“Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. Or to take arms against a sea of troubles. And, by opposing, end them?”
This quotation is, of course, part of the “To be or not to be” soliloquy which is about living or ceasing to live. The proximate cause, though probably not the ultimate one, is outrageous fortune, that unfathomable conspiracy of seemingly chance events that inveigh against us. But are there chance events? That is a question way too deep for these few words so I am raising the question to get you thinking. If you, as a God fearing person say no, then you see everything as either God’s intentional will (he means for it to happen) or permissive will (he lets it happen). Okay, so we can agree, I think, that God does not intentionally will evil or any of its cousins: sickness, disease, hate and death (described as the last enemy by Paul). But there are people who seem to think that there are no chance events (mostly, I have found with a little research, because if they allow chance they have to allow evolution and that just upsets them terribly).
Now some people actually like chance (and games of chance) for the thrill of it. Sober and smart and most religious people throughout history though have shunned it, preferring order a la God’s creative mind and hand that brought order out of chaos from the very beginning. Hence, planning and law and right living (which, by and large, prevents people from taking a chance that they won’t get caught holding up the 7-11) are generally recommended.
But chance -- sometime in the form of outrageous fortune -- does intrude.
When Jesus met the blind man in John 9, people asked, “Is he blind because he sinned or because his parents sinned?” In other words, people in that crowds thought somebody must be responsible for his blindness.” Neither, said Jesus, but so God’s works might be demonstrated in him. Ah! So all chance is an opportunity to show God’s power. Well, no, I don’t think so. That poor family, a mother with her three children who were struck by a tree that suddenly fell over in Central Park recently wouldn’t say so. But I doubt they would say that God gave the tree a nudge, either.
Yes, chance events can be redeemed by God, often by eliciting the very best of human compassion and care. It is the self-righteous who are sometimes most unaware of the power of outrageous fortune (starting with where you were born, right though to your upbringing and the opportunities you did or didn’t have). That is why God would have us look out for the poor.
“Leave nothing to chance,” the saying goes, but you can’t. Outrageous fortune happens. But with the presence of God in our lives, we are not alone when it does.
-Daniel
