{"id":293,"date":"2011-03-03T20:05:00","date_gmt":"2011-03-03T20:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/03\/control-is-an-illusion\/"},"modified":"2011-03-03T20:05:00","modified_gmt":"2011-03-03T20:05:00","slug":"control-is-an-illusion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/03\/control-is-an-illusion.html","title":{"rendered":"Control is an Illusion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I enjoy hearing about why<\/i> people believe what they believe. That\u2019s a question many people can\u2019t answer, because they\u2019ve never seriously questioned what they\u2019ve always been taught.<\/p>\n

While browsing the Patheos<\/a> website, I came across this essay titled \u201cControl is an Illusion \u2013 Why I\u2019m a Calvinist.<\/a>\u201d It\u2019s by David French, whose bio says \u201cis a lawyer, writer, soldier, and veteran of the Iraq war.\u201d As a war veteran, French has experienced things most of us \u2013 thankfully \u2013 never will. Those experiences have affected him greatly.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the gist of his argument: <\/p>\n

I used to think I had some control over life \u2026 that my virtuous inputs would lead to better outcomes. But that belief literally blew up\u2014not once, not twice, but again and again and again. Men more courageous than I am, more virtuous than I am, who loved their Lord with all their hearts . . . all gone in a series of flashes and shock waves.<\/p>\n

But then I would ride on those same roads, past the craters that marked their deaths as surely as the crosses on the side of an interstate, and nothing would happen. I came home . . . yet I owed my return not to my own decisions or my own excellence as a warrior but to God\u2019s choice alone.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That conclusion is understandable, but it is far from inevitable. I\u2019ve seen other people have the same experiences and declare themselves atheists \u2013 no God or god could be that callous, therefore there is no God.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m more than a bit of a control freak. I like to know where I\u2019m going, how I\u2019m going to get there, how long it will take, what things will be like when I get there and how much the whole thing is going to cost. I want to know all the risks so I can make contingency plans. I like sitting in the exit rows on airplanes, not because I need the extra legroom (I\u2019m 5-9\u2026 in shoes\u2026 with thick soles\u2026) but because if someone is going to have to open that door in an emergency I\u2019d rather it be me than somebody I\u2019ve never seen before. <\/p>\n

But over the years I\u2019ve learned that half of David French\u2019s title is correct \u2013 control is an illusion. <\/p>\n

Isaac Bonewits<\/a> identified 26 Laws of Magic<\/a>. He summarized the Law of Cause and Effect by saying \u201cControl every variable and you control every change \u2014 lotsa luck!\u201d In the laboratory scientists struggle to control one or two variables in sterile experiments. In the real world there are more variables than we can count. We can\u2019t possibly control enough variables to guarantee the results we want.<\/p>\n

But that doesn\u2019t mean we are powerless.<\/p>\n

We can\u2019t control anything, but we can influence everything. Eating healthy, exercising and not smoking doesn\u2019t guarantee you\u2019ll live to be 100, but it certainly improves your odds. Driving cautiously doesn\u2019t mean some drunk fool won\u2019t plow into you, but it does mean you\u2019re less likely to be in an accident. <\/p>\n

The weaker the connections, the less our influence. I have a lot of influence over me. I have some influence in my church, where I serve on the Board of Trustees and the Worship Committee. I have a little influence at work, where I\u2019ve been for almost ten years. I have a very small influence in US politics, where I vote and blog. I have almost no influence in politics in other countries \u2013 but through my writing and my voting in US elections, I have some. And so on.<\/p>\n

David French says \u201cI used to think \u2026 that my virtuous inputs would lead to better outcomes.\u201d No. Your virtuous inputs \u2013 spiritual practice, ethical living, social action \u2013 are inputs into YOU. They make you stronger, more grounded and more focused for when you decide to exercise your influence through mundane actions or through prayer and magical workings. <\/p>\n

We have brain, and a heart, and a Will. We need to use them all. We control nothing, but we influence everything.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I enjoy hearing about why people believe what they believe. That\u2019s a question many people can\u2019t answer, because they\u2019ve never seriously questioned what they\u2019ve always been taught. While browsing the Patheos website, I came across this essay titled \u201cControl is an Illusion \u2013 Why I\u2019m a Calvinist.\u201d It\u2019s by David French, whose bio says \u201cis […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1129,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nControl is an Illusion<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I enjoy hearing about why people believe what they believe. 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