Reflections on Life and Agency

When I was 16, I won a great victory. I felt in that moment I would live to be 100. Now

I know I shall not see 30. None of us know our end, really, or what hand will guide us

there. A king may move a man. A father may claim a son. That man can also move himself.

And only then does that man truly begin his own game. Remember that howsoever you are played,

or by whom, your soul is in your keeping alone. Even though those who presume to play you be

kings or men of power, when you stand before God, you cannot say,

but I was told by others to do thus, or that virtue was not convenient at the time,

this will not suffice. Remember that.