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Provide - If were are to provide whatever is good we need to accept providential inspirations
Two Latin words together give us the basic meaning of “provide,” which is to “see ahead.” In addition, we have “providers,” people who foresee and act from such knowledge, and “providence,” which moves us into spiritual and transcendent aspects of helpfulness. All meanings are positive, although humans can use any word in a negative manner. Few of us believe that we can avoid difficulties through imagining all future possibilities, or that we would want to be providers only for ourselves or that providence is like a game of chance rather than helpful inspirations coming from sure knowledge of what is ahead.
Focusing primarily on good possible meanings has positive consequences. One kind of thinking suggests that life is a balance between good and bad, and that we need to be realistic by giving equal attention to both. However, staying with our reflection, we choose the truly powerful effectiveness of aiming always for the good and the better, without denying the realities of suffering, pain, and loss. With such a practical guide for looking ahead, we are enabled to see that life is our primary value, not power, control, or any other quality that might seem desirable.
It makes a very practical difference whether we look ahead with trust to seek and find whatever is helpful rather than to hold back because we imagine that we should only respond directly to immediate circumstances or that any other way of proceeding would be a waste of time and energy. For us to provide whatever will be good or better relates directly with providence. That is, we rely not simply on our powers of reasoning, but also on the power of love in which we are held. For example, we listen carefully to those whose care for us and we trust them when they relate from their experiences about what might lie ahead. But, to a far greater extent, we can trust the love of God who not only knows everything, but also, without imposing, gently places helpful options within our minds which we are free to accept or ignore.
We cannot “see” into the future with anything like the clarity of our present situation, but we can provide ourselves with knowledge of, and reflections on, past experiences that relate with the present, and we can place ourselves consciously into a disposition for receiving inspirations. One of the best ways we have of providing for the future is not by having the best possible insurance policies but by relying on God’s love to “see ahead” for us. Then, we act on those inspirational movements in our minds and hearts that reveal their source as God because they are accompanied by a sense of peace and of being right.
We chose to be good providers of whatever is good.
Last Updated 1/4/2025