By: Rosemary Dewar
Most times an individual is underprepared to face the challenge that is laid before them. A person can either rise to master it, or they will fall victim to their own frailty, regardless of the situation. For example, an offense is not simply an obstacle; it is a refining tool. The final outcome is a polished gem. We are all diamonds in the rough and irons in the fire. However, without a little fire and grit, you will never be able to showcase your value and utility. It is time to discover what you are made of.
American culture has diminished the significance of offensiveness. Having one’s ideas tested and tried are privileges that are too often taken for granted. Should a person’s core beliefs never advance or solidify past the stage of discovery, they will not remain, but will be easily supplanted by a counterfeit ethic. Currently, pre-modern philosophy is represented as being imperialistic, modern literature is racist, and arithmetic is a “sexist tool of the oppressive patriarchy.” If knowledge is power, this is the fastest way to rid any capable person of self-determination and independent success. Ignorant bliss will become a costly liability that will leave you unconsciously miserable. It would be like someone assisting you in the construction of your own prison, and them telling you how comfortable you will be. That is a self-defeating existence.
You deserve to be challenged. Every experience, no matter how miniscule, is preparation for the next state of disarray or turmoil. Your appropriate response, which hopefully results in the mastery of order, purpose, and destiny, will expose what you may need to change in order to succeed. Whether you are simply following a baking recipe, mastering the dance steps of a classic ballet routine, replacing a piston in a combustion engine, or performing a spinal surgery, there is a “method through the madness.” No one wakes up knowing precisely how to execute these tasks perfectly the first time. Trial and error are necessary components of learning, and proficiency must be obtained, to not only benefit yourself, but to be erudite enough to teach another. The knowledge that is worthy of perpetuating is part of a legacy that most do not consider perfecting.
You are never fully ready for what may test your competency, and you must experience the “trial by fire.” Yes, one is actually obligated to prove one’s competency! Make your case as best as you can, and be ready to change when you are wrong. Simply being wrong or holding inaccurate information does not make the individual immoral. Acting on inaccurate information in the hopes of witnessing a critic’s demise is what is immoral. That is not competency; that is malevolence.
In the Judeo-Christian worldview, “A righteous man leaves an inheritance for his children.” What exactly are you choosing to pass on to the generation after you? Platitudes of peace and masquerades of mercy do not a future make. Profits, dividends, and proceeds are indicators of progress. There absolutely must be surpluses created in order to invest into the future. You cannot invest where you do not have extra to do so. Those who perceive your responsibility to accrue life savings as selfishness are guilty of cruel covetousness. Their ethics are bankrupt before then even start.
Life tests you because neither you nor your neighbor are fully competent in what can make them ultimately moral or profitable. Society must be flexible enough to let you fail in order for you to learn. If every misunderstanding and misinterpretation damns you, there is zero expectation of transcending your present circumstance. In addition, when an offhand comment made 15 years ago is automatically deemed as proof of your present worldview, grace is automatically precluded. The individual should not be marginalized, but after considerable evaluation, an idea that they present may deserve to be. In any case, people and their ideas must be tried by fire, if either are going to have any lasting worth.
By: Rosemary Dewar
