"The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain."
Sam (Don't read this if easily offended) I think this is the sort of sentimental twaddle you find on those shiny printed cards with cute kittens on them. I think you can learn from sorrow and you can certainly learn to experience joy again, but the experience of deep sorrow leaves a shadow that lasts forever and it will exist even in the presence of otherwise apparently complete happiness.
However when you say;---"when I listen to the music of the spheres, the universe, I feel deeply theistic"... I agree with you wholeheartedly. (Well maybe not theist but certainly deeply moved and awe-struck!)
The dilemma as I see it is that religious thought and tradition has inspired and condoned so much of art, poetry and literature it would be impossible to cut yourself off from so much that is important in our society. In my case I think I fall into the cultural christianity position (see an earlier post) which I think is very common. It is not, for instance, necessary to believe in God to enjoy Mozart's 'Requiem' or Bach's sacred music.
