The World Isn’t Fair, Calvin
When times are good, be happy;
but when times are bad, consider:
God has made the one
as well as the other.
Therefore, a man cannot discover
anything about his future. (Ecclesiastes 7:14)
Calvin and Hobbes cartoons have always had me rolling on the floor. Recently I discovered a website listing Calvin and Hobbes quotes. The cartoons aren’t there, just the quotes. It’s like reading through philosophy class. The Calvin conversations stand up remarkably well even without the little characters nearby.
I ran across this one which seemed to fit well with the verse of the day that popped up on my iGoogle homepage yesterday. Calvin’s dad said, “The world isn’t fair, Calvin.”
Calvin replied, “I know. But why isn’t it ever unfair in my favor?”
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Seems we know that life isn’t fair. We tell people that, especially our kids, all the time. We even believe it ourselves sometimes.
But isn’t there a little Calvin in us too? We wonder why we can’t be on the other end of the unfairness just once in a while.
In his endless – and seemingly fruitless – quest for meaning, Solomon came to the conclusion that there would be good times and there would be bad times. So he encouraged us to make the most of the good times, but keep in mind that the bad times would come as well. Life is made up of both. The Message translation puts it this way: “On a good day, enjoy yourself; on a bad day, examine your conscience. God arranges for both kinds of days so that we won’t take anything for granted.”
Centuries later, Paul encouraged the believers at Philippi to be content no matter the circumstance, whether life seemed fair or unfair. He told them, “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” (Philippians 4:12)
::
If you’re like me, fairness or unfairness isn’t the biggest question. What tears us apart instead is just wanting to understand it.
Wanting to make sure the uncertain.
Wanting to nail down Jell-O.
Solomon has a word for us on that as well. Try as we might, we just won’t get it. We won’t figure it out. We weren’t meant to. The New American Standard Bible finishes that verse this way, “so that man will not discover anything that will be after him.”
I figure God already knows that the more I think I comprehend, the less I sense my need to trust.
::
Life’s not fair.
And sometimes we just won’t understand.
I’m learning to live with this.
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Comments posted to original publication of this entry:
2/12/2009 9:16 AM Dolly wrote:
As usual, you hit my heart this morning.
“Learning to live with this” and “sense my need to trust” jump out at me. I think I’m still in the place where I want to stomp my foot like a five year old and shout “But WHY??” I want to KNOW instead of just trust like God asks us to. When I’m “walking through the valley”, I want to know why and I want to know what’s ahead on the journey. But I need to trust God’s wisdom. I remember a time when I went back and forth between Mom and Dad trying to convince them to let me be in 4-H. Yes – I stomped, I yelled, I cried, I begged. I asked “But WHY??” But they stood firm and a few years later I came to realize that 4-H just wasn’t up my alley and I would have hated the activities. (Although I now think 4-H is wonderful for those who take part) In the end, I’m not sure if what I wanted was actually being in it -or wanting to “win the battle” with Mom and Dad. But I saw later that they truly DID know best and were saying no because in their wisdom they knew my interest would soon dwindle. “You’ll thank me for this later….” I know that God holds the future and His plan is perfect. I do sense the need to simply trust. This was a great reminder of what this thing called life is all about – trusting in what we cannot see even if we don’t understand.
Now…I think I’ll go make some jello and find a nail…..
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2/12/2009 5:47 PMEric wrote:
Would that I would be able to have my fifth graders understand this…very difficult when I, as the teacher, still have trouble accepting the concept. Maybe if I present Calvin to them it will help…
On another note, I may have to start a “daily quote” from my favorite little philosopher from the quotes site you mentioned!
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2/12/2009 7:43 PMLyla Lindquist wrote:
Dolly – let me know how it goes with that Jell-O thing!
Eric – thanks for stopping by. I was heartbroken the day Bill Watterson stopped publishing Calvin. Sad day, indeed.
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2/13/2009 4:13 PMMarcus Goodyear wrote:
I agree completely about the difficulty of understanding fairness. I can’t separate justice from my own selfish motives.
And like you, I was sad when Calvin went out of syndication. It was so great. (And still is great, just finite.)
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2/13/2009 4:21 PM Lyla Lindquist wrote:
Marcus, thanks for stopping over. Who but Calvin can keep me laughing as hard the 50th time I read a strip as I did the first? As to understanding, I’m just grateful God doesn’t require me to get it. He never tells me to just think harder. No, He just asks me to trust Him to be good.
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3/10/2009 7:59 AM schamu wrote:
Had a situation this weekend. Noah won, by 2 seconds, a 100 breaststroke race in the finals of the state swim meet. This bestowed on him the honor of being first in his age-group (11-12) as well as the high scorer for the meet overall. Quite an honor. . .EXCEPT. . .he was disqualified. What he was disqualified (DQd) for, as spoken by an official and not just a parent, is a very hard call and a very subjective one. This DQ was called by a parent who might have had an ulterior motive as well. This resulted in his loss of the age group honor (although he came in 3rd overall) and the high scorer honor. Noah was upset. I was not happy. One can question and perseverate over the ‘unfair’ call, ‘unfair’ circumstances etc. HOWEVER, what we came up with was this: a champion isn’t the one that wins the races, but the champion is the one that in his heart that realizes that all thing will indeed work out for good for those who love God. God has a plan. God can make beauty from ashes. It is realizing, as Brennan Manning notes, that God will visit us in a variety of surprising ways and our job is to ‘ruthlessly trust’ the one who has made us and cares for us more than all the sparrows and lilies of the field. That our Abba gives good and bad circumstances to shape us into a beautiful vessels that can be mightily used in His economy (which is better than the one we have now for sure!). The funny thing is, the 12-year-old seemed to get this better than I do! He picked himself up (still teary-eyed), and swam his next race. He came in 3rd and heartily congratulated the two boys that beat him. Somewhere in his heart, I think he really knew that he was loved, that the ‘unfairness’ was temporary and in all reality, a race didn’t matter in the larger scheme of things. What truly mattered was his belief in his heart about his security and the giftedness that God has given him. There is always another race, and the most important thing is his perspective on the race and attitude in the race–not the outcome. ‘Come to me like little children’….
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3/11/2009 9:31 PMLyla Lindquist wrote:
Congratulations to Noah for working his way through it and seeing what makes a champion. And it’s a class act that will congratulate those who finished ahead of him. Another one of those things that maybe kids get better than we do, and we don’t realize it at all. (Yeah, hang on, you’ll be at that post soon.) Have a great day!
2009/05/24 at 8:41 PM