Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Pagan
Life Is Complicated – A Rant

Life Is Complicated – A Rant

Last updated on: January 25, 2015 at 4:00 pm by John Beckett

Life Is Complicated – A Rant 2015-01-25T13:45:54-06:00 John Beckett

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Single Best Way to Lose Weight

Five Foods You Should Never Eat Again

The One Thing You Must Do To Succeed

Three Secrets to an Early Retirement

What do all these claims and thousands like them have in common? Two things. First, they’re complete and utter bullshit. Second, they’re trying to sell you something.

We’re 2½ months past the last election – you should have no trouble remembering the ridiculous campaign ads. I’m sure you’ve tried to forget them – sorry to bring them up again, but it’s necessary. They’re filled with, in the words of Mark Twain, “lies, damned lies, and statistics” – all twisted to send one simple message: vote for me and everything will be fine. Vote for my opponent and the world is going to hell.

Do you have a chronic illness? Just eat a gluten-free diet, or a paleo diet, or maybe it was a vegan diet. Or meditate more. Maybe you just need to remove negativity from your life.

And since this is a religious blog, let’s not forget how Christianity is a religion of oppression, unless it’s a religion of love. Islam is a religion of terrorism, unless it’s a religion of peace. Or perhaps Christopher Hitchens was right and “religion poisons everything.”

Simple. Black and white. Good and evil. Just one thing.

Complete and utter bullshit.

The science of life is complicated and the living of life is even more so.

Why do people make these ridiculous claims? If you’re paying attention, you realize there are many reasons. But what I want to focus on right now is the fact that people do this because it works.

We believe it. We click on the link. We buy the “superfoods.” We sign up for the diet program. We vote for the idiot candidate and his manipulative consultants.

It works because we want things to be simple and we like it when other people tell us what we want to hear. We like it so much we’ll give them our time and money and votes, and sometimes, our souls.

inside the replica of Henry David Thoreau’s cabin at Walden Pond

There’s a reason why monks of many religions live in such sparse conditions – removing complexity allows them to focus almost all their attention on their religious practice and devotion. And yet we’re told that more choices are always better. Not coincidentally, those same people are also trying to get us to give them our money.

Taking a vow of poverty is a noble act (choosing to renounce materialism and luxury is noble – there is nothing noble about poverty itself). Choosing to live simply is a noble act.

Pretending the world is simple when it’s not just makes you vulnerable to those who would exploit you for their own purposes.

See, if there’s only one or two variables in an equation, even the algebraically-challenged can solve it. Just do this one thing and everything will be OK. But if there are seventeen variables, you’ll need computer modeling to solve it… and if your model doesn’t describe the circumstances exactly, your solution isn’t likely to be very useful.

One of Isaac Bonewits’ laws of magic says “control every variable and you control every change – lotsa luck!”

Life is complicated.

Your body has trillions of cells and many of them are bacteria. We breathe about 11,000 liters of air a day and most of the time we aren’t even aware of it. We live by eating other recently-living things that are just as complex as we are. Now, we have a good understanding of what’s generally helpful and what’s generally harmful, but control? Are you kidding me?

And that’s just you – one little creature on one little planet orbiting one little star in one little galaxy.

We can’t control seventeen variables, much less all the variables involved with life. So how about we stop listening to people who insist there are only one or two and if we’ll just buy what they’re selling everything will be OK.

What if, instead of trying to control things we can’t control, we concentrated on doing the right things, here and now. Not the most profitable things, but the most virtuous things. Can we do that?

What if instead of telling other people the “one thing” that would “fix” them (work harder, work smarter, mainly just be more like me) we treated everyone with dignity and respect?

What if we took care of ourselves, and then our families, and then everyone else?

What if we accepted that while we can’t control anything, we can influence everything? And then instead of trying to make our own lives more perfect, we concentrated on making the world more just, more compassionate, and more sustainable?

Life is complicated. Let’s not make it even more complicated and more difficult by pretending it’s not.

Previous Post

January 22, 2015

Nine Things I Think

Next Post

January 27, 2015 When You Can’t Turn It Over To God

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Books Community CUUPS Druidry Foundations and Context Gods and Goddesses Magic Myth Nature Ritual Spiritual Practice Theology Travel Uncategorized Videos

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: The feast of Purim commemorates the Jewish people's deliverance from Haman's plot.

Select your answer to see how you score.

TRUE FALSE