Understanding Emergent Order in Our Daily Lives
We have desires we achieve through taking action.
Cleaning the dishes. Raking the leaves. Writing that email to a colleague. Preparing dinner. Visiting our parents. None of these take place without our intention and action. They don’t happen on their own. These parts of our lives are more or less under our control. Sure, some plans fail. Sometimes our desires go unfulfilled. Sometimes there are unintended consequences — things happen that we did not intend. But a good chunk of our life is about making things happen that we desire to see happen.
Then there are things that are out of our control but that happen on their own through a natural process no human being intends or designs. Breathing. The healing of a paper cut. Staying attached to the earth rather than floating off into space. We don’t have to lean into the curve as we go around the sun to keep the earth on orbit. No human being is in charge of making sure the sun comes up tomorrow. When it rains, we may be frustrated if we had hoped to go on a picnic in the park but there is no one to blame. And if it’s an especially beautiful day, we may thank God or simply be glad to be alive. But there is no person we owe thanks to.
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