One of my favorite modern philosophers (Adam Miller) likes to talk about how God's grace is the hard-to-accept process of constantly being given more than we can accept, while also having to let go of the things that are constantly being taken away. This unending, overwhelming transaction is nowhere more poignant th…
One of my favorite modern philosophers (Adam Miller) likes to talk about how God's grace is the hard-to-accept process of constantly being given more than we can accept, while also having to let go of the things that are constantly being taken away. This unending, overwhelming transaction is nowhere more poignant than it is in the context of parents and children. In order to get Wilder the 1.5 year old toddler, you had to give up Wilder the infant. In order to get Wilder the precocious six year old, you're going to have to lose the toddler. If and when you get grandkids of your own, it will happen as or after Wilder has lost his own grandparents. We can't stop the tradeoffs. They happen no matter what choices we make or avoid.
There's something in all this about rigorously exercising gratitude for the wonderful, beautiful abundance that permeates life, while also graciously accepting (and mourning) the constant, harrowing loss of things that are precious to us. It's hard af. I think no matter how much work you put into both things, you get to the end of your life feeling like you could have done better.
Or maybe it's possible to get to a point where you realize that the struggle to do it "right" is just another manifestation of our resistance to the grace over which we ultimately have no control.
that's a v interesting way to look at it...this concept of grace I find confusing but am curious lol - add to our list of topics for tomorrows IRL LUNCH
Tradeoffs are a bitch.
One of my favorite modern philosophers (Adam Miller) likes to talk about how God's grace is the hard-to-accept process of constantly being given more than we can accept, while also having to let go of the things that are constantly being taken away. This unending, overwhelming transaction is nowhere more poignant than it is in the context of parents and children. In order to get Wilder the 1.5 year old toddler, you had to give up Wilder the infant. In order to get Wilder the precocious six year old, you're going to have to lose the toddler. If and when you get grandkids of your own, it will happen as or after Wilder has lost his own grandparents. We can't stop the tradeoffs. They happen no matter what choices we make or avoid.
There's something in all this about rigorously exercising gratitude for the wonderful, beautiful abundance that permeates life, while also graciously accepting (and mourning) the constant, harrowing loss of things that are precious to us. It's hard af. I think no matter how much work you put into both things, you get to the end of your life feeling like you could have done better.
Or maybe it's possible to get to a point where you realize that the struggle to do it "right" is just another manifestation of our resistance to the grace over which we ultimately have no control.
that's a v interesting way to look at it...this concept of grace I find confusing but am curious lol - add to our list of topics for tomorrows IRL LUNCH