Two

There are two realities that exist within life. It is the reality of the goodness that exists within the world and the reality of the evil that exists within the world. Of course, evil is the reality that we tend to be more concerned with. If it were not so there would be no need for writers like Hart to expound upon the problem of evil, the topic of theodicy. This idea of two realities surfaces throughout Hart's discussion from several different angles.

There is a reality of life and a reality of death. The two go hand in hand as seen in vines that "climb toward the light of the sun by choking the life from the trees around which they grow" which makes way for "copious flowers that one might forget what had to perish to make such a triumph of beauty possible."

There is the "cosmic dualism" of the reality of a sovereign God and yet somehow still a reality of "powers and principalities." This is represented within the very meaning of "cosmos" as the "object of redemptive care" yet at the same time the "present order" that "enslaves creation" and "strives against God."

There is a reality of a physical, tangible, factual nature that is merciless and random, and another reality of spiritual creation. Yet "how can one look for paradise in such a world as this?" Hart asserts that it "requires the cultivation of charity, of an eye rendered limpid by love."

One is only able to recognize the reality that one speaks to. The reality that is practiced is the reality that becomes authentic. It is important not to abandon one reality and ignore it's existence. One must embrace and acknowledge both, while making friends with the reality of that brings "joy." If not, purpose is lost along with paradise.

P.S. Commented on Jeremy's.