The Will
Will and desire. God’s will or our will. My will or your will. What the heck do we mean by “will,” anyway? What is it that you want to do, and how much of what we do are we compelled to do, because life has arranged itself that way, and that’s all we can do, and we even find ourselves saying, “I have no choice.” There’s always some well-meaning person who says, “Of course you have a choice. You have will. You can choose to do right or wrong.” Not true. I think we need to reorder our thinking or maybe change our perspective.
Think about the way things happen. Think about your own life and the way you are today, and ask yourself, honestly, is that the life you chose? Is this the way you would like it to be? There might be one or two who say, “Oh, I have the perfect life.” I suspect that they’re maybe lying or blind or especially blessed. Take the time to distance yourself from the present and take yourself back to your earliest memories. When was the first time that you were aware of the fact that you had to do something that you didn’t want to do? Why did you do it if you didn’t want to? Do we really have what is called “free will”?
Let’s assume for a moment that we do have free will and we do make our own choices. That means that we carry around an appalling amount of fear and guilt, because if you are making the choice, then you are responsible and will be held accountable for your choices, good or bad. If, on the other hand, we are just vessels of some greater power like the hose is the vessel for the water, then we are just passive vessels, created perhaps to observe this life we’re living. It’s like riding a raft down life’s river, where we have no control over the raft or the river but can enjoy the scenery and the events that occur during this adventure. If we are just passive vessels and we are not making the decisions, then we have nothing to fear or feel guilty about. Wow! You know, there’s a part of us that likes to think that we’re in control. It’s kind of scary to think that we’re not. But when you really look at it coolly, objectively, logically, it’s the best of all worlds not to be in control.
If it’s God’s will and God’s plan, and we don’t have any say over even a single split second of our entire life, then there is no reason to have any fear or any guilt. We can just lie back and enjoy the ride. How many of us really have choice? How often are we asked by God or anyone else what we really want? Do you enjoy living in a world where you are assaulted by provocative sexual images almost every moment of the day and yet are denied access to any really enjoyable physical intimacy? Oh now and then, maybe, at the beginning of the relationship, on the first date, it’s kind of exciting, but how many of us can honestly say that passion endures? Hey, where does passion come from anyway? Where does desire come from? And are they really any different from will? It’s very clear to me that even my desires come from some other source, within, that’s for sure, but more and more I’m aware that I’m told when to eat because I get hungry. I’m told when to play or to rest because I have the desire to do that. And what about those days when we have no desire to do anything? We can’t even get up out of bed. Have you ever tried to stay in bed for like a week? Try it sometimes, friends. Our will and desire come from within but they are not ours, and we are told what to do by our desires.
We’re tempted to say, “I can will myself to choose not to follow those desires. I have that choice.” Granted, there are times when it feels as though we want to do something but we do it another way or not at all, but if we really examine again, where is that will coming from to turn away from desire? Sooner or later I think we have to accept the fact that we are passive vessels, and that there is nothing wrong with that. That’s the way it’s been set up by the powers that be, and acceptance of that is really acceptance of ourselves, because most of the time, we’re trying to change who we are because we’ve been told that some things about us really aren’t very nice and we just need to work on those. Like Katherine Hepburn in The African Queen, “Nature, Mr. Allnut, is what we’re been put on this earth to rise above.” Well, maybe not. Maybe nature is just the natural way and we do what we do because that is our nature and that is, after all, God’s will. How nice to be able to accept oneself. You know what that amounts to. Loving one’s self. Acceptance. How many times are we torn between rejection of others or ourselves? Trying to change others or ourselves is ultimately an exercise in futility. Eventually we come to realize that everything is exactly as it’s supposed to be. Nobody’s really bad or good, right or wrong. This is how the play was written. Play your part and enjoy it or don’t enjoy it. You’ll be given the desire to do one or the other.
Think about the way things happen. Think about your own life and the way you are today, and ask yourself, honestly, is that the life you chose? Is this the way you would like it to be? There might be one or two who say, “Oh, I have the perfect life.” I suspect that they’re maybe lying or blind or especially blessed. Take the time to distance yourself from the present and take yourself back to your earliest memories. When was the first time that you were aware of the fact that you had to do something that you didn’t want to do? Why did you do it if you didn’t want to? Do we really have what is called “free will”?
Let’s assume for a moment that we do have free will and we do make our own choices. That means that we carry around an appalling amount of fear and guilt, because if you are making the choice, then you are responsible and will be held accountable for your choices, good or bad. If, on the other hand, we are just vessels of some greater power like the hose is the vessel for the water, then we are just passive vessels, created perhaps to observe this life we’re living. It’s like riding a raft down life’s river, where we have no control over the raft or the river but can enjoy the scenery and the events that occur during this adventure. If we are just passive vessels and we are not making the decisions, then we have nothing to fear or feel guilty about. Wow! You know, there’s a part of us that likes to think that we’re in control. It’s kind of scary to think that we’re not. But when you really look at it coolly, objectively, logically, it’s the best of all worlds not to be in control.
If it’s God’s will and God’s plan, and we don’t have any say over even a single split second of our entire life, then there is no reason to have any fear or any guilt. We can just lie back and enjoy the ride. How many of us really have choice? How often are we asked by God or anyone else what we really want? Do you enjoy living in a world where you are assaulted by provocative sexual images almost every moment of the day and yet are denied access to any really enjoyable physical intimacy? Oh now and then, maybe, at the beginning of the relationship, on the first date, it’s kind of exciting, but how many of us can honestly say that passion endures? Hey, where does passion come from anyway? Where does desire come from? And are they really any different from will? It’s very clear to me that even my desires come from some other source, within, that’s for sure, but more and more I’m aware that I’m told when to eat because I get hungry. I’m told when to play or to rest because I have the desire to do that. And what about those days when we have no desire to do anything? We can’t even get up out of bed. Have you ever tried to stay in bed for like a week? Try it sometimes, friends. Our will and desire come from within but they are not ours, and we are told what to do by our desires.
We’re tempted to say, “I can will myself to choose not to follow those desires. I have that choice.” Granted, there are times when it feels as though we want to do something but we do it another way or not at all, but if we really examine again, where is that will coming from to turn away from desire? Sooner or later I think we have to accept the fact that we are passive vessels, and that there is nothing wrong with that. That’s the way it’s been set up by the powers that be, and acceptance of that is really acceptance of ourselves, because most of the time, we’re trying to change who we are because we’ve been told that some things about us really aren’t very nice and we just need to work on those. Like Katherine Hepburn in The African Queen, “Nature, Mr. Allnut, is what we’re been put on this earth to rise above.” Well, maybe not. Maybe nature is just the natural way and we do what we do because that is our nature and that is, after all, God’s will. How nice to be able to accept oneself. You know what that amounts to. Loving one’s self. Acceptance. How many times are we torn between rejection of others or ourselves? Trying to change others or ourselves is ultimately an exercise in futility. Eventually we come to realize that everything is exactly as it’s supposed to be. Nobody’s really bad or good, right or wrong. This is how the play was written. Play your part and enjoy it or don’t enjoy it. You’ll be given the desire to do one or the other.
posted by Old Timer at 11:01 AM
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