When this Craftsman has made you, do you dishonor his work?
Nay, more, He not only made you, but committed you as a trust to yourself and none other. Will you not remember this, but even dishonor the trust committed to you?
If God had committed some orphan to your care, would you have neglected him so?
Nay, more, He not only made you, but committed you as a trust to yourself and none other. Will you not remember this, but even dishonor the trust committed to you?
If God had committed some orphan to your care, would you have neglected him so?
Yet He has entrusted your own self to you and He says, “I had none other more trustworthy than you: keep this man for me such as he is born to be, modest, faithful, high-minded, undismayed, free from passion and tumult.”
After that, do you refuse to keep him so?
—from Epictetus, Discourses 2.8
I have a deep sympathy for those who struggle with God, simply because a day does not pass when I do not struggle with God. And of all the things I could struggle with, this one is, quite literally, the biggest one of all.
No one likes to be bullied, and no one likes to feel boxed in. It hardly helps when wily and grasping men twist piety into a means for their sleazy profits, making us dubious about having confidence in any higher power. Ignore their artifices and carefully follow right reason; it will lead you wherever you need to go.
Most importantly, recognize why a conscious union with the Divine is the ultimate liberation, for a knowledge of self can only become possible through a knowledge of its place within the whole. God is the total context of where we come from and where we are going, the absolute measure of meaning and purpose.
Observe how Epictetus presents God’s assignment to us as an honor, not as a burden. Whether or not we have any faith in Him, He still believes in our capacity to take charge of our own affairs, to discover our own paths. As a song from my youth once said, “If you love somebody, set them free.”
I fondly remember a summer spent in rural Austria, where my uncle would manage a small church, considered too obscure for the bishop to assign a regular pastor. After being shown the ropes, no pun intended, I was given the responsibility of ringing the bells three times a day for the Angelus. I don’t think I have ever felt more proud, more trusted, more significant.
The locals laughed at how seriously I took the task, but I think of it still whenever I doubt my worth. Every thought and deed, however humble, should be like a call to prayer. The bigwigs won’t notice your gratitude and your service, but you will know, and God will know.
My cat likes to “help” me when I go out in the morning to fetch the mail. Though he makes the process more involved by getting underfoot and stopping to roll in the grass, he is eager to do his part, in his peculiar way. He takes a joy in his duty, as should we all.
And what does God ask of me? No more than to be a man of character, let the chips fall where they may. If I can take that to be a privilege instead of a punishment, asking for nothing else, I will no longer grumble against Providence.
I have a deep sympathy for those who struggle with God, simply because a day does not pass when I do not struggle with God. And of all the things I could struggle with, this one is, quite literally, the biggest one of all.
No one likes to be bullied, and no one likes to feel boxed in. It hardly helps when wily and grasping men twist piety into a means for their sleazy profits, making us dubious about having confidence in any higher power. Ignore their artifices and carefully follow right reason; it will lead you wherever you need to go.
Most importantly, recognize why a conscious union with the Divine is the ultimate liberation, for a knowledge of self can only become possible through a knowledge of its place within the whole. God is the total context of where we come from and where we are going, the absolute measure of meaning and purpose.
Observe how Epictetus presents God’s assignment to us as an honor, not as a burden. Whether or not we have any faith in Him, He still believes in our capacity to take charge of our own affairs, to discover our own paths. As a song from my youth once said, “If you love somebody, set them free.”
I fondly remember a summer spent in rural Austria, where my uncle would manage a small church, considered too obscure for the bishop to assign a regular pastor. After being shown the ropes, no pun intended, I was given the responsibility of ringing the bells three times a day for the Angelus. I don’t think I have ever felt more proud, more trusted, more significant.
The locals laughed at how seriously I took the task, but I think of it still whenever I doubt my worth. Every thought and deed, however humble, should be like a call to prayer. The bigwigs won’t notice your gratitude and your service, but you will know, and God will know.
My cat likes to “help” me when I go out in the morning to fetch the mail. Though he makes the process more involved by getting underfoot and stopping to roll in the grass, he is eager to do his part, in his peculiar way. He takes a joy in his duty, as should we all.
And what does God ask of me? No more than to be a man of character, let the chips fall where they may. If I can take that to be a privilege instead of a punishment, asking for nothing else, I will no longer grumble against Providence.
—Reflection written in 7/2001
IMAGE: Lucas Cranach, The Creation (1534)
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