A short reading from Who Put Me in Charge of the Universe?
When life ignores your plans: Existence answers
By Sonny Saggar
You made a plan. The universe made other arrangements.
In this philosophical conversation, Existence is a literary voice that can be questioned. A rainy picnic opens a disagreement about wanting a good result and treating that result as something life owes you.
From chapter one
“You have confused an invitation with an instruction,” says Existence.
“I invited people to a picnic.”
“And instructed the afternoon to deserve them.”
“Is wanting a good day really such a terrible offence?”
“No. Want one. Prepare for one. I object only when the rain becomes evidence that you have failed as a person.”
A question to carry away
Which part of your present difficulty calls for action, and which part is a demand that something outside your control should have behaved differently?
The distinction does not settle everything. Another person’s choices may require a response. Unfairness may deserve resistance. Grief is not a puzzle to be tidied away by an elegant sentence. The conversation gives those objections room.
Begin here, even if you missed the earlier books
Who Put Me in Charge of the Universe? returns to questions explored in Doctrine and Blasphemy. It stands on its own. It welcomes spiritual curiosity and serious doubt, without requiring agreement with its speaker.
The paperback contains twelve chapters and six diagrams. Its subject is belief, control and what to do when life has other plans.
For a conversation with someone else
- When does preparation become an attempt to control the uncontrollable?
- Can acceptance and resistance belong in the same response?
- Which line would you argue with first?