240218 What I learned in my studies this morning 4

Today's Meditation(s):

Enchiridion 11 (Waterfield)

A providential universe provides and recalls according to its plan, not ours.

But what if the universe is not watching over us? How does it change this passage? What difference does it make when we must 'return' someone or something, leaving them in our past?

Not much, I'd argue.

Perhaps there's a psychological difference. If we believe in a guiding beneficence, maybe we will feel better about our loss. The loss itself doesn't change, but maybe it's easier?

As I understand it, Stoicism doesn't worry about easier or harder unless it  affects the virtue of the action.

It's still a decision to look at the death of a loved one through a certain bias, to understand it within the context of a 'return' which, itself, eases the pain.

ABC views their loss as a return of something temporarily held because they believe God did these things according to The Plan.

XYZ views their loss as a return of something temporarily held because that's been the experience of humanity throughout its history. It's a known variable to be accounted for.

Who is more virtuous? On this accounting, there's no moral difference. Surely there would be differences, but this doesn't seem to be the deciding factor.