An easy life?

Published: Wed, 03/31/21

Considering how many people have had children over human history it seems a bit indulgent to go on about one’s own experience of becoming a parent. None of us would be here if people didn’t have children so what is the big deal? It is a big deal because people had children, raised them, educated them, and then those same children grew up to create the world we live in today. All that has been created in terms of technology, primary goods production, infrastructure, intellectual, cultural, and spiritual resources have been created, maintained, and developed by people who were born into this world as tiny babies, grew up with enough confidence and curiosity to learn how to be effective in the world, gained enough knowledge and skills to be creative and left their mark on the world. Along the way they may have married and had a family of their own which created the next generation.

Our civilization managed to carry on developing and growing in spite of killing millions of its finest in wars, coping with sickness and ill health, caused as much by poor nutrition and primitive living conditions as diseases as such, and difficulties such as financial fluctuations which meant periods of wide spread unemployment and few opportunities to be productive and useful. Yet, even these challenges bring out courage and determination to overcome huge obstacles which often lead to even greater success.

As an older father, and as someone who is inclined to study history in an organic way I believe I have a sense of where my daughter has come from. The threads of Orlog have brought her to her current point in time and space. She cannot be anywhere else, or indeed, anyone other, than who she is, as is the case for all of us. We can never change the lines of the web which have brought us to where we are now. We are centred in our web now and cannot be anywhere else. Everything we do now influences the point on the web we will find ourselves in the future. We are completely held within our web and yet we create our destiny moment by moment. The only thing that can really change is our awareness of the nature of Orlog and how we can work with it. At 15 months old my daughter has little awareness of her destiny or her capacity to shape her destiny. Perhaps the most important education she will have will be to learn that she is part
of the Web of Orlog, that she can understand and see the web in many senses, that she can understand herself through the web, and she can create her own destiny by working with the Orlog.

She will need to realise that not all moments in time and space provide the same opportunity for transforming our destiny. Mostly we simply follow the thread we find ourselves on. The more aware we have been in our lives the more deliberate will have been the choice of line we are working with. Every now and then the web brings us to a nexus of lines, I call these meetings chaos points because these are where we can make changes most effectively. These are also points of chaos and confusion and only the aware mind and adaptable life can choose how to use these opportunities to greatest effect. This is why events which many see as disasters always provide great opportunities for some.

It is easy to become afraid of what my child will have to deal with in her life. Part of me just wants her to be safe, happy, healthy, and well provided for. While she is a young child that is our responsibility and we are doing the best we can for her. What do I really want for her adult life? What will equip her for life? Do I actually want her life to be easy and comfortable?

I find myself thinking of the 19th century hymn by L M W Willis. The first verse goes:

1 Father, hear the prayer we offer:
not for ease that prayer shall be,
but for strength that we may ever
live our lives courageously.




Maybe the past few decades have been a bit too easy and comfortable for many people in the West. There is no particular virtue in suffering for its own sake, but verse three is a reminder that there are alternatives to idleness and rest.




3 Not for ever by still waters
would we idly rest and stay;
but would smite the living fountains
from the rocks along our way.




I hope my daughter finds, and rises to, enough challenges to make her life meaningful. I don’t think I can ask for more than that.

Happy Easter and I hope you are able to get what you need from the holiday.

regards

Graham