Re: “One of the paradoxes of our time (at least in the West) is that we have so many creature comforts yet in many ways have never been so uncomfortable.”
I’m not “uncomfortable.”
I’m quite grateful to be living in an era when almost all human health problems are caused by dysfunctional cultures, dysfunctional governments, or self-indulgent bad behavior.
In 1800, roughly one half of human beings died before age 40.
In 1800, most people died from:
(1) Infectious disease transmitted human to human.
(2) Infectious disease related to accidents, malnutrition, contaminated water, or hypothermia.
(3) Violent death.
Ditto that! Plus I can’t imagine living in a world without cars motorcycles airplanes electric guitars and smartphones. At least they had good cigars and bourbon back in those old days. And yes I understand heaven will not have those things, at least I don’t think it will, but it will have something far better.