Season 5 Podcast 38, A New Voice of Freedom, Argument for the Existence of God, Episode 33, “Charity.”

Season 5 Podcast 38, A New Voice of Freedom, Argument for the Existence of God, Episode 33, “Charity.”

I should like to begin this with a quote by William James taken from his book “The Principles of Psychology.”  

“The hell to be endured hereafter, of which theology tells, is no worse than the hell we make for ourselves in this world by habitually fashioning our characters in the wrong way. Could the young but realize how soon they will become mere walking bundles of habits, they would give more heed to their conduct while in the plastic state. We are spinning our fates, good or evil, and never to be undone. Every smallest stroke of virtue or of vice leaves its never so little scar. The drunken Rip Van Winkle, in Jefferson’s play, excuses himself for every fresh dereliction by saying, “It won’t count this time!” Well! He may not count it, and a kind Heaven may not count it; but it is being counted none the less. Down among his nerve-cells and fibers the molecules are counting it, registering and storing it up to be used against him when the next temptation comes. Nothing we ever do is, in strict scientific literalness, wiped out. Of course, this has its good side as well as its bad one. As we become permanent drunkards by so many separate drinks, so we become saints in the moral, and authorities and experts in the practical and scientific spheres, by so many separate acts and hours of work. Let no youth have any anxiety about the upshot of his education, whatever the line of it may be. If he keeps faithfully busy each hour of the working-day, he may safely leave the final result to itself. He can with perfect certainty count on waking up some fine morning, to find himself one of the competent ones of his generation, in whatever pursuit he may have singled out.” 

 

Sometimes we tend to measure things by worldly standards, using a large scale. We ignore the small tremors and note only the earthquakes that shake cities.  Often, however, it is the little things that matter.  The tiny eruptions of every day friction go unnoticed, yet it is the small and insignificant things that most shape our character and determine our destiny.  

I am reminded of the words of James in the Bible, 

“4 Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth.” 

It is a strange paradox.  Just as rough stones of a riverbed grow smooth by constant friction, our characters are shaped by the daily frictions of our lives. If we lash out in anger and rebellion at every correction, we will learn nothing. All learning begins with humility. Those who do not govern their temper in petty things, are sometimes governed by their temper in an unforeseen crisis where they lash out causing irreparable harm.

I think that is what Professor James meant when he said, 

“Could the young but realize how soon they will become mere walking bundles of habits, they would give more heed to their conduct in the plastic state.”

“We are spinning our fates, good or evil, and never to be undone. Every smallest stroke of virtue or of vice leaves its never so little scar.” 

We need to guard little things. But it can also work in our behalf.  From small beginnings we can develop good habits that come to our rescue in a crisis. As William James said, “As we become permanent drunkards by so many separate drinks, so we become saints in the moral, and authorities and experts in the practical and scientific spheres, by so many separate acts and hours of work.”