On Alienation

"Most things you consider evil or wicked are only lonely or lacking in social niceties." --Edward Bloom

My mom's ubiquitously offered explanation of any rude action has always been that the perpetrator is insecure. But what about the Walker-Percy-loving suggestion of embracing and locating yourself in this necessary loneliness and alienation. Now I do not advocate immanentizing the eschaton, but why shouldn't we fight to overcome the alienation and instead seek harmony and peace between ourselves and the world. Sure, this is impossible to have perfectly until the eschaton, but love requires that we fight for as much resolution as is possible. Indeed, by our very strivings toward holiness, we are asking the grace of God to break into this world again and continue the work of restoration. I'm sick of the Calivinist uber-deep understanding of sin that results in a reluctance to hope for anything more than a deeply conflicted inner nature and relationship to the outer world until the end of time. It is one thing to resolve to endure the tension of existence, it is another to stop fighting for resolution to that tension.