Marcus Aurelius Meditations
Marcus Aurelius: If they can do nothing, why doest thou…
If they can do nothing, why doest thou pray? If they can, why wouldst not thou rather pray, that they will grant unto thee, that thou mayst neither fear, nor lust after any of those worldly things which cause these distractions and distempers of it?
The passage follows a public-domain translation of Meditations. The reading beside it is ours.
If you pray, pray first for a better mind. It makes little sense to ask for complete control over events and then become distressed by every outcome you cannot command. Marcus redirects the request: instead of asking for the object of desire, ask for freedom from being enslaved by desire; instead of asking that danger disappear, ask for courage not to fear it. This applies even if prayer is not your practice. Our deepest wish can be to become less dependent on externals for peace. We can want health without panic, success without greed, and security without clinging. That is a more durable form of help than getting every particular thing we request. Today, notice one thing you desperately want to happen. Alongside practical effort, cultivate the inner capacity that would make you steady whether it happens or not. That is a request you can participate in answering.
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