Free Will
We have a "nutty professor" up here in the central part of NH. A lot of time, not a lot of respect flows from him. Just thought I'd let him chew on this, as even the "little people" deserve as much, if not more, than the "important people".
Life is all about "Free will", which I call one of God's gifts.
Using the animal kingdom as an example, the species were formed in such a
way as to have to prey on other, more vulnerable creatures in order to
survive. Big fish eat little fish. Lions and Tigers eat Wildebeests. The
strongest survive because they get more of the creatures to eat. They also
survive because their birth rates are geared to meeting those needs. Fish
spawn with thousand and thousands of roe, that turn into fry, that turn into
fish, that become meals for bigger fish. The more wily, and luckier small
fish survive and then they become the predators who eat the small fish.
Lions don't spawn but they do have multiple births. Often papa lion will
kill the male cubs because he doesn't want future competition, and because
it is the mama lions who go out and get his next meal for him. You can fill
in the rest of the animal kingdom, it's almost all the same.
What does all that have to do with "Free will"?
Imagine, if instead of free will, we were all made exactly equal. Everyone
was a smart and as ambitious as everyone else. We were all equally strong
and no one had an advantage. Without free will, how would we survive? Would
we be like the fish?, the lions?, or some other creature?, where, for our
survival, we had to do the other person in. If we don't have "Free will" and
we're all "equal", who is going to plant and harvest the garden? Who is
going to mine the coal or drill for oil or water? Who is going to work at
the grocery store or the service station? Who is going to mow the lawn or
take out the trash? And, oops, who is going to pick up the trash? Who is
going to humble himself for the benefit of his equals, because then he would
not be "equal".
"Free will" is a gift because it lets man, for the most part, determine his
position in the food chain - not to be eaten by others, but to survive as
best he can. In some societies, tribal "war lords" prevail because they're
the meanest and the toughest. In more civilized societies, a person's mental
capacity, education, ambition, willingness to take a risk, etc., determines
their ability to earn a living; where he or she will fit in the human food
chain.
Bill Gates is the paradigm on how to get to the top of the food chain. Or is
he? For his personal values, he exercised his free will to achieve his
contributions to the world (which I believe are even greater than his
accumulated wealth), and to satisfy his appetite. You, I assume, used your
ability to achieve what would satisfy your personal appetite. I know that I
did. The achievements one attains do not confer lack of achievement on
another. It is "free will" that is exercised by that other person that
determines their achievement. The fact that Bill Gates became the wealthiest
man in the world does not diminish the automobile mechanic, or the
dishwasher in a restaurant, or any other relatively unsophisticated human
being. In fact, look at the most important job in a restaurant. Is it the
owner, the waiter, the sous chef, the chef, the waiter, the hostess, the
cashier. It is none of the above -- it is the dishwasher. Just envision what
would happen if you went into a diner or an elegant restaurant and were
served your meal on "used", unclean dishware, glasses, and silverware. Would
you eat the food? Would you go back to that diner or restaurant? No matter
how tasty and nourishing the food might be, no matter how reasonable the
price, no matter how attentive the waiter, you would leave. Why? Because the
most important, and the most menial job wasn't done well. In man's version
of the animal food chain, all jobs have a value and, hopefully, bring
satisfaction to the doer of that job and pleasure to those who are
beneficiaries of that labor.
Before going to a class reunion of some many decades, I reread my yearbook
in the what do you want to be when you grow up section. One of my classmates
wanted to be a Teacher. Another a Physician. Another a Gas Station
Attendant. I, a Businessman. We all had a vision of what we wanted. None of
us had a more noble selection that the other.
Our job is not to muck up the food chain. Not only can't we all be Bill
Gates, for any number of reasons we don't want to be. We may just want to be
a dishwasher, the most important job in the restaurant.
God gave us "Free will". He knows better than we what we need.
