CODA

Coda is the title of the last segment in the 12 Rules book. I didn't recognize that word. In the spirit of a lifelong learner, I Googled it and discovered that coda means the concluding passage of a piece or movement, typically forming an addition to the basic structure. So now we both know.

In the book's Coda, Peterson tells the story about a friend who gave him a pen light. He had been musing about writing a book and the pen light tickled his fancy. "Now I could write illuminated words in the darkness!" he proclaimed.

He then goes into how he approached the writing of the book, in particular, what issues he wanted to shine the light of his words on. That in turn gave rise to his 12 rules. 

As soon as I began reading it, I knew this book would have a particular interest for me and that's why I started sharing about it. The author makes so many insightful points but there is one that I would like to pursue in particular.

Back in the very first chapter, Peterson goes into a brief discussion of the theory of evolution. He writes." If nature is conceptualized as eternal and unchanging - then evolution is a never-ending series of linear improvements...There is the erroneous notion that there is a destination of natural selection and that it can be conceptualized to a fixed point. But nature the selecting agent, is not a static selector- not in any simple sense. As the environment supporting a species transforms and changes, the features that make a given individual successful and reproducing also transform and change."

I must confess that as a product of the 50's, I was a disciple of the linear improvement mind set. I think that was fostered by my childhood interest in the relentless assault on the four minute mile. Faster, bigger, better was the messaging back then. Today, I see the folly of that paradigm as well as the notion of progressing to a fixed point. There are no fixed points. The world is changing too quickly for that; and distant goals usually don't work. Distant goals take our focus away from the present. Peterson's rules  shift our aim to closer targets. 

As well, there is no perfection or ideal state here on earth. Life is messy. Each situation calls on us to endeavor to understand and  transcend our predicament. Life is not about tidying up; it's about new growth and new being; it's about finding unexpected possibilities in the midst of our chaos; it's about transforming ourselves daily in the light of our truth, our gifts and our crosses. I think that's the overall message here.

The book concludes with this line, "What will you write with your pen of light?"

I guess I've tried to do that here over the past few weeks.

Please read the book! It's well worth your time and contemplation.

Let me leave the last word to the author.

"The soul eternally hungers for the heroism of genuine Being. The willingness to take on that responsibility is identical to the decision to live a meaningful life"