I recently had a remarkable conversation with one of the most brilliant minds I know (and I know some really smart people). I had commented to him that even though I don't believe in a god, I had to admit that my life had been full of almost shocking serendipity. I don't remember the source (buddhism? hinduism? Enter the Dragon?), but I've heard the sentiment that when the student is ready, the master appears. I know that in my life, when I was ready for a new kind of wisdom or when I was prepared to take my life to the next level, someone or something always seemed to magically fall into my lap. It's an amazing phenomenon, and I've never had any explanation for it.
There have been a few believers in my life who have been more than a little irked at my willingness to acknowledge this series of events, and my seeming unwillingness to give credence to the notion that these gifts come from a god. The truth is that I've played with a lot of ideas as to where these fortuitous events come from. Is there some benevolent force in the universe that is guiding my life? Am I connecting to some cosmic energy for good? Do I just have a high mediclorian count? Or… gasp… could it possibly be that… gulp… there actually is a god?
In all that exploration, I had never come across an answer that was the least bit satisfying, or had any ring of truth at all. Then I discussed it with my friend.
"I don't know what it is," I confided "but whenever I really need something to go well for me, or whenever I'm ready for a lesson, the perfect person magically shows up to teach me. It's way too frequent an occurence for it to be coincidence!"
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| The Universal Smorgasbord |
His response was perfect. "It's not magic. It's not coincidence, either. There's no great force pushing these good things to you. What you're not seeing is that this world is just enormously abundant. The reason that help seems to always show up the moment you're ready for it has nothing to do with any mystical guidance. It's simply that all that help you could ever need and much, much more than you will ever use is already there. All around you."
I can't tell you how much I adore those moments when my understanding of the universe is suddenly and unexpectedly broadened. Of course it's all there already! As auntie Mame said, "Life is a smorgasbord and most poor suckers are starving to death." It's remarkable how simple and easy it all really is. There's no need for superstitions or magic- there's already plenty of good to go around.
Of course, nobody's going to try to help someone who wouldn't be able to receive that help, or if they do, that person won't be able to accept the help, because they aren't ready. But as soon as someone makes themself open to new learning, or ready to make a big change, they'll find that everything they need to make it happen is already right at their fingertips.
Yeah but dude what about all the people for whom no one falls into their laps? Like, some 7 year old kid just got shot in the head somewhere in Africa by another 7 year old kid with a fuckin’ AK47. Just now went another one. And another, somewhere else. I’m just saying that the obvious argument here is that according to your argument, god only exists in first world countries where people live to be older than 25. Even in America, probably just now, some teenager is overdosing on some shit drugs he bought from some other teenager. Both of their lives are fucked, likely they will never look around and say, “huh, god really hooked me up every time I needed a break.” It’s coincidence man, sorry. Most people, in fact I’d say that the majority of all the people who have ever lived up until this point have led fairly miserable and shitty lives and died young of something as preventable as starvation or face down on a battlefield over some rich guy’s land. I know I sound pessimistic, but I think if you go to any part of the third world, which contains the vast majority of the world’s population, people are likely to have some pretty fuckin’ pessimistic outlooks on life. One of the Iraqi soldiers in one of the units that my unit mentored in Iraq had 3 children dying of syphilis. SYPHILIS. You get a shot in your ass cheek and take a pill every day and you’re cured. We weren’t allowed to treat his kids we were told that if we tried to give him medical supplies we would be charged with theft of government property. I understand, lots of kids are dying in Iraq from little bullshit like this, and if we treat them all it will cost a fortune. This guy lost all three children within weeks of each other while we were there. His unit commander told him that if he didn’t show up for duty he would be imprisoned. Prison in Iraq wouldn’t be a good time. Please explain serendipity to this fuckin’ guy. While we’re at it can anyone explain Karma? He wasn’t a criminal or a bad person, I assume the small children weren’t either. There is no god dude, if there is I recommend you shoot it on sight it must be a scary motherfucker.