"God does not make a spoiled pet of a good man. . . "

". . . So, when you see that men who are good and acceptable to the gods labor and sweat and have a difficult road to climb, and that the wicked, on the other hand, make merry and abound in pleasures, reflect that our children please us by their modesty, but slave-boys by their forwardness; that we hold in check the former by sterner discipline, while we encourage the latter to be bold.

"Be assured that the same is true of God. He does not make a spoiled pet of a good man; he tests him, hardens him, and fits him for his own service.

"You ask, 'Why do many adversities come to good men?' No evil can befall a good man; opposites do not mingle. Just as the countless rivers, the vast fall of rain from the sky, and the huge volume of mineral springs do not change the taste of the sea, do not even modify it, so the assaults of adversity do not weaken the spirit of a brave man."

---Seneca the Younger, On Providence 2 (tr Basore)

Nothing has troubled me more in this life than the fact that good people suffer, while bad people prosper. I doesn't even seem to be a matter of the luck of the draw. It often seems to be the law of the land.

I must distinguish. What do I mean by suffering or prosperity? How am I defining success or failure in this life?

Perhaps Providence isn't punishing me at all. Perhaps adversity can be a gift to me, just as good fortune is a curse to the wicked man?

A few weeks ago, Providence took our first son from us. And it is entirely in my own judgment and action that I might choose to make good or evil of fortune.

 Written on 12/31/1998

Image: Vincent Van Gogh, Sorrowing Old Man (At Eternity's Gate), 1890