This post is somewhat connected to the thoughts I've shared in my recent posts on predestination, and is primarily a discussion of choice and meaning.
In an earlier discussion, I made a suggestion that meaning in life comes from the value that God grants to us and our choices, finding meaning in what we do. After further thought, I feel that that statement is far too cursory. An idea I would like to weave into the tapestry is that choice is inseparable from consequence. The key to meaning is that our choices have been given the authority to shape this world, to have consequence.
God has made a beautiful creation. He invested His awesome power in this planet, life, our bodies, our minds. Crafting a whole system in intricate detail and with great care, He then gives humans authority to chose what to do with it. Our choices affect this world and that power gives our choices significance. Likewise, in a narrative, the we are able to find meaning in the characters and their decisions because their decisions affect their lives and the lives of people around them within the established context of the story.
When we are born, we have little authority. We observe the world, our parents, other adults, and everything is decided for us. Our clothes, the food and drink we ingest, the places we go are all at the discretion of those who have guardianship over us.
Then we develop and gain abilities we had not before. No longer a passive bystander, we take our first steps and speak our first words. In our action, we acquire authority over where we move and what we say. We are allowed to expand gradually into the full expression of these two abilities at a measured pace. At first we only toddle around the living room, then our parents hold our hands as we cross the street, leave us to play in a park. Our vocabulary grows, allowing us to articulate more specific concepts, give compliments and complaints, and to express love and hate. Steadily we gain more authority over where we spend our time, who we socialise with, the emotions of others through the words we say. We may not be kings, but in our own little worlds, we begin to assume more responsibility and influence.
After ability comes mastery, which comes as we learn to wield the power we find that we have. We learn that when we are late, it inconveniences others, while if we are in the right place at the right time, things proceed more smoothly and pleasantly. We learn that the words we say can make or break someone's day, particularly those who are closest to us. We begin, hopefully, to be sensitive to the consequences of our choices, and choose as wisely as we can.
Yet we make mistakes. We underestimate traffic, we forget appointments, two careless drivers meet, a ferry capsizes. A rash word is released in hissing anger or writhing insecurity, and by words, wars are declared and marriages bitterly annulled. Then we step back and wonder why such power was given to fallible creatures such as ourselves.
These are not the only abilities we have, nor the only powers we steward. We learn that we are responsible for our physical bodies, the exercise we do and the sustenance we ingest. For our souls, we select the media we experience and the things we learn, the thoughts we dwell on and those we take captive, the emotions that we allow to run rampant and those we temper. We choose to fill our spirits with the love of an awesome God, or a fake facsimile that deadens our humanity. We plan our days and our careers.
For some of us, a great transition is made upon the birth of a child, when, for the first time, your choices carry supreme consequence, not only for yourself, but for another, as of yet, helpless human being, and the cycle is complete.
In the face of this weight of choice, we all try to choose what we believe is best. Some despair and back away from choice because of past failure and fear. Others thrust on ahead with a complex system of justifications which lets them chose what they wish because balancing the multifarious demands of society and individuals is too tedious a consideration.
We can also choose to submit the authority we possess back into the hands of the one who gave it to us. For who would know how to manage the weight of will better than the one who constructed it.
Meaning comes not from independence, but from consequence. Thus, any system of thought that attempts to distance consequence from choice is straying from the truth and diminishes the sense of meaning in our lives. Any system of thought that connects a choice to the wrong consequence is misinformed. Making choices based on what we know is human wisdom, while making choices based on what God suggests is Godly wisdom. As far as I can tell, the latter is the most reliable and sustainable way to manage the gravity of volition.
God has made a beautiful creation. He invested His awesome power in this planet, life, our bodies, our minds. Crafting a whole system in intricate detail and with great care, He then gives humans authority to chose what to do with it. Our choices affect this world and that power gives our choices significance. Likewise, in a narrative, the we are able to find meaning in the characters and their decisions because their decisions affect their lives and the lives of people around them within the established context of the story.
When we are born, we have little authority. We observe the world, our parents, other adults, and everything is decided for us. Our clothes, the food and drink we ingest, the places we go are all at the discretion of those who have guardianship over us.
Then we develop and gain abilities we had not before. No longer a passive bystander, we take our first steps and speak our first words. In our action, we acquire authority over where we move and what we say. We are allowed to expand gradually into the full expression of these two abilities at a measured pace. At first we only toddle around the living room, then our parents hold our hands as we cross the street, leave us to play in a park. Our vocabulary grows, allowing us to articulate more specific concepts, give compliments and complaints, and to express love and hate. Steadily we gain more authority over where we spend our time, who we socialise with, the emotions of others through the words we say. We may not be kings, but in our own little worlds, we begin to assume more responsibility and influence.
After ability comes mastery, which comes as we learn to wield the power we find that we have. We learn that when we are late, it inconveniences others, while if we are in the right place at the right time, things proceed more smoothly and pleasantly. We learn that the words we say can make or break someone's day, particularly those who are closest to us. We begin, hopefully, to be sensitive to the consequences of our choices, and choose as wisely as we can.
Yet we make mistakes. We underestimate traffic, we forget appointments, two careless drivers meet, a ferry capsizes. A rash word is released in hissing anger or writhing insecurity, and by words, wars are declared and marriages bitterly annulled. Then we step back and wonder why such power was given to fallible creatures such as ourselves.
These are not the only abilities we have, nor the only powers we steward. We learn that we are responsible for our physical bodies, the exercise we do and the sustenance we ingest. For our souls, we select the media we experience and the things we learn, the thoughts we dwell on and those we take captive, the emotions that we allow to run rampant and those we temper. We choose to fill our spirits with the love of an awesome God, or a fake facsimile that deadens our humanity. We plan our days and our careers.
For some of us, a great transition is made upon the birth of a child, when, for the first time, your choices carry supreme consequence, not only for yourself, but for another, as of yet, helpless human being, and the cycle is complete.
In the face of this weight of choice, we all try to choose what we believe is best. Some despair and back away from choice because of past failure and fear. Others thrust on ahead with a complex system of justifications which lets them chose what they wish because balancing the multifarious demands of society and individuals is too tedious a consideration.
We can also choose to submit the authority we possess back into the hands of the one who gave it to us. For who would know how to manage the weight of will better than the one who constructed it.
Meaning comes not from independence, but from consequence. Thus, any system of thought that attempts to distance consequence from choice is straying from the truth and diminishes the sense of meaning in our lives. Any system of thought that connects a choice to the wrong consequence is misinformed. Making choices based on what we know is human wisdom, while making choices based on what God suggests is Godly wisdom. As far as I can tell, the latter is the most reliable and sustainable way to manage the gravity of volition.
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