Trent Reznor was so thoughtful as to release a new nin album on Tuesday after an overwhelmingly depressing Monday. I appreciate that in an artist.

Every time I think I may have grown out of this angry young man stage, I pick up a CD and find all of it's still in there.

I think one of the things that I really appreciate about Mr. Reznor's music is that he has a tendency to ennoble pain. To make it not only an acceptable part of the human condition, but a valuable and influential factor in personal experience.

I think too often we assume pain is something bad. Something to be avoided. And in avoiding pain we short-change our own understanding of self. We never learn our limits and we never figue out how to avoid our previous mistakes.

I especially think it's our job as Christians to view suffering as a gift. Pain is how we learn what we really believe. Pain is how we understand the difference between good and evil. It's how we define good.

And I think it's thanks to artists such as Trent Reznor that we are able to look beyond the immediate discomfort and despair and see the value in what we're experiencing. The glorification of pain allows for the acceptance of that which shapes us into better people.