A reflection on “the good you can do”

Is it “just happenstance”… or is there a deeper reality to the pacing of events and inputs in our lives?

I just came off a brief exchange with one of Sam’s supporters* when I opened a Mondays of Meaning posting** by Jordan Peterson.  Here is his take on how we might find meaning in life…

Do Not Forsake The Good You Can Do

You have something to bring into the world that no one else can bring in.

If you fail in that duty, you deprive the world of that and maybe you should not do that. Everything becomes lesser if you do that. And you do not know how much less because the world is constituted in a very strange way. Dostoyevsky says, “Not only are we responsible for what we do, but for what everyone else does,” which is truly an insane thing to say, but also, in some sense, fundamentally true. I do not know how it is that each of us can bear the burden of the world on our shoulders singularly. I cannot really comprehend how things can be structured in that manner. But I do believe, nonetheless, that it is the case. And if you foreswear your responsibility to the highest good, then you tear something out of the fabric of being that is of inestimable value.

I do believe you will pay for that, and I would suggest you do not pay that price because it will not be pleasant. That is definitely hell. And if you do not think hell is real, you have not thought about it enough. It is not a matter of other people believing in foolish things. It is a matter of you being so naïve and so well-protected that you have no idea how the world is constituted.

There are the temptations before you, such as chaos, nihilism, hopelessness, intellectual pretension, the desire for self-aggrandizement, and narrow power. Do not do that; it is not helpful. It will not do you any good, and it is beneath you.

*Note:  For details on our project for Sam and his family, click here:  www.rrvista.net/refugee-help/

**Source:  Mondays of Meaning – February 20th 2023 (mailchi.mp)  [https://mailchi.mp/jordanbpeterson.com/canada-day-1550881-xa3r5x2maj-1551431?e=3f95c814bb]

First published: 2023/02/21