All around the world, all throughout history, men, women, and children have asked the great questions of life. Who am I? Why am I here? How should I live? What is the good life? What is love? How do I love? Why is there beauty? Why is there evil? Why is there suffering? What is eternity? What is time? What happens to me when I die?
I am reminded of the commercials for the U.S. Marine Corps. They are usually variants on this theme: a man dressed in street clothes walking amongst a crowd. Then, he hears a call, and he changes direction to walk against the crowd. This theme is an archetype of one possible journey in human life: a radical, countercultural adventure. It is a powerful archetype, and its power is reflected in its popularity throughout history, cultures, and religions. That the U.S. government uses it for military recruitment is no surprise.
In that theme, there are two fundamental tenets. First, the person hears a call. Perhaps there is an even more fundamental tenet; to hear the call, the person must first want to hear the call. After all, the man could have decided to be obstinate, to not listen for the call, and so decide to, say, wear headphones and listen to something that makes him comfortable. Indeed, this is probably the attitude of those with whom he was first walking.
I have a theory about this call, and a theory about why we may not want to heed it. First, this call is the call of our conscience. I have faith that I am not alone in stating the following: a man cannot deny that gazing at the night sky, lost in the wonder produced by the heavenly beauty, makes him a better man. It may be a small change and it may last for a small period of time: perhaps he is more patient with his friend who can be annoying, or he is more charitable to his friend who disagrees with vehemently on politics. However, there is some change. And in this phenomenon lies a truly fascinating truth: beautiful things seem to make us better people.
Let us return to the theme, and let us now consider the second fundamental tenet. I have tried to make the case that the call we hear is the call of our conscience, and, furthermore, that the call of our conscience is intimately tied to the call of the beautiful and to the call of the true. Now, I want to consider what happens after the call. Surely, the man who hears the call is not alone. Indeed, surely, there is not only man in the world with a conscience; we all hear its call, its beckoning. And yet, while we all surely hear it, we all surely do not heed it.
Why is this so? Why is it so hard to do good, to tell the truth, to create and appreciate beauty? It seems to me that there is only one reason: we are too afraid to let go of our lives.
I am reminded of the commercials for the U.S. Marine Corps. They are usually variants on this theme: a man dressed in street clothes walking amongst a crowd. Then, he hears a call, and he changes direction to walk against the crowd. This theme is an archetype of one possible journey in human life: a radical, countercultural adventure. It is a powerful archetype, and its power is reflected in its popularity throughout history, cultures, and religions. That the U.S. government uses it for military recruitment is no surprise.
In that theme, there are two fundamental tenets. First, the person hears a call. Perhaps there is an even more fundamental tenet; to hear the call, the person must first want to hear the call. After all, the man could have decided to be obstinate, to not listen for the call, and so decide to, say, wear headphones and listen to something that makes him comfortable. Indeed, this is probably the attitude of those with whom he was first walking.
I have a theory about this call, and a theory about why we may not want to heed it. First, this call is the call of our conscience. I have faith that I am not alone in stating the following: a man cannot deny that gazing at the night sky, lost in the wonder produced by the heavenly beauty, makes him a better man. It may be a small change and it may last for a small period of time: perhaps he is more patient with his friend who can be annoying, or he is more charitable to his friend who disagrees with vehemently on politics. However, there is some change. And in this phenomenon lies a truly fascinating truth: beautiful things seem to make us better people.
Let us return to the theme, and let us now consider the second fundamental tenet. I have tried to make the case that the call we hear is the call of our conscience, and, furthermore, that the call of our conscience is intimately tied to the call of the beautiful and to the call of the true. Now, I want to consider what happens after the call. Surely, the man who hears the call is not alone. Indeed, surely, there is not only man in the world with a conscience; we all hear its call, its beckoning. And yet, while we all surely hear it, we all surely do not heed it.
Why is this so? Why is it so hard to do good, to tell the truth, to create and appreciate beauty? It seems to me that there is only one reason: we are too afraid to let go of our lives.
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