Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy 4.31

“But you will ask, ‘What more unjust confusion could exist than that good men should sometimes enjoy prosperity, sometimes suffer adversity, and that the bad too should sometimes receive what they desire, sometimes what they hate?’

“Are then men possessed of such infallible minds that they, whom they consider honest or dishonest, must necessarily be what they are held to be? No, in these matters human judgment is at variance with itself, and those who are held by some to be worthy of reward, are by others held worthy of punishment.

“But let us grant that a man could discern between good and bad characters. Can he therefore know the inmost feelings of the soul, as a doctor can learn a body's temperature? For it is no less a wonder to the ignorant why sweet things suit one sound body, while bitter things suit another; or why some sick people are aided by gentle draughts, others by sharp and bitter ones.

“But a doctor does not wonder at such things, for he knows the ways and constitutions of health and sickness. And what is the health of the soul but virtue? and what the sickness, but vice? And who is the preserver of the good and banisher of the evil, who but God, the guardian and healer of minds?”

—from Book 4, Prose 6

I become far too hasty in my judgment, too narrow in my scope, when I am ever so quick to determine who should be rewarded and who should be punished. I first commit the error of making foolish assumptions about what is right and wrong to begin with, and I then compound it by thinking I fully apprehend the hearts and minds of others, that I can see all their most hidden intentions, and grasp all the circumstances they have had to face.

Who am I to flippantly decide such things? Let me spend some of that time and energy attending to myself, and slowly learning something more about the deeper workings of Providence.

We are easily tempted to give legal, or financial, or medical advice, even if we know next to nothing about such matters. I sometimes observe that it is precisely those who understand the least who will often dictate to us the most. I would be best served by trusting competent and experienced lawyers, bankers, and doctors over the loud fellow at the end of the bar.

Should it be any different when it comes to questions of morality and justice? Pay heed to the lover of wisdom, who has humbly and carefully learned a little something of his own nature, and the order within all of Nature. He will advise patience and compassion, an open mind and an open heart.

A fine doctor will comprehend the nature of the disease, as well as the nature of the cure; he sees what is wrong, and then how to make it right. Even when I can’t figure out all the difficult terms or the mysterious causes he speaks of, I will trust that he can make me well. How odd that I will gladly follow his directions to heal my body, but I stubbornly refuse to follow God’s directions to heal my soul.

I ought to step back. Have I truly made sense of what is good or bad for a human being, right to the very core? Am I too easily impressed by the appearance instead of the content? Perhaps what is worthy of praise or blame is very different than I at first think, and my estimation of character is founded on a crafty illusion.

Why am I assuming that receiving riches, or gratification, or fame is necessarily of benefit, while receiving poverty, or hardship, or anonymity is necessarily of harm? Perhaps what I consider rewards or punishments are not that at all, but serve to assist our moral health in ways I have not foreseen.

Too often I am concerned with the accidents over the substance, and so my very measure of losses and gains is disordered. I worry about property, and luxuries, and reputation, when I should be focused on the pursuit of virtue and the avoidance of vice. Integrity is worth more than anything in my bank account, and love commands a far greater value than all the worldly vanities put together.

Once I begin to see the human good from the perspective of character, I will also begin to see that Providence prescribes prudent remedies. As long as it can encourage me to improve the excellence of my soul, it works with justice. The Doctor knows best.

Written in 11/2015