The wisdom to know the difference
If you have not seen “Midnight Mass” on Netflix yet, you are missing out. I will avoid spoilers here, but the way in which each of the characters faces the end is some powerful television.
Throughout the show, alcoholics anonymous and the serenity prayer feature prominently. One of the show’s most persistent questions is, “What can be changed and what cannot?”
This is an ancient and universal struggle. It permeates politics. By their most basic definitions, progressives stress the viability of change and conservatives stress the danger of the same. As we live as individuals under systems that are much larger than us, constantly bombarded by an alternating salvo of aspirational and then cynical media, we are left frustrated and befuddled by this ancient question.
I stress that the question is ancient, not because I have an answer or a guide to answering it, but because I have a reminder that this path has been walked before.
“Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind: “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me. “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone when the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?”
If you are familiar with the story of Job, you know that Job suffers on account of a bet between Elohim (God) and Satan (God’s prosecutor). Elohim\’s answer follows many chapters of poetic debate between Job, who rightfully declares his innocence, and his friends who wrongly claim that Elohim would not let Job suffer if he did not deserve it.
Elohim\’s response is not an answer to Job’s “why”. It is a refutation of the question itself. There are things that happen that are beyond justification. They just are.
That being said, there are often things that we can change immediately adjacent to the ones we cannot. Some natural disasters are unavoidable, but human contributions to climate change exacerbate them. Death is inevitable, but decisions to distribute essential goods and services based on profit and not on need allow people to die needlessly. Refusal to alter our behaviors in times of crisis also contribute unnecessarily to death and suffering.
There are times for direct action, times for prayer and contemplation (both individual and communal), and there are times for mourning or quiet acceptance. It requires wisdom to know the difference because there are no easy answers.