De Leie in Astene

"Joy, the end and purpose of human existence, involves several preconditions... God aspires to create a universe teeming with possibility, change, development, and variety... God purposes to foster a universe--and a human realm--that is rich in diversity, difference, and alternatives, and that also teems with growth, novelty and change...statis is synonymous with sameness, stagnation, death and purposelessness.

"Growth, flourishing, and human joy all require the vibrancy of a free soul choosing among numerous options... To 'prove,' in nineteenth century usage, is to ascertain or evaluate the truth or value of something by means of comparison or experiment. In other words, no value emerges in a vacuum; meaning can only appear, truth can only reveal itself, by virtue of our experience of contrary aspects of reality."

"A universe in which such sets of contraries are absent does not bear thinking about"
---Terryl Givens

Art credit: De Leie in Astene by Emile Claus