Daily Lesson for June 8, 2016

Today's Daily Lesson comes from Ecclesiastes chapter 9 verse 11:

Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all.

There is a line in Rudyard Kipling's poem "If" which speaks of the vagaries of this world:

"If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same . . .
You'll be a man my son."

Triumph and disaster, success and failure, so much in life is contingent upon things beyond our control: upbringing, family of origin, good or bad genes, the current market, what the Iranians decided to do, a lucky break, the wind blowing just the right way.

When we come to accept that a whole lot of life is beyond our control and depends on the cards then instead of railing against the dealer we can learn to bear down and play the hand we've been dealt -- one card at a time.  Triumph and disaster are both in the cards; but they don't have to determine the character of the one holding them. You know the house will eventually when, death will be dealt, but you keep playing as long as smartly and well as you can.

I've always liked the philosophy of an old, wise man I buried earlier this year. To put his age in perspective, I can tell you that he flew with Lindbergh.  In fact, he was a test pilot in WWII -- his first act, a crop duster for his second, and a stock broker for his third.  "I liked to play it safe," once told me with a twinkle in his eye.

I was talking to him one day about all that he had seen under the son -- the triumph and disaster. "I myself cheated death a thousand times," he said, "while on the other hand I lost two wives, a daughter and a teenage boy.  What do you make of that pastor?"

I quoted today's lesson. "The race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong nor riches to men of understanding."

He looked up at me with another twinkle in his eye and quoted some 1930s sports columnist, "The race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong . . . But them's the ones to bet on."

There you go . . .