Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy 4.23

“It is no wonder,” she answered, ”if one who knows not the order and reasons of Nature, should think it is all at random and confused.

“But doubt not, though you know not the cause of such a great matter of the world's government, doubt not, I say, that all is rightly done, because a good Governor rules the Universe.”

—from Book 4, Prose 5

I will tie myself up in knots of skepticism and relativism if I fail to distinguish between a sound judgment about things and the force of my moods. My passions and inclinations will tell me how something feels to me at that time, but it is my reason that will tell me what something is for its own sake.

Just because my emotions say it is pleasant does not mean it is necessarily good; just because my emotions say it is painful does not mean it is necessarily bad. Wisdom can peel away the immediate appearance to uncover a deeper meaning, and it is that deeper meaning that can allow me to find some peace with my world and myself.

I am hardly living with any understanding or purpose when I try to consider my own nature apart from the whole of Nature, creature divorced from Creator, effects without causes, or my desires without reference to the goods they were made to serve. I should not be surprised when I say that the world makes no sense, if I have failed to actually look beyond my own confusion to the order of the world.

When have I found life to be pointless and chaotic? Whenever it has not satisfied my appetites on my own narrow terms. Nature is not then to blame; my thinking about Nature is to blame. Has it occurred to me that the Universe doesn’t need fixing, but that I need to work on fixing myself? All things will happen for their rightly appointed reasons, even when I am too stubborn to recognize it.

What at first appears wrong may well be right, if I work from the proper measures and standards of right. What seems to be a failure may well be a success, if I reconsider my judgment of success. If it feels pointless or unfair, might I find a way to grasp the point, or to do something to make it fair? It is my unwillingness and my ignorance that are getting in the way.

How often have I grown frustrated when I hear people say there is no truth because they have not bothered to look, or that a problem in unsolvable because it requires some time and effort to solve? Then my petty anger is no better than their closed minds, and I need to do some work on my own attitude before I point fingers.

There are reasons we are tempted to insist that there are no reasons. There is always some pain behind our complaints that life is unfair. If I can think it through patiently and carefully, I might discover something of those reasons, and I might make some sense of all those feelings.

Written in 11/2015