Book I. XVII.
Whatsoever proceeds from the Gods immediately, that any man will grant totally depends from their divine providence. As for those things that are commonly said to happen by fortune, even those must be conceived to have dependence from nature, or from the first and general connection, and concatenation of all those things, which more apparently by the divine providence are adminstered and brought to pass. All things flow from thence: and whatsoever it is that is, is both necessary, and conducing to the whole [part of which thou art], and whatsoever it is that is requisite and necessary for the perservation of the general, must of necessity for every particular nature, be good and behoveful. And as for the whole, it is preseved, as by the perpetual mutation and conversion of the simple elements one into another, so also by the mutation, and alteration of things mixed and compounded. Let these things suffice then; let them always untoo then, as thy general rules and precepts. As for thy thirst after books, away with it with all speed, that thou die not murmuring and complaining, but truly meek and well satisfied, and from thy heart thankful unto the Gods.
One passage from the Hays translation is:
Even chance is not divorced from nature, from the inweaving and enfolding of things governed by Providence. Everything proceeds from it. And then there is necessity and the needs of the whole world, of which you are a part. Whatever the nature of the whole does, and whatever serves to maintain it, is good for every part of nature.
Given the present-day concerns for climate change, we should remember that humankind cannot be divorced from nature, but that we are a part of it entirely. What is good for nature is essentially good for us, therefore. This is the situation for everyone. But as a Pagan, I feel that it is especially important to tie ourselves to nature, both in the enjoyment in it and the maintenance of the world around us so that we are part of that circle of life/global organism.
Keeping it short tonight, but that's how that meditation speaks to me.
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