A Witch's Ashram
This is another maxim where I felt the need to look up the words. If anyone has clarification around what the original Greek intended, I’m wide open for schooling. (Cara Schulz, I’m looking at you.)
According to basic dictionary definitions, providence is the protective care of God/Deity/nature/the gods. I can’t see how this would be different from honoring the gods in any other way, except for the nuance of gratitude. Honor (respect, be grateful for) the forces that help sustain and protect us. It makes perfect sense.
There are so many forces in this world that feel like obstacles on our path. There are plenty of times when it feels like the world is out to get us, nothing is going our way, and it seems like we’re fighting an uphill battle all by ourselves. But that isn’t true. (Most of the time, anyway.) Cultivating an attitude of thankfulness, openness to assistance in whatever form it might take, and humility (true humbleness, not some sort of brutal, self-negating piety) seem to me the heart of this maxim.
“God works in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform” I feel like this is the core of providence. Providence, divine assistance, shows up in ways we least expect or in ways we don’t always recognize. Honoring not only the acts of providence we recognize, but also the possibility of future acts and accepting that we may have been helped and not even have known it, is an act of enlightened self-interest and of gratitude. Just as I would thank a friend for bringing me soup when I’m sick, I want to treat the gods like trusted friends/allies and honor assistance in any form it appears.
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