Life is about getting kicked in the teeth

I try to read the scriptures every day. I've noticed that good, righteous people are always getting beaten with a stick, betrayed by their family and friends, tossed into a pit (with or without lions inside of it), burned alive, stoned, or, you know, crucified. They also tend to arrive in the Promised Land.

Life is 100% about getting kicked in the teeth. The idea that living righteously protects you from tragedy seems, in fact, to be an incorrect idea. As does the idea that keeping God's commandments insulates you from experiencing the very worst pain and damage this life has to offer.

You will be kicked in the teeth (often when you're already down) whether or not you believe in God. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a framework for how to react before, during, and after your teeth are shattered by the steel toe boot of life - a way to react that yields the best possible results. It's where peace comes from (peace, not the lack of suck), and it's how you eventually arrive in the Promised Land.