Why and Wherefore in All Things

“How certain the future is,” Walt Whitman said. And he said it not as a question, but as a fact. Often we fear the future, as we consider uncertainty. But basically there are many certainties. Emerson says that “Compensation, finally, is the great law of life; . . .” And in this sense the future is certain⎯as certain as law, as certain as cause and consequence. “Chance,” said Voltaire, “is a word void of sense; nothing can exist without a cause.” “Things do not [just] happen in this world,” said Will H. Hayes, “⎯they are brought about.” Or, as Shakespeare said it: “There is . . . why and wherefore in all things.” Many will argue this and will cite exceptions, and we must admit the accidents and events over which seemingly, we could not have had control. But even this would be minimized if we knew enough and if we fully used what we know. We know the rules of safety but we don’t take always time to put them into practice. We are careless; we take a chance. We know the laws of health better than we live them. We know the Commandments better than we keep them. There is much we cannot now explain, but we can take comfort in knowing that there is a plan, there is purpose, there is a just Judge, there is a hereafter, there is a heretofore, and an eternal record. And while the formula may be beyond our ability to see at times, “There is . . . why and wherefore in all things,” and we do live by law. Or as George Macdonald said it, “The principal part of faith is patience”⎯patience to wait until we can see the more complete picture. Chance will not give happiness or peace or do the work of the world, nor is it ever safe to trust to.