I had finished up Book IV, and found that I’d not posted. Then realized that it was likely since I had accepted Philosophy’s discourse without much argument. Basically, two things come of Book IV; first, "He only gives it to those who can take it" (I’m not sure where this started or who should be credited, but I heard it first in those words from a salesman named Tony back at Ulbrich Stainless as he left my office. I quickly wrote it down and it’s been a comfort as well as a cry-stopper in the decades since.) Also written out as Troubles’ answer to where they fly, "We go where we’re expected." (Francis Allison) As well, we learn to accept the grief given to the good, and the seeming prosperity the evil enjoy:
"It often happens that supreme rule is given to good men so that infectious evil may be held in check. To others, Providence gives a mixture of prosperity and adversity according to the disposition of their souls: she gives trouble to some whom too much luxury might spoil; others she tests with hardships in order to strengthen their virtues by the exercise of patience. Some people fear to undertake burdens they could easily bear, while others treattoo lightly those they are unable to handle; both types are led on by Providence to find themselves by trials." (Book IV, Prose 6, p. 85)
Likewise, punishment for the evil is both a signal to reform, and rewards to those is an incentive. Whether one believes in a God who plans and deals out these fortunes or just accepts an unstructured series of events beyond our own control or that of an all-knowing force, what happens will happen either in a plan or as a chain of action and reaction. The reaction is what we need be concerned with; that is where our mind develops and where our lives will be led.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology