There is nothing like the experience of being seen by eyes that love you. Here, and perhaps here alone, we feel truly seen. But actually our happiness is grounded in, and indeed requires, an astounding, unique instance of such love: a love that not only sees everything but also orchestrates everything. Too often we forget or ignore this, much to our unhappiness.

But such forgetfulness is not surprising giving the vagaries of life. Let’s be frank: sometimes the challenges and sufferings are simply mind-numbing or overwhelming. It can seem that life is designed to make us to stop and ask, ‘How can anyone believe that there is a loving hand behind this?’

Well, if the great Boethius is right, it can be a great gift when we come to that point, because it is the means, perhaps, of our finally coming to see. See what really matters.

In the Consolation of Philosophy, Lady Philosophy seeks to cure Boethius of the disease of blindness to this great truth. His complaining about the ups and downs of life is a sign he has not really seen the deeper truth. So Lady Philosophy appeals to what human reason ought to be able to see about the world.

On this point we should note that philosophy alone can never see the fulness and grandeur of the deeper truth about life. But it can point the way, and it can be a significant aid, reminder, and encouragement. Lady Philosophy offers her diagnosis of Boethius’s problem, and so likewise a key to healing his vision, when she says:

“[Si]nce you have forgotten what are the rudders by which the world is governed, you reckon that the vicissitudes of individual fortunes bob up and down without a helmsman.”

She appeals to what Boethius should know from his understanding of the natural world. This can be a real gift to us too. Let me be clear: neither Lady Philosophy nor I suggest that all we need to do is look around at the natural world. But within nature, if we have eyes to see, is at least a very powerful reminder and pointer toward a simply stunning truth.

There is a love that sees absolutely everything, and over-sees everything. Really, everything. All the time.

Consider: the rising and setting of the sun; the cycles of the moon; the change of the seasons; the growth, decline, and renewal of living things; mountains; the little cosmos of fertile soil; the constellations of stars; the trees (yes, the trees!); the animals in the forest. And the birth of babies; the laughing of innocents; the love of the young; the experience of the elderly; and the human body—the face, and its eyes, curly hair, the hands!…where does the list end?

Whatever formed these things with such care is surely not now a detached observer! With what warmth and attention these things are seen, and overseen. No matter how tempestuously the waves roil, can we really doubt the sturdiness of the rudders—shot through with the very intentionality that first formed things?

And, yes, the vicissitudes of ‘individual fortunes’ of persons are uniquely shaken by the chaotically charged energy of human freedom. But the all-seeing eyes crafted even that freedom in the eternal forge of loving creativity. Surely, those eyes still see and oversee that freedom.

What a dramatic mistake to “reckon that the vicissitudes of individual fortunes bob up and down without a helmsman.” Bob up and down things might. But we can be confident they do so only under the all-seeing, ever-caring, omnipotent helmsman, that greatest of lovers. ~ ~ ~

NEW PODCAST! RETHINKING CHRISTMAS GIFTS. Let’s be ready to be intentional about how we’re doing gifts this year. Join Sofia and me in discussing how a principled approach can help us avoid common pitfalls and make our gift-giving a truly life-giving part of our Christmas celebration.  Enjoy and share our other Intentional Household podcasts HERE.

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John Cuddeback

Husband, father, and professor of Philosophy. LifeCraft springs from one conviction: there is an ancient wisdom about how to live the good life in our homes, with our families; and it is worth our time to hearken to it. Let’s rediscover it together. Learn more.