Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 7.76

The Nature of the All moved to make the Universe. But now either everything that takes place comes by way of consequence or continuity. Otherwise even the chief things towards which the ruling power of the Universe directs its own movement would be governed by no rational principle.

If this is remembered, it will make you more tranquil in many things.

—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book 7 (tr Long)

As moderns, we tend to doubt everything away in a cloud of skepticism, crawl into ourselves in a blind subjectivism, and remove any accountability in a thoughtless relativism. The default setting is to assume that nothing means anything, there is no rhyme or reason, and stuff just randomly happens until we die. Philosophers dwell on themes like dread, anxiety, alienation, and forlornness. As my uncle liked to say with his usual wry grin, “No wonder everyone’s so cranky.”

I have long found Stoic thinking to be a profound comfort in the face of such pointless gloom. While some dismiss Stoic physics and cosmology as outdated and irrelevant to the modern world, I consider it a firm foundation for the pursuit of the good life. In the simplest sense, Nature always acts for a purpose, and the order in all things proceeds from Universal Reason. I know this not only because I observe around me the pattern of change directed toward ends, but also because I know that the principle of causality is a logical necessity, and that wherever there is design, there also is Intelligence.

This does not merely mean that somewhere in a distant, murky past, the Universe was set into motion, and that the principles by which it came to be then just disappeared. Insofar as all action proceeds as an effect follows from a cause, so that cause is as fully present “now” as it was “then”. Universal Reason is immanent, present within all things, and informing all things.

And none of this needs to be seen only as an abstract mystical musing, because it can have a very immediate effect on the daily practice of living. If I know that I am made for a reason, then my life already has an inherent meaning and dignity, even when I may become confused about that meaning. If I know that everything in the world happens for a reason, I can be at peace with what happens, even when I am startled by what happens. I may not know how all the parts fit together, but I can be certain that they are made for the harmony of the whole.

When I tell myself that Nature does nothing in vain, I am not just making some deep statement. I am quite practically remembering that I have a place, that everything has its place, and that my world is charged with purpose. 

Written in 1/2008