[Avodah] God of Love, vs. Just God

[Moshe Y. Gluck]

R' David Riceman:
"Ein menahamim es ha'adam b'sha'ah shemeiso mutal l'fanav".  If the
gentleman was really in distress, it may not have been the best time for
this discussion.

The classification of an event as mercy or justice is not an objective one,
but a subjective one.  As you correctly note, it can change depending on how
wide your perspective is.  My experience is that wider perspective makes
events seem more like mercy.  As evidence I cite the above ma'amar Hazal;
distress narrows a person's horizons, making him less able to take the wider
perspective which may make him realize that something was really good, and
thus less able to accept nehamah.
------------------

I disagree; the classification of something as mercy or justice is
objective. We may not - and generally do not - have the facts necessary to
be able to correctly analyze it. Your experience notwithstanding, sometimes
"zooming out," so to speak, makes events seem _less_ like mercy. 
I also disagree with your last sentence, above. Or, at least, the
implication I'm reading into it - that if something ultimately leads to a
good result then it is "really good." It is not, usually, so - it might be
more accurately described as something that happened that is really _bad_
but that had a good result coming as a result of it, anyway. 

KT,
MYG