Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 9.17

For the stone that has been thrown up it is no evil to come down, nor indeed any good to have been carried up.

—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book 9.17 (tr Long)

All beings in Nature will act according to purpose, as aspects of Providence giving order and fulfillment to everything. Yet here we are, looking at this or that event, and saying that it is somehow “good” or “bad” for it to have happened, relative only to our own preferences.

We see only the parts, neglecting how the parts all work together. We consider only what is immediate, ignoring what is ultimate. We assume that our own desires should determine what is of benefit or of harm, failing to understand how our own moral worth exists within the harmony of the whole.

I suspect that our struggle to think beyond these confines is actually one of the ways we come to participate in unity. 

I should never merely judge any circumstance by how convenient or inconvenient, pleasant or unpleasant it might be to me. It is what it is, in and of itself, and it is so for a reason. What it then is to me, my own relationship to a situation, must go beyond how it may feel, to how it may help me or hinder me in acting with virtue. It is good or bad for me, therefore, because of what I choose to do with it: will I use it to improve or diminish my own nature?

One man may toss aside a rock that is on his lawn, and he may say that this is a good thing. Another man may be struck by the rock, and he may say that this is a bad thing.

For the rock, of course, it is neither, and even for both of the men it may be different than it at first appears. For the one, it might be a reflection of his thoughtlessness, in which case he has done wrong. For the other, it might be an opportunity for forgiveness, in which case he has done right.

How often have I called something good or bad, only to learn that my own estimation could transform it into something else? The intoxication of love or the agony of a broken heart would become what I made of them. The comfort of possessions or the longing of poverty would reveal different paths. The glory of praise or the shame of ridicule would teach me about genuine merit.

Just because it goes up, does not mean it is better. Just because it goes down, does not mean it is worse. One piece of fortune is not a blessing, and another is not a curse. In each is the potential for my own growth or stagnation.

It is common to ask, quite understandably, why bad things happen to good people, and why good things happen to bad people. My own answer, however, is that neither is actually true at all. Things happen, good people do good, and bad people do bad. When another does bad, even that can be turned into something good.

Written in 10/2008