Control<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The most viewed post in the life of this blog \u2013 by an almost 2 to 1 ratio over the second most viewed \u2013 is So Mote It Be, a short entry from November\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/02\/control.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Control\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The most viewed post in the life of this blog \u2013 by an almost 2 to 1 ratio over the second most viewed \u2013 is So Mote It Be, a short entry from November\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/02\/control.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-02-16T20:44:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/02\/control.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/02\/control.html\",\"name\":\"Control\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-02-16T20:44:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-02-16T20:44:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad\"},\"description\":\"The most viewed post in the life of this blog \u2013 by an almost 2 to 1 ratio over the second most viewed \u2013 is So Mote It Be, a short entry from November\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/02\/control.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/02\/control.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/02\/control.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Control\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/\",\"name\":\"John Beckett\",\"description\":\"Musings of a Druid, Pagan, and Unitarian Universalist.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad\",\"name\":\"John Beckett\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"John Beckett\"},\"description\":\"I grew up in Tennessee with the woods right outside my back door. 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{"id":300,"date":"2011-02-16T20:44:00","date_gmt":"2011-02-16T20:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/02\/control\/"},"modified":"2011-02-16T20:44:00","modified_gmt":"2011-02-16T20:44:00","slug":"control","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/02\/control.html","title":{"rendered":"Control"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

The most viewed post in the life of this blog \u2013 by an almost 2 to 1 ratio over the second most viewed \u2013 is So Mote It Be<\/a>, a short entry from November 2009. Why, out of all the things I\u2019ve written, is this so popular? <\/p>\n

The answer, of course, is Google. If you google \u201c so mote it be meaning<\/a>\u201d this entry comes up on the front page (or at least it does for me). As I recall, when I wrote it there weren\u2019t a lot of good definitions on the internet \u2013 apparently enough people like my explanation to drive it up in Google\u2019s search algorithm.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not my favorite post, but I\u2019m happy with it. I ended with a call to put the phrase into action by saying \u201cIf we are going to live our lives our way and not as popular culture says we must, at some point we have to stand up and say \u2018this is what I want. This is how I will live. This I value and that I do not.\u2019 So mote it be!\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, contrast that with this Huffington Post essay by Rabbi Will Berkovitz on \u201c The Spiritual Practice of Surrendering \u2018Complete Control\u2019<\/a>.\u201d In it, Rabbi Berkovitz argues that considering \u201chow little control we actually have in our lives \u2026 we would do well to practice letting go.\u201d He goes on to describe how love requires letting go and how even God isn\u2019t a perfectionist \u2013 as proof, he says \u201cconsider the platypus.\u201d<\/p>\n

At first glance it would seem that these two concepts are 180 degrees apart \u2013 either you declare \u201cso mote it be!\u201d or you \u201clet go and let God.\u201d But really, they aren\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo mote it be\u201d deals with choices and decisions. We make hundreds of decisions each day, from the decision to get out of bed in the morning to what to eat for breakfast to what to do with a free hour at home in the evening. Occasionally, we make big decisions: to change jobs, to move to a new place, to start or end a relationship. Hopefully our decisions are informed, ethical, and in our best interests, but regardless, we have to make them.<\/p>\n

But there are decisions we don\u2019t get to make: the weather, illnesses, job losses and job offers, whether or not someone returns our love. We can\u2019t control these outcomes so we are better off not obsessing about them and accepting them as they come. <\/p>\n

Those of us who practice magic know that our workings and our prayers can influence things beyond our control, but they can\u2019t guarantee the outcome will be what we want. We can improve our odds but we can\u2019t rig the game. <\/p>\n

There are times in Life when we need to stand tall and proclaim \u201cso mote it be!\u201d There are other times when we need to humbly accept that what will be will be. <\/p>\n

The real trick is knowing the difference.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"