No doubt the universe is unfolding as it should…

When I was thinking of a theme for today’s post, for some reason Desiderata popped into my mind. This inspirational prose poem, written by Max Ehrmann in the 1920s, became popular with the make-love-not-war generation. It appeared on every student’s bedroom wall and was recorded several times, most notably by US talk show host Les Crane. 

I was a teenager when this was a hit in the UK charts, which meant I heard it on the radio enough times to have learnt the words off by heart. But the part that was set to music had a real impact on me:

“You are a child of the universe. No less than the trees and the stars, you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.”

I used to sing along with that, not fully understanding the implications of it – especially the last line.

And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

It’s worth repeating, because that statement is profound. So what does it mean? To me, it means that no matter what your mind is telling you about what’s going on in your life – good, bad or indifferent – and whatever judgment you are making about your experiences, no doubt there is a bigger picture that you can’t see from your perspective. And it’s a picture you may never get to see in its totality. 

This is where trust comes in. Trust that whatever happens in any given moment, that your life is unfolding as it should. Now I’m not going to get into freewill or fate or whether anything is preordained. But I do believe that we can all benefit from allowing a little more trust into our consciousness, so that when times are hard we might just be able to hold on to a sliver of hope that the bad stuff is happening for a reason and in time we may see it quite differently. 

So I guess I would like to thank Max Ehrmann for giving us Desiderata. Because hearing that poem was probably one of my first ever experiences of something spiritual that wasn’t religious. Even though it turned into a big hippy cliche, it is a powerful cliche all the same. 

Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.