So I was about to go to a local sandwich shop close to where I live in town for my first taste of meat since the beginning of the onset of Lent. However, they had a sign up stating they were closed for Easter Sunday. My first thought was that it seemed strange in this day and age for a restaurant to close on Easter. Christmas, it is still customary, even though much of the Christmas season has been taken over with secular winter festivities and the commercialization of gift giving for the sake of giving gifts, and the hope of stores to end the final quarter of the year on a high note. None of the old customs of true liberality, in the largesse, as it were, of generosity, which was the old fashion of Christendom in the middle ages before its decadence into modernity, have survived, save maybe as a matter of trivia and frivolity. More often than not, such things are footnotes in dusty old history books, not to mention poems and songs that have long ago lost their luster in the world. Such fashions of the largesse liberality of the Middle Ages have gone for better, or, quite possibly more true, for the worse.
But, sentimentality aside, I do not miss the brutality of such ages, and would certainly not miss any of the brutality of our own age. Brute force never seems to go out of fashion in the world, though it changes hands from time to time on who holds such iron hammer and sickle levity over the world. The brutality of the barons of old had eventually gone to the jack-boots of the fascists and the communists (two sides of the same coin?). In our current age, brutality has taken a softer face and overall form, which the previous Pope identified with a philosophical notion of relativity. This ought not to be confused with Einstein's scientific theory of relativity, which has its merits in considering the way time and space react and interact in our universe, and how that effects matter, and whatnot. Time does seem to fluctuate, and, we 'time travel' in a manner of speaking, by way of automobiles, planes, or trains. And, certainly, in the virtual world, time seems to pass by differently than in the 'real world' (albeit the virtual world is still a part of the time-space continuum, but in a microcosm). These are things we can feel, and maybe even measure in the material world by some manner or mode of experiment, if we were inclined to do such experimentation. Certainly, our natural senses and instinct can inform us on many things, both objectively as well as subjectively. The subjective is more the matter of the questions and concerns when it comes to the matter of the philosophical notion of relativity. Up until more current times, there was, or at least many perceived there was some notion of agreement about objectivity being a matter of facts, and subjectivity, while 'feeling' real to an individual, was not, per se factual on a general, universal, or scientific measure, but a personal experience that, while it cannot be denied is felt, would not be put on par with things of fact. Interesting enough, the science approach to relativity in objectivity had some sway in degrading the religious personal experiences, and thus led more people toward a more secular vision of the world. In doing so, it opened up a strange chasm, for people still felt these personal experiences, and science was compelled to chalk it all up as a matter of chemical imbalances in the brain - or, as was stated by one modern philosopher, that religion was but the opiate of the masses. However, in more current times, after the world turned from God to various drugs to 'cure' the ailments of the brain, a renowned priest of present day had quipped that opiates have become the opiate of the masses.
But here, I am not to judge. All generations of humanity have had their various problems, brutalities, failings. We are not separate from that, for we are human, and we are in an imperfect world, where we either cannot or will not love and live as we ought in that truly good life that would lead us to the happiness we are called to by God in the eternal bliss. Pagan and Christian, Greek and Jew, the full spectrum and 'color of the rainbow' of human color, race, and creed, have often been pointed in the direction of that singularity, but often get divided, even as we may extol the virtue of unity in diversity. But whatever you may consider when thinking upon the icon of the rainbow, take some time to consider one of its origins, when it was intended to unify humanity as a promise from God not to flood the world again, and brought forth a covenant that, if followed, was virtue, not only in the eyes of God, but even among the Jews and the goyim, as they called all the other peoples that were not of Hebrew descent. In Greek, that similar sort of term was ethnoi, and the Latin was paganus, from which English got the term pagan.
Interestingly enough, and something I more recently had the opportunity of pondering over, was how this connected later in the Middle Ages to the villien, as the French called them. In Dante's Italian (and probably still holds today, but in archaic meaning) it was the vilan. It came from the Romans, which ought surprise no one familiar with the history of the Middle Ages, for Christendom had in those days felt that they inherited the empire from the pagan Romans, and often baptized many things of the old pagan traditions, giving them new meaning and value in the current mode of Christian traditions of their times. The cynic might call it stealing. A more charitable position would say that it was preserving the better virtues - or at least what were considered the better virtues in those times. But, at any rate, the villien, which comes from the Latin villa had various meanings throughout the Middle Ages, and particular to the regions. In general, it referred to the village, or the people that inhabited them - the villagers. Not always did it mean a serf, or at least not merely as a slave, for the villien could own land and be a free man (maybe a woman, but in those days a woman was most free when she had a husband and household, which I understand is very contrary and controversial to our modern thinking). How did a term that meant the village people eventually morph into the common bad guy character in even our modern storytelling - the villain? Well, in some instances, it was there from the beginning. Not that all villiens were bad people. Indeed, few were, and some even became heroes and heroines in the poetry and songs of the day. But if you must consider the way towards perdition for the villien, then about the best example from our modern days would be the relationship between the renter of an apartment, or some other manner of leasing and lending out property and making the renter beholden to the landlord, and the landlord beholden to the renter. Generally, the renter and landlord have, at the very least, a cordial relationship. It is defined in contract, and is the base agreement made between the two for a common bond. Most people don't think of the bond, but the responsibilities, or the privileges. In other words, we consider the entitlement to use of the property. This is not to say that there was no such notion of entitlement in the olden days, but that we do depart on what exactly are the terms of the entitlements between the renter and the landlord, which is a pale comparison to that between the villiens and the barons that granted them a portion of land to use as if it were their own. And from the villiens rose into what would become modern middle class society, which even to this day has its values and feelings with regards to, on some level, having a certain ownership, if in the upper tier that can afford to buy a house, and yet on some level disdain for having to pay taxes, especially land taxes, and be beholden to put in the public pool of the commonwealth of, most commonly, the federal government, though sometimes not too thrilled with having to give to the local city government, despite that doing so may have some benefit for them, especially towards a healthy future of the town or city one resides in. But, most of the disgruntlement of our modern villien, or village people, has more to do with the breakdown of modern systems of governing, with only few scrooges that only care for themselves, and no one else. Not even most libertarians can see themselves as being but only an island to themselves, and have some notion of social justice, though it may be quite contrary and counter to the more socialist, even communist leaning social justice of the modern social justice warriors. Indeed, the modern social justice warriors often come off as those serfs of old that are angry that the new king is not as kind as the old king and demand the bread and circus return, and not to be stingy with the festivities of the carnival, lest the peasants revolt and call for, and even follow through in revolution!
Being of the new country, as it were, I understand that our history as a nation began out of revolution. That can never be denied. But neither ought it be denied what virtues were sought to be defended, or to be better enacted and preserved throughout and after the revolution. It was not a matter of rebelling just to rebel, but rather, among many things, it was for a cause of freedom of the new world from the old world, and to create something new in the new world that would experiment with the ideals of representative government and democratic conventions in a manner that would seem impossible, even to this day, in the old world. There were shimmering examples of the virtue of democracy, to be sure, particularly when Democritus himself, with other like minded men, cast lots on whether they would follow through with revolting against the tyranny of the aristocrats of their day. Would we have even known of this notion of voting upon the fate and future in such manner if none then chose to follow through? It would be hard to say, and the ideal might of carried another name than that of Democritus' if the lot went the other way - assuming the ideal would not be vanquished and lost from human history. While there are things I would like erased from human memory and ideals, Democracy is not one of them, and so thank fortune, maybe even thank providence, that this ideal survived. For while the Romans may have cast lots for the belongings of our Lord during his crucifixion, the tradition of casting lots continued with Christianity even in the beginning of the community in its persecuted era, and certainly after when Rome accepted the cult, and later adopted it as the creed of the empire. In the days of Chivalry, Christian infancy began with Baptism as soon as possible after birth. While communion might of been the general acceptance of being part of the Universal Church, chivalry, brought out of the old German tribal custom of majority bore by the responsibility of bearing arms, and thus being of age to defend the tribe, further brought out the 'Eighth Sacrament', as it were, of becoming a knight. In all this, a certain manner of democracy was established in Christendom, and some form of it remains in modernity, such as the age of majority, that some may call the age of enlightenment, or the coming of age. No longer is infancy ending and adulthood beginning for a man with regards to becoming a knight, though it is still possible to take on the honorary title in some nations, or as part of a charitable society or fraternal order, as in the case of the Knights of Columbus. But, again knighthood is more an honorary title, and the virtue of it is quite different than what it meant to the young barons who might even fight and die for God and country to become a knight. Even modern military, which has its origins from knighthood, has divorced much of the old ways, even though some within the military of a given nation yearns, and even fights, to keep a certain piety alive in their ranks, even as secular forces would try to extinguish them. But let them fight, for it is their right, be it in their principles from chivalry, or even in the general virtues of democracy. Revolutions of any virtue and desire for certain liberties are born from people passionate enough to fight for those rights. For, as the apostle in one of his epistles stated, and I paraphrase, we do not fight merely on terms of flesh and blood, but on the matter of powers and principalities. For it is in such leverage, and upon such origins of beings that the ideals actually do matter, and are not mere 'feelings' but realities that truly transcend even space and time. They were what were first fought about in the Great Battle that our old poets and prophets spoke and sang about, weaving a cosmic tale that remains beyond our comprehension - or at least all ages have had their particular failings to grasp. But that we continue to grapple with them still carries virtue, even in our modern times and modes of fashion. They are at the kernel of any good romance worth its salt, and the blood sweat and tears of experiences that help form them.
But anyways, I do not intend to preach, or go on in some professor essay, especially since I have given up such a path, and prefer the rogue scholar. Not to be confused with the Rhodes Scholarship, which still maintains it's prestige, despite that contemporary world politics would see Cecil John Rhodes as part of the evil empire that wants to destroy the environment through mining, not to mention being part of the forces that sought to enslave the people of South Africa. But, then again, why also does anyone strive to win the Nobel Peace Prize, when the one it is named after had invented modern dynamite, which itself was used in mining, not to mention bank robberies, terrorism, and other not so peaceful ways to gain a temporal treasure or power? As rhetorical as the question may be, it is still worth considering. For are we not still brutish barons and angst ridden villiens that, in our worst nature, would storm the castle, or burn down the village? And the ones who would do such violence are not always the persons you might think. While we may read in shock about Raul de Cambrai burning down a monastery, and burning alive the nuns within it, including the mother of one of his most loyal vassals, let us not forget in more modern times the Terror Rojo of the Spanish Civil War in the past century, where similar events happened in what current historians and writers, like Paul Preston, have called and title in a book, The Spanish Holocaust. And certainly the German Holocaust only a little more than a decade later remains burned in our memory, and the fascism is rife in contemporary politics and strife of the people, even to the point that those that claim to be against Nazis seem little different from Nazis themselves.
Again, I don't intend to preach or profess, but speak candidly much of what I have been pondering over Lent, while trying to keep vigilant in prayer and fasting. Though, I must confess my failings, which led me to decide not to take of the Eucharist at Mass this Sunday. Funny, even a Protestant/Fundamentalist came up to me not more than a week ago at the coffee shop (where I was vigilant to opt for tea, and abstain from the bittersweet java nectar until present after Easter Mass) and stated that he perceived a heaviness upon my soul. That he was speaking this as an approach to evangelism, that is certain, for he would have offered to bring me to his church if I had not mentioned that I frequent two local Catholic parishes. But, seeking the pilgrim's mind on this, I consider it providence, and maybe God reminding me that my soul is still there, that He still loves me, and desires my return to His graces. I may not be ready yet, but I know that the desire to return to He who knew me from my very conception, who even held the idea of me long before my conception, is still there. It is an ember that I do not want to go out, but some day return to a flame - or, at the very least, a candle that can be a beacon of hope, and somehow tell a story of God's grace. After all, we all have a story, and the title of it in my very name is a constant reminder of God's grace.
Until then, I continue a walk with Dante through his Inferno, and pondering that strange art of the poet, who in his Divine Comedy walks through Hell, climbs the mountain of Purgatory, and is given a glimpse of Paradise, where his muse in the lady Beatrice, he meets and concludes, at least in general summary. For now, I have only been intimate with his travels through Hell. I hope to some day soon, after 10 long years in this journey with the poet, come to Purgatory with him. Hopefully, it won't be another 10 years until I reach Paradise with him, nor another 10 to conclude the journey. At almost 40, I know the time for this pilgrimage with the poet in this world is drawing short. Not to mention being able to take what inspiration comes to create my own Curriculum Vitae that is worth..., well, something of virtue.
But these are my reflections on the ponderings during Lent, and only a summary at best. I'll let St. Augustine to his confessions, and keep other aspects to be heard by a priest, when the time comes that I finally go to Confession. Until then, may you all who read this have a happy Easter!
And:
Regina caeli laetare, alleluia!
Quia quem meruísti portáre, allelúia!
Resurréxit, sicut dixit, allelúia!
Gaude et laetare, Virgo María, allelúia!
Quia surréxit Dóminus vere, allelúia!
Ora pro nobis Deum, allelúia!
Vivat Iesu et pax vobiscum!
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