A Matter of Principle: The deep end of dependability

By Qarol Price

There’s more to the idea of dependability than you might think! Nineteenth century thinker Friedrich Schleiermacher went so far as to define spirituality as “the feeling of absolute dependence.”

The way he saw it, the world is a vast web of contingency. In other words, everything is dependent on pretty much everything else. A great deal of our own lives depends on the decisions we make and the actions we take. Whether I am to get this essay done in time, for example, is contingent on my decision not to binge on Netflix and soporific treats instead. But Schleiermacher was referring more to the things that are not in our own control.

Widening our scope a bit — getting this mini-essay finished on time depends on my not succumbing to a heart attack in mid-syllable, not to mention depending on my house not suddenly falling into a sink hole or getting flattened by a rogue asteroid. If I didn’t take for granted that none of these things is going to happen, I’d skip the column and pull the blankets over my head and just lie there, a shivering wreck paralyzed by fear and worry! But in fact, I don’t. You don’t either.

We all (most of us anyway) simply assume things are going to go just fine until (surprise!) they don’t. And then, we assume, we’ll deal with it.

You might say, then, that we exercise an ability to depend. Schleiermacher said that the truly religious person is one who cultivates his/her good fortune in a spirit of grateful appreciation. Because, ultimately, we are dependent upon God, the harmonious totality of all existence.

Even if you just feel lucky to be alive, that receptivity to life experience is what he was talking about.

When we hear the word “dependability,” don’t we usually think of our personal obligation to do this or that? People (our children, our employer, whoever) depend on us, and there’ll be trouble if we don’t do what’s expected of us. Once again, you and I are small parts of a vast system of interdependency.

You count on me to do my part, and I expect the same from you. I think of it as a symphony orchestra in which each of us has her or his own sheet of music to play. I am responsible only for my part. If my eyes stray to your music score to see if you’re playing yours right, I’ll only mess things up, distracting us both! I just have to trust you. But suppose someone does goof it up, ruining the performance? Then maybe you do have some responsibility.

If no one else dares to do it, you’d owe it to the orchestra, as a whole, to encourage the person in charge to replace the incompetent musician — for everybody’s good!

That is precisely why we depend upon teachers, recruiters and trainers to resist the temptation to be nice and give sub-par performances a pass, like giving them a better grade than they deserve, giving them a job they’re not actually qualified to do, etc.

Yes, dependability works both ways! I have to be dependable, and I depend on you to be dependable.

Qarol Price is a writer and educator. She has taught philosophy to children in Johnston County Public Schools and in Harlem. She is a resident of Selma.