A popular misconception surrounding human agency is that our striving is rewarded: that in “doing our best” we ingratiate ourselves to “the Universe” as such. While this notion has its place, we find it rings false more often than not. We quickly learn that our attempts to exert our will upon the world are met with resistance, that providence is not mocked. To the surly will it responds in kind with a reminder that both humbles and humiliates: “You’re not in charge. You never were.”
The mariners found themselves face-to-face with this reality today. The entire slog of a game unfolded in an almost heavy-handedly didactic way, every encounter laid out so moralistically as to seem like a collection of lessons.