Fight in the Face of Long Odds, but Never Against the Gods

Morning Thoughts #272

Fighting the impossible? Because you’ve been taught the impossible is possible? With all due respect to well-meaning American clichés, I think there’s a better way to conceive of this. That being: Takes risks, do not waver from meaningful pursuits even in the face of long odds, but also: Do not fight against the Gods! Do not fight against unmendable fate! Develop the wisdom to differentiate between the former and the latter!

To best do this, first you must learn to hear and see the decrees and works of the Gods themselves. This takes a non-superficial depth of perception, of sensitivity to the world. To be a truly good listener is to understand that even when nobody is speaking to you, something is always speaking to you.

Those who are in service of the Gods, actively being aided by them (people, situations, moments of convergence), are not to be resisted. Learn not to fight against Gods, but against that which is merely circumstantially man, or mendable, or coincidence. Don’t waste your lucky star’s light on planets not capable of harboring life! But know: there are many barren landscapes not fated so, just waiting to be tamed to teeming.

But woe to pride that thinks itself capable of tangling with the Gods themselves. Maybe here we can develop a working distinction between pride and excessive courage, that tendency toward risk-taking which too easily confuses human strength with divine favor. Withdraw from fights with those possessed by fate to overrun anyone in their immediate path, or learn from them and find a God-patron of your own before you engage them in battle. Or better yet, find your separate own.

And what does a God-patron look like? It depends on the task in question. This is why we pray, in one sense, that we may be spared from heedlessly tangling with those already in possession of divine assistance. The wisdom lies in knowing when you’re enough, and when it’s best to pray for an outside, immortal more.