. . . “Further, the manners and customs
of different races are so little in agreement, that what little it is to make his
name known, because he takes pleasure in a glorious fame. So each man can only
be content if his fame travels throughout his own countrymen, and the immortality
of his name shall be bounded by the limits of one nation.
“But how many men, the most famous of
their times, are wiped out by oblivion because no man has written of them! And
yet what advantage is there in much that is written? For with their authors
these writings are overwhelmed in the length and dimness of age. Yet when you
think upon your fame in future ages, you seem to think that you are prolonging
it to immortality. But if you think upon the unending length of eternity, what
enjoyment do you find in the long endurance of your name?
“For though one moment bears but the
least proportion to ten thousand years, yet there is a definite ratio, because
both are limited spaces of time. But even ten thousand years, or the greatest
number you will, cannot even be compared with eternity. For there will always
be ratio between finite things, but between the finite and the infinite there
can never be any comparison.
“Wherefore,
however long drawn out may be the life of your fame, it is not even small, but
it is absolutely nothing when compared with eternity. You know not how to act
rightly except for the breezes of popular opinion and for the sake of empty
rumors; thus the excellence of conscience and of virtue is left behind, and you
seek rewards from the tattle of other men.” . . .
—from
Book 2, Prose 7
We
become easily confused about right scale and proportion, so our judgments about
value can become distorted. Smaller things are mistaken for bigger things, and lesser
things for greater things. The shadow of a mouse can appear like a giant beast,
or a bag of snacks can be filled mainly with air. If it is closer, it may seem
more desirable, or more frightening, than if it is further away. Dress it up
nicely on the outside, but it can still be rotten on the inside, even as bland
packages sometimes reveal the greatest treasures.
Now I
may think that the social values and fashions of my time and place are all
there is, and if I can only live up to them, then I have done all that there is
ever to do. Yet there are countless other times and places, all with different
standards of glory. I may have arrived, as they say, right here and now, but I
am a nothing and a nobody everywhere else.
Few
things can help us to rouse ourselves from the slumber than considering the
scale and proportion of time itself. In relationship to one another, there is a
real difference between one and ten, and so accordingly I might think it better
to be famous for a decade instead of just for a year.
Yet this
is only because we are comparing finite quantities. Though one and ten are
different from one another, each is still infinitely removed from eternity, and
what once seemed so important becomes hardly important at all. Tens, hundreds,
thousands, millions, and billions become insignificant if we see them in the
face of infinite time, or of infinite space. Contrasted to what is absolute, my
limited worries are as nothing.
When I
was back in Boston, I would see hundred and hundreds of young professionals on
the subway every morning, and then thousands and thousands more streaming into
their office buildings once I got out of that little metal tube.
Now each
was a human being, no better or worse than any other, but just consider the way
they were all being played. If they worked enough hours, made the right
connections, and impressed the best people, they were told they would be on
top, the recipients of true wealth and glory.
Their
lives were indeed special, but not for the reasons they were given. What is one
suburban yuppie success story among all the other millions? There was very
little individual difference between them, as they marched back and forth in
their vast armies, and certainly a boundless difference between them and the
power that charges all of Creation.
What a
difference seeing the big picture can make!
Written in 9/2015
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