Random

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24 Adar 5773, 03/06/13, Wed., Starbucks in Philly

Dearest Sweet Divine Parent,

Thank You for the insights You gave me on randomness. So many events in our lives tend to appear random. They make people wonder whether there truly is individual divine involvement. It seems to me that randomness of events follows the mathematical system of statistics. Even a believer, if s/he’s thinking, has to bow his or her head to the reality of statistics. 

The larger the population, the more likely a statistic is to match the expected mathematical predictions - with a quantifiable standard deviation.  So the more a coin is flipped, the more likely it is to end up 50% of the time heads and 50% tails. Like all mathematics, statistics is part of the amazing laws of nature that You created. It is up there with the laws of thermodynamics, gravity, time dilation, calculus, geometry, etc. It is part of Your collection of paint brushes with which You paint Your universe.

People might wonder, “If events in the universe seem to obey the laws of statistics, how is there room for the Creator to get the results He seeks in His universe. Isn’t He stymied by the rigidity of the statistical system He created?”

While it might seem like You are likely to trip over Your own wires, it’s really not so. Firstly, in most cases statistics is flexible enough to allow for exceptions. Much can be accomplished on the margins allowed for by exceptions. Secondly, You are a master chess player who gets the desired results by strategizing very intelligently within the rules. Just like the chess master gets his or her desired results without breaking any of the rules of the game, so too You get Your desired results without needing to break any of the laws of nature, including mathematical ones - like statistics.

So apparent randomness is not a barrier to Your plan. If anything it aids the plan by allowing for free choice and in probably far more ways than I can know of. If like in a Skinner box every time we did right, You openly rewarded us and every time we did wrong we suffered, there would be no free choice. We would be robots to You and unable to enter into a relationship with You naturally and organically, with the life filled feeling that a relationship is supposed to have. So You kindly allow us space to develop, to grow, to become. This makes us more valuable partners in a relationship with You.

Thank You for the freedom that You allow me to everyday rediscover myself anew in my relationship with You, as my development morphs and evolves. It might not seem perfectly stable, but, “perfectly stable” is something produced by a factory - not something humanly real.

Thank You for this very special prayer inspired by grappling with a question posed by a very special person.

Love and Kisses...