Dissonance and Harmony: Halakhic Man Revisited

The midrasha (Seminary) that I attended in Israel for two years had several teachers who studied in Gush. One of my favorite teachers, who liked to lead discussions about Jewish theology and philosophy with the students once told us that the mussar (moralistic instruction) that everyone gets in Gush is, "go read footnote four." Now, "footnote four" is a foot note from the end of Rav Joseph B. Soloveitchik's Halachik Man. In this footnote, the Rav berates the tendency people have to use religion as a comfort. when I first learned this, I really liked it. I believed in it. Religion is more substantial than silly comfort that people need. We're all about struggle and conflict, and how nothing comes so easy.
And so I feel guilty, today. I have a few more years of life experience, although not as many as the Rabbi who first introduced this footnote to me had at the time. However, I found myself, a couple of says ago, walking around Washington Heights and into Fort Tryon Park, where I thought up the following poem:

In Winter, Hearts are Broken

The twigs are suspended
Exposed to the cold
Night air, and I fear for them,
and for me—for I am also bare—
naked, my pride stripped
like the branches from
their leaves

I follow the lines, and I see
Hundreds of twigs lead into
dozens of these leafless branches.

The branches are strong, less susceptible
to breakage, and they all connect to the
proud trunk. The roots are sturdy—he
stands proud in the earth, even
without leaves.

I breath easier, with
nature's assurance
speaking the Creator's words
to me.

Ought I feel guilty? Jewish guilt is inevitable, I suppose. But I come today to question the Rav's whole premise. What's wrong with comfort? We are only human, and we have weaknesses, and we are affected by our experiences. And that's OK. There's no reason to deny those things, and there's certainly room to find G-d and grow in our connection Judaism through those experiences. I will allow that the entire religion ought not be about comfort exclusively, but I would like to see our experiences in life as variations on a theme, as in a piece of music, and that the dissonances only direct us and only lead our voices more directly to the home key.

In modern music, there is an effort to increase the dissonance-- Schoenberg with twelve tone music, and others with atonality. This doesn't appeal to me that much. The composers will argue, since we've seen the horrors of war that the world has witnessed, modern art and music reflect a darker, more dissonant reality. It isn't supposed to feel good. Art isn't about comfort. But I don't see why it can't be that, too. Granted, the dissonance is necessary, but it needn't take over our lives. Surely, there can still be the comfort of a 7to8 voice leading. We can still find a painting that looks like a landscape beautiful, without worrying about what terrors lay beyond the mountains, or what emotional problems the painter was compensating for by painting with those colors. Life can still be cheerful, and people optimistic, can't we? Or have we all grown old and cynical with the world, only impressed by complexity and conflict?

I am interested to hear what people think about this. Please share your thoughts.