Playtime!
I just love this picture: boy and plane, off the ground.
Bigger Plans
"Whenever you find yourself blaming providence, turn it around in your mind and you will see that what has happened is in keeping with reason." (Epictetus, Discourses 3.17)
Ryan Holiday explains this perfectly. "Part of the reason we fight against the things that happen is that we're so focused on our plan that we forget that there might be a bigger plan we don't know about . . . . We also forget that we're not the only people who matter and that our loss might be someone else's gain."
I am learning not to get upset when things don't go my way. How about you? Epictetus teaches that there's a "reason" at work, far beyond ours. Yes, we should make plans but we should also be flexible for we simply do not understand enough of all things to make plans perfectly. Don't miss this though: Epictetus did not come up with this principle out of the blue. Reason led him to it. We know this because the same principle surfaces in other cultures--an objective and personal being has a purpose at work.
Life becomes much easier when we remember there are two parts to the equation: my subjectivity + a personal objectivity = guided reason.
Why should we shake our fist at God when things don't go our way? We don't know the number of hairs on the back of a Tibetan yak, so how can we say that God is to blame for our failed plans? We just don't know enough. Turn it around in your mind and see there's a greater mind at work. Be relieved of that responsibility, shift gears and try again.
Don't stop thinking big, though.
"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." (Rom. 8:28)
Ryan Holiday explains this perfectly. "Part of the reason we fight against the things that happen is that we're so focused on our plan that we forget that there might be a bigger plan we don't know about . . . . We also forget that we're not the only people who matter and that our loss might be someone else's gain."
I am learning not to get upset when things don't go my way. How about you? Epictetus teaches that there's a "reason" at work, far beyond ours. Yes, we should make plans but we should also be flexible for we simply do not understand enough of all things to make plans perfectly. Don't miss this though: Epictetus did not come up with this principle out of the blue. Reason led him to it. We know this because the same principle surfaces in other cultures--an objective and personal being has a purpose at work.
Life becomes much easier when we remember there are two parts to the equation: my subjectivity + a personal objectivity = guided reason.
Why should we shake our fist at God when things don't go our way? We don't know the number of hairs on the back of a Tibetan yak, so how can we say that God is to blame for our failed plans? We just don't know enough. Turn it around in your mind and see there's a greater mind at work. Be relieved of that responsibility, shift gears and try again.
Don't stop thinking big, though.
"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." (Rom. 8:28)
Popular posts from this blog
“Men and women who saw God in the Bible: Why did they not all die?”
July 2004 I went to Kenya, Africa to speak in two Pastor’s Conferences on the subject of Man, Sin and Salvation. At the end of each day I left just over an hour for questions (half the time were questions touching the subject of my lectures, and the other half for “open questions”; that is, people could ask anything). For the next few weeks, I will be sharing the questions that were asked of me, and my answers—and believe me when I say these people really know how to think! Question from Kenya #1: “Men and women who saw God in the Bible: Why did they not all die?” [“ But He said, ‘You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live! ’” (Exodus 33:20) was the basis of the student’s question]. Answer: First, consider those who did see God—how did they respond when they saw Him? They were instantly aware of their sinfulness, and God’s holiness and righteousness (to name a few. And notice also that each responded in an attitude of worship, bowing down): Abraham built altars, wors
A Sonnet
“My God, where is that ancient heat towards thee, Wherewith whole shoals of martyrs once did burn, Besides their other flames? Doth poetry Wear Venus' livery? only serve her turn? Why are not sonnets made of thee? and lays Upon thine altar burnt? Cannot thy love Heighten a spirit to sound out thy praise As well as any she? Cannot thy Dove Outstrip their Cupid easily in flight? Or, since thy ways are deep, and still the fame, Will not a verse run smooth that bears thy name! Why doth that fire, which by thy power and might Each breast does feel, no braver fuel choose Than that, which one day, worms may chance refuse. Sure Lord, there is enough in thee to dry Oceans of ink; for, as the Deluge did Cover the earth, so doth thy Majesty: Each cloud distills thy praise, and doth forbid Poets to turn it to another use. Roses and lilies speak thee; and to make A pair of cheeks of them, is thy abuse Why should I women's eyes for crystal take? Such poor invention burns in their low mind Wh
A Fresh Perception
“In primitive times, when man awakes in a world that is newly created, poetry awakes with him. In the face of the marvellous things that dazzle and intoxicate him, his first speech is a hymn simply. He is still so close to God that all his meditations are ecstatic, all his dreams are visions. His bosom swells, he sings as he breathes. His lyre has but three strings—God, the soul, creation; but this threefold mystery envelopes everything, this threefold idea embraces everything. The earth is still almost deserted. . . . He leads that nomadic pastoral life with which all civilizations begin, and which is so well adapted to solitary contemplation, to fanciful reverie. He follows every suggestion, he goes hither and thither, at random. His thought, like his life, resembles a cloud that changes its shape and its direction according to the wind that drives it. Such is the first man, such is the first poet. He is young, he is cynical. Prayer is his sole religion, the ode is his only form of