Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 4.29

Either it is a well-arranged Universe or a chaos huddled together, but still a Universe.

But can a certain order subsist in you, and disorder in the All? And this too, when all things are so separated and diffused, and sympathetic.

—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book 4 (tr Long)

The question of order and disorder in life never seems to go away, nor should it. Some things appear to follow a plan, and other things appear to follow absolutely no plan at all. All theory aside, this problem influences our daily lives in so many ways. I may wake up one morning, and everything is just as I expected. I may wake up on another morning, and nothing makes any sense at all. How I face this will determine how I face the coming day.

I believe there are two different questions here, though they are of necessity very closely related. First, what is it to me? Second, what is it in itself?

If you think you don’t want to proceed from the former to the latter, by means of honest observation and sound reason, please stop reading now, because this reflection may not be for you. You have probably already decided it’s about you, not about you in harmony with Nature. I wish you the best.

Stoicism, Classically understood, is about finding solidarity on our human level, and about finding harmony with the Universe on an ultimate level. The horizontal fits into the vertical. Narrow theists try to tell you it’s all about God, and narrow humanists try to tell you it’s all about man. It’s about both, and you can’t separate them.

The part only makes sense within the context of the whole. The Stoic is a theist in all things, however broadly understood, because he sees the power of Divine Reason present immediately in all of his life. The true Stoic is also a humanist in all things, however he may express it, because he joyfully loves the dignity of each and every one of his neighbors.

I can explain Divine Reason, the Logos, in various ways. I can explain the dignity of my fellows, through what Marcus Aurelius calls my social nature, in various ways. But as soon as I neglect either, I am straying from Stoicism, Classically understood.

The way my world works doesn’t always seem to have purpose. This is where I need to follow the guidance of reason, not of my impressions. Truth is never about cherry picking. I need to take all of it, not just the bits I happen to prefer.

Even as many things appear so chaotic, they are still parts of everything together. Effects cannot proceed without causes, and causes must admit of order. I do not always understand the causes, and I do not always perceive the order, but I must admit that both are present, unless I wish to reject reason itself.

Yes, it may seem pointless, and yes, it may seem without any design. I can, however, choose to think, not just to feel, and I can see that nothing comes from nothing, and that nothing ever could. My apologies to Rodgers and Hammerstein.

Tell me that anything happens for no reason, and you have told me to reject logic itself. That may be clever marketing, but its also terrible thinking.

It may all seem quite diffused, quite contrary, and quite inconvenient. It isn’t. Even an apparently chaotic Universe is still a Universe. It isn’t my place to tell Nature how it should work, but to find my own place in how Nature works.

Written in 10/2005

Image: Flammarion Engraving (1888)