I always enjoy a good play on words, simply because I enjoy the subtleties of language. I sadly did not inherit the linguistic skills of my father, though I did inherit some of his sense of humor.
Yet what Musonius has to say here is far more than a clever joke; it offers me an incredibly important lesson.
Stoicism teaches the pursuit of serenity, of finding a peace of mind in the midst of so much worldly conflict and struggle. Still, when I come across people who present seemingly similar values, I am often struck by what I can only call, with all due respect, a sense of profound laziness.
“Don’t worry about it! Just let it all flow, and don’t make an effort. It’s all good! You don’t have to try; it will come to you.”
Lao Tzu did not tell us to sit on our rear ends and grow fat. Krishna did not renounce action, but only a desire for the fruit of the act. The Buddha did not encourage sloppy living. Jesus called us to a conscious commitment of unconditional love, not to become thoughtless and careless.
Tranquility is not passivity. Life is itself a principle of action, and rational life is itself a principle of rational action. The confusion arises when I assume that action must be against something, when it should more rightly be with something. There is the flow!
I have little patience for any sort of sloth, but especially not for the moral sort. I know this from my own constant failures, not from judging others. Vice will creep in before I know it, and so I must always be on my guard.
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