You can be a sad determinist or some variety of Calvinist and believe that everything is preordained. I chose to exercise my freewill and went for a ride. Don't be a fatalist, I muttered grimly to myself, get on the horse.
We started off slowly, trotting along in the clear air of a crisp, sunny Texan morning and posted off down a trail in the Mesquite. As I understand it, posting trot isn't very "Western" but so what, it's good for the horse's back and the rider's sense of rhythm, to say nothing of muscles. They got a good workout.
After a little while it seemed right to open up and off we galloped, not too furiously but plenty fast enough. It's a great feeling, moving at speed with a horse through the countryside.
We finished with some uphill galloping, Go on! Up that hill! followed by a brisk trot back to the barn. I say barn, but it's more of a walk-in with a trailer doing duty as a tack room, and what's wrong with that? Nothing at all.
Ride over, I drove the country route to Waco, down 933, cleverly avoiding the heinous I35, and visited the sick in hospital. One of them's made a pretty miraculous recovery. I thank God for that. And remember, God's knowledge is necessary but it's also eternal and simultaneous, or present tense.
That doesn't contradict free will. Speaking of which, I'll clean some guns after Stations of the Cross. There's nothing, ahem, predictable about that, at all.
Stay on the horse,
LSP
8 comments:
And don't change horses in mid-stream.
That's very sound advice.
I think the Calvinists misunderstand the Predestination thing, or do a poor job of explaining it. As I understand it, God, in His omnipotence, can see the beginning of time and it's end and everything in between. That doesn't take away our free will, because we live in an ongoing series of moments; if anything, that makes us part of His divine plan, and brings Him joy when we turn our lives toward Him. (I didn't go to divinity school, nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn Express, tho I did have chemo today, so maybe that acts as a reminder of my mortality.)
I think Aquinas would say something like "present knowledge of a contingent event doesn't make it any the less contingent," with "present knowledge" being analogous to the divine omniscience.
So, for example, "I see LL riding a fast-as-you-like Ducati Diavel on his way to Morning Prayer at the cathedral" doesn't force the act of riding the bike, it could not have happened, even though the vision of the Vicar General on his motorcycle is true.
Of course this has the unsettling consequence of our being here on earth but also in heaven or hell in the mind of God. From his point of view, the thing's done. The words of the Apostle spring to mind, we work out our salvation in fear and trembling!
Prayers for that treatment.
That power line looks like a nice place for deer
Alright there, Chief. I haven't had the chance to hunt it yet, but in the other direction there's a couple of feeders... plenty of deer, and I've rode up on a few. They don't seem to think the horse so much of a threat.
I sometimes envy your countryside, for riding anyway. Up here in New England there are few places I can canter or gallop my horse. It's too rocky, bumpy, full of trees and snags. But our summers are better :-) the deer don't mind a horse at all, I see them frequently and can ride up within about 30 ft of them sometimes.
-- breadandbullets
New England seems very picturesque, B&B, but there are open spaces to gallop about in here. Perhaps you need to trailer up and head for some clearer land? A bit of a project, though.
Speaking of projects, I'd like to go on an extended horseback expedition -- make a few nights of it. Big Bend, or one of the parks might be an option. Fun adventure.
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