Community:Church of the Dark Star/Sermons/20160730 Balance Beginnings

"Beginnings", from the perspective of the Balance Belief, presented by Winfield

Hail everyone! I'm Winfield, the Governor of PaxLair. It's great to be here! I thank Amber Raine for her invitation to speak about Balance here today and in the future. I greet her and Kazyn Phoenixfyre for their perspectives on Chaos and Order. I will speak from the perspective of Balance.

I like to start my conversation with a little humor. Our topic today is about Beginnings. We just came through the Rift to find ourselves in this land once again with empty towns and simple possessions in our chests. Yet a few days ago we were rich. We had our armour, trophies from great achievements, ornately decorated houses, and much more. All that is gone now, wiped away! Oh, it is just like when Noah built the ark so very long ago according to our memories. The rains came, and then the floods, and all was washed away except for what Noah had on the ark. You see, Noah was a high level backer ... he had a little bit of everything, but not much of each. He and his family were embarking on a new Beginning and drifting in the seas waiting for land to be found and lot selection to start. He had to feed his family. They must have brought provisions of course. Yet here is the biggest question of all! With all that water around him as far as the eye could see, why didn't Noah do much fishing? Well ... he only had two worms! * smiles*

I wish to remind us what Balance is as well. I like the definition of "a condition in which different elements are equal or in the correct proportions." One might be Balanced if they are ... being steady, staying on course, seeing both sides of the fence, on the fence, assessing pros versus cons. Being Balanced is simply an approach to situations and life. In our discussion today: Balance between Chaos and Order. Becoming unbalanced for a period of time is not a bad thing though, like in crisis or need. New ideas may be discovered and paths redrawn to new solutions. Returning to Balance is a good thing I pronounce so we can once again see both sides and enjoy some peaceful fishing.

So finally on to the topic at hand! What about Beginnings and Balance? To understand this, we must know what a beginning is. It is a point in time or space at which something starts. We are here today in somewhat of a beginning as our land is populated once again. Yet all is not new -- we know each other from before the land was wiped -- we have our experiences and memories and friends. It is a new enough beginning though because everything we do now here and in the future is not forgotten or removed. So we must be prepared to deal with our actions and mistakes for all time to come. We can no longer throw all our possessions onto the floor and tell people "come take and use my belongings because I will be away for the next few months" -- your possessions may never return to you again. We can no longer steal from every person in Novia and wonder later why they will not sell us their goods.

We are at a beginning. How can we be Balanced as we go forward? Are we walking a tightrope of Balance between Chaos and Order? Must we avoid being too chaotic, which could lead to unknown undesired outcomes that could affect us forever? Must we avoid being too orderly, which could lead to known desired outcomes and miss undiscovered desired outcomes? I say we do not walk on a tightrope ... we walk on a road of many roads. Some turn left, some turn right, some are still a ways ahead to be discovered. We can meander roads from our beginning point in a chaotic manner and see what happens, good or bad! We can follow specific roads in an orderly manner to see what happens, good or bad! Good or bad things will happen to us or be caused by us whether we follow chaos or order, or a bit of both! Virtuous and non-Virtuous people will follow chaos or order too, as Virtue is another dimension unrelated to chaos or order. At our beginning here, we can now choose in earnest to grow in Virtue or non-Virtue, that is our right of choice. And we can grow either way by being chaotic or orderly or even balanced.

Bah, I talk too much about the relationships between order, chaos, virtue and non-virtue. I apologize, as you must already know these things. Yet to understand and follow Balance, one must sometimes be reminded of these relationships.

* clears throat* A Beginning is a point in time or space ... from which we proceed. So it is hard to describe what is a Balanced Beginning. A Beginning just IS. What we do from that Beginning is where we follow Order, Chaos, or Balance between them. For any path followed from the beginning, I suggest you start with your eyes wide open. Be prepared to discover that which you did not think of or that which did not work the way you planned. You start with ideas of where you want to go yet they may change in time, as your ideas are based on old experiences and not new experiences.

For example, you know you may want to travel West or sort of West. You don't have a perfect plan to get there, wherever there is, yet you have orderly planned enough to survive the first few days. As you meet people and have experiences (whether you planned to meet people or not), you may change a little or a lot of your direction and ideas, even turn back to the East! You might sit down for a moment and remap your entire plan.

Another example, a child born has a completely new beginning. Will that child grow in an orderly manner or a chaotic manner. Hopefully, they will grow in a balanced manner with enough order to immediately survive the harsh world, yet enough chaos to discover things unimagined by their parents.

Coming to a close of my discussion, I suggest we use this Beginning wisely. We should think upon our past experiences and use them to guide us in a Balanced way into the future. We should keep our eyes open to discover new things and adjust as we need to adjust.

Remember Noah had to lead a Beginning when the water receded -- so what did he say first to his family? Noah said, "Go forth quickly and find worms!" "I don't care how you do it, be as chaotic as you can! The worms are somewhere!" "But bring the worms back in an orderly manner so none are lost! We must get to fishing!"

Thank you all once again for letting me speak here today. Dragonspeed and may the Fish be with you!