Marcus Aurelius Meditations
Marcus Aurelius: Will either passengers, or patients,…
Will either passengers, or patients, find fault and complain, either the one if they be well carried, or the others if well cured? Do they take care for any more than this; the one, that their shipmaster may bring them safe to land, and the other, that their physician may effect their recovery?
The passage follows a public-domain translation of Meditations. The reading beside it is ours.
A passenger wants the captain to bring the ship safely home. A patient wants the doctor to help them recover. Neither needs to dictate every route, instrument, or unpleasant part of the process. Marcus uses this to describe our role in life. We can care deeply about the outcome while accepting that we are not in command of every condition. Recovery may require a painful treatment. A meaningful project may require detours and delays. A difficult season may ask us to endure what we would never have selected. Complaining that the process is not comfortable does not help if the process is moving toward what is needed. This is not blind trust in every authority—captains and doctors should be held accountable. It is a reminder to stop demanding total control over the journey. Do your part, ask wise questions, and cooperate with the treatment life is giving you.
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