, to the absolute.

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