I have a feeling this might be a bit more complex. So I’d say there is vector pointing from where you are to where God want’s you to be, and that if on each step you always minimize the distance, then you’re getting closer to what God wants as the crow flies, but that there are a bunch of traps, detours and other such things along the way. And that if you just directly follow the vector, you’ll probably end up in a bad place because you’ll take a bad path.
So just following the vector would be a form of consequentialism, where a naive approach ends with you falling into a hole from which you can’t get out, or ending under a cliff which you can’t climb. And the main value of religion (either as God’s laws, or a collection of known paths) is that it will lead you along a safe road, even if that doesn’t always seem to be pointing in the right direction.
I like how you frame searching for God’s will as a facet of a more general process, where often the best road to a very complex goal might seem pointless or at least strange.
I have a feeling this might be a bit more complex. So I’d say there is vector pointing from where you are to where God want’s you to be, and that if on each step you always minimize the distance, then you’re getting closer to what God wants as the crow flies, but that there are a bunch of traps, detours and other such things along the way. And that if you just directly follow the vector, you’ll probably end up in a bad place because you’ll take a bad path.
So just following the vector would be a form of consequentialism, where a naive approach ends with you falling into a hole from which you can’t get out, or ending under a cliff which you can’t climb. And the main value of religion (either as God’s laws, or a collection of known paths) is that it will lead you along a safe road, even if that doesn’t always seem to be pointing in the right direction.
I like how you frame searching for God’s will as a facet of a more general process, where often the best road to a very complex goal might seem pointless or at least strange.