‘Chance is the god of all men wh ho follow their own devices instead of obeying a law they believe in.’ George Eliot was perhaps being less than fair to her character Godfrey Cass in ‘Silas Marner’ when she wrote that sentence. Probity and purpose are not the cherished perquisites that mark out the follower of Christ. It is found in those who find themselves unable to accept the Christian world-view. A call to arms or to peace-making, the choice of partner, profession or property is made by all of us on the basis of inadequate information. Yet we all know that there are factors preserving us in our folly, whatever our guiding principles.
Today, when squires and land-owners hike the Cass family have often been replaced by investment companies; when agriculture has ceased to be labour- intensive, we still find there is something of Godfrey Cass about us all . We like games of chance. We hope something will turn up to get us out of the tangle we find ourselves in. We know there is nothing so unreliable as predicting the future. We live with uncertainty, an uncertainty that presses upon us more strongly some days than others.
Nowadays we are likely to say: ’You make your own luck.’ There is sense in this. If we gain qualifications, get up early, make an unending series of job-applications, we are more likely to get somewhere than if we wait for a plum to fall into our hands and solve all our problems at a stroke.
Medieval man used to believe in Fortune’s wheel. Endlessly turning, it took a man to the top and plunged him into the depths. A philosophy or form of religion that cannot cope with that or find something better is not going about its business as it should. It is possible to say that Paul’s assertion in Romans 8.28 is over the top. But our ends and means are not all that counts. Our Maker and Redeemer has us all in his hands.
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