AN UNURGENT DIRECTIVE TO BE LESS URGENT.
Today I was walking along a beautifully tree-lined pathway on the Northwestern campus, reading about the numbing effect that the daily grind of work and study can have on people the world over. If you are numbed right now, you might not have understood the first sentence. Read it again, and deeply take in the meaning. Are you with us again? Excellent—let us proceed.
Struck with sudden inspiration in the middle of my readwalk, I gradually drifted off the blacktop and toward a tree that stood next to the path. Leaning against this tree, I observed the events taking place around me. The leaves had turned color (it is the midst of fall as I write this directive), a chill was in the air, and people of all sizes and philosophies scurried, strolled, or staggered to their respective destinations. I had momentarily withdrawn from my transit in order to observe, and thus I had withdrawn from the action of this world. While the advancing course of my day had come to a fleeting pause, everyone else’s nonetheless continued. People went about their business seemingly unaware that one of their fellows had briefly surrendered to inaction.
During this break, a startling shot of insight came into my mind. I saw the world (from where I stood) as being like a colony of ants, particularly like one of those kits that are sold for children, where one can view the progress of the ants’ civilization through clear sheets of plastic or glass. I saw that over the thousands of years of our civilizations’ development, our species had come far. We had transcended the capabilities of the ants long ago. What made this transcendence possible, or in other words, what differentiated our civilization and its capabilities from those of the ants? Our size is one factor which cannot be denied. This may sound simplistic, but it is deeper than you may realize. We are capable of doing greater tasks than ants, yes. But we are also incapable of doing as insignificant tasks as ants are able to do. Our size is a double-edged sword. But I am digressing.
Another factor is intelligence. By our standards, we are able to think greater ideas, communicate clearer thoughts, and thus accomplish greater tasks due to our painstakingly developed minds.
But the most important factor is our very humanity. We are conscious, we are able to reason and feel, to intuit and create. Though our civilization and attitudes have developed and changed dramatically over the years, our fundamental humanity has changed very little. Physically, emotionally, and mentally, we are essentially the same types of beings as could be found on this planet two thousand years ago. Any reading of ancient prose or poetry will quickly reveal this fact.
All of the facts of our current sophistication are so; and yet, we are still ants in the cosmic scheme. We are all minuscule creatures living out our roles in this society, this kit that God has built and watches over every day. He has a plan. He always has.
I look around sometimes and wonder what is happening to society. I see troublesome forces, forces of selfishness, pride, and anger, threatening the safety and development of the young generations. I see people and ideologies so repulsive to what I believe to be the just and righteous and sane society, that I feel I must fight them to the last man. I feel like I must take every possible action to speak out against the evils of the world, to proclaim my common sense any time there is an opportunity for it, to divide between “us” and “them,” and to struggle to the point of exhaustion. I have the weight of the world on my shoulders! It is up to me to save it! Such are the thoughts that often went through my mind when I saw evidence of evil in society, a common sight nowadays.
I know what you are thinking: “How do you know what is evil and what is good? Who says you’re right?” Well, simply put, I say I am right, and that is enough for me. As G.K. Chesterton said, “If I say that it may be wrong, I say that is not my opinion.” I truly believe that my most passionate beliefs are in accordance with God’s will. That is not as crazy as it sounds when you think about it. I believe in and worship God. Why would I believe something I take to be contrary to His desires? So that settles the matter of why I believe so strongly in what I believe, if that makes sense.
But am I right to take up Atlas’ position and strain my back with the weight of the globe? No, and that is exactly what my brief respite taught me. God is the Master of the ant colony; He set it up, and He is letting it progress as He sees fit. If something is going wrong, it is so that everything may eventually go right, for He who created us has planned it that way. My limited human vision only sees the here and now; it ignores the vast past that led up to this point in history, and it likewise ignores the unfathomable future which continually hurtles toward us as the present moment, and shows no signs of stopping.
The ultimate point is that it is all in His hands—everything! This does not exempt us from doing our duty and speaking our truths. Instead, it informs us that we are given opportunities for such words and deeds, and we will know when these opportunities arise. There is no need to force a battle in the war against a decaying society. Like all conflicts of the past, the outcome was decided long before the first blow was struck, and the affair, no matter how ugly, was still being overseen by a loving Creator.
Living as a loving Christian here and now, setting an example to all that you meet, is in the vast majority of situations the far more effective converter of hearts. “They will know we are Christians by our love,” not by our sound arguments and reasoned opinions. So relax more, worry less. Listen more, speak less. And when the time comes, gently step up to the microphone, say what must be said, and never forget just Who you are living for.
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