W05 Reflection: Entrepreneurial Journal

For this week’s blog entry, I want to focus on a joke I heard in the video materials. The joke is, “the greatest difference between God and you is that God never assumes he is you.” As jokingly as it was meant I really enjoyed this and it caused a good amount of reflection.

What is it to believe we are God? To feel in control of everything, as though our direction has any greater meaning beyond the limitations of our agency, or ability to think and act for ourselves. The idea that the direction I decide to take my life in, is certainty. Which obviously it is not. At times in life though we have tried our best and struggled valiantly we still fail. Billion-dollar projects go unrealized, and the wealth is never returned.

Therefore, to be in the correct of this concept one must recognize that no matter what we do, it is ultimately up to God to sustain our efforts or deny them. What then is agency? The very effort of the act, even if only to have it fail, is the free will. If we decide to accomplish some grandiose task, before we know weather it will work out or not, we struggle towards its end. We put in the effort to see it accomplished. We believe we are God when we simply believe that that effort, which we may have put forth so valiantly, is due to us a victory, an accomplishment.

In truth, when we decide to undertake some monumental effort, some grandiose task, we must ultimately realize that the effort does not automatically afford us any measure of success.

Perseverance then comes into play. If for example Edison had tried to create his lightbulb, failed, and decided ‘ah well God doesn’t want this to happen, guess I’ll move on to the next idea’ there is much with which we are blessed that would not be. Where then is the line?

My conclusion is that the line is humility. I did not know Edison. From what I have read I don’t much like the man, but I am not his judge. No, I am nothing more than he was. But I can be, with humility. Humility to ask God to bless and direct my efforts, that thereby I do not make the mistake of thinking I to be him.