Again, when we send a young man from school to the world of action, why is it that we fear that he may do something amiss—in eating, in relations with women, that he may be humbled by wearing rags, or puffed up by fine clothes? He does not know the God that is in him, he knows not in whose company he is going.
Can we allow him to say, “I would fain have you with me”? Have you not God there? and, having Him, do you look for anyone else? Will He tell you anything different from this?
Why, if you were a statue wrought by Phidias—his Zeus or his Athena—you would have remembered what you are and the Craftsman who made you, and if you had any intelligence, you would have tried to do nothing unworthy of him who made you or of yourself, and to bear yourself becomingly in men's eyes.
But as it is, do you, whom Zeus has made, for that reason take no thought what manner of man you will show yourself?
Yet what comparison is there between the one artificer and the other or the one work and the other? What work of art, for instance, has in itself the faculties of which it gives indication in its structure? Is it not stone or bronze or gold or ivory?
Even the Athena of Phidias having once for all stretched out her hand and received the Victory upon it stands thus for all time, but the works of God are endowed with movement and breath, and have the faculty of dealing with impressions and of testing them.
Can we allow him to say, “I would fain have you with me”? Have you not God there? and, having Him, do you look for anyone else? Will He tell you anything different from this?
Why, if you were a statue wrought by Phidias—his Zeus or his Athena—you would have remembered what you are and the Craftsman who made you, and if you had any intelligence, you would have tried to do nothing unworthy of him who made you or of yourself, and to bear yourself becomingly in men's eyes.
But as it is, do you, whom Zeus has made, for that reason take no thought what manner of man you will show yourself?
Yet what comparison is there between the one artificer and the other or the one work and the other? What work of art, for instance, has in itself the faculties of which it gives indication in its structure? Is it not stone or bronze or gold or ivory?
Even the Athena of Phidias having once for all stretched out her hand and received the Victory upon it stands thus for all time, but the works of God are endowed with movement and breath, and have the faculty of dealing with impressions and of testing them.
—from Epictetus, Discourses 2.8
I was sometimes frustrated when my parents tried to offer last-minute advice as I was leaving the house for the day, what I then called “nagging”, though I now understand that it wasn’t really about what to wear, or how to speak, or who to seek out for company. They were concerned about what stood behind all of those details, hoping I would have the good sense to keep my priorities straight, to reflect upon where I came from, and where I was meant to go.
A young man, especially one raised in the old school, may think that he is expected to be prim and proper, and to become respectable by performing on cue. Though my family certainly did have refined manners, they perceived such impressions to merely be outer marks of an inner character, which I slowly learned was their only true intention for me. There can be no such thing as honor without virtue.
As I was growing up, a variety of strangers would insert themselves into my life, lecturing me on what I needed to fit their standards of success. The lists grew longer and longer, and the routines became ever more elaborate, and the supposed rewards were always just beyond the horizon.
Then the strangers disappeared, as suddenly as they had arrived, to be replaced by entirely new ones; the transition was usually marked by a quick handshake and a pat on the back. The common thread was a training in manipulating the circumstances, in gaining leverage, and in building a network of accomplices.
But did I really need any of that to be a good man, and thereby to be a happy man? Through all of it, I was being led astray, because none of those strangers were telling me what my eccentric family was patiently attempting to teach me: God is already present inside you. There is your glory. Settling for anything less will be a betrayal of your dignity.
There is never any doubt that the statue was crafted by a sculptor, and so its beauty is always a testament to its maker. So why do I continue to question my own origin, and to obstruct my own destiny? To occupy myself with fleeting pleasures, gaudy trinkets, and petty bickering is a waste of my gifts, like using a gold bar as a paperweight.
That value, however, is not in how much it glitters, or in what else it might be used to buy, but in the power to know myself and to master myself. While the Athena Parthenos was simply a lifeless image, I possess both vitality and awareness: what greater proof do I need of my Divine beginning, as well as my Divine end? It is best that I listen to my family, who would lift me up, instead of those strangers, who would sell me short.
I was sometimes frustrated when my parents tried to offer last-minute advice as I was leaving the house for the day, what I then called “nagging”, though I now understand that it wasn’t really about what to wear, or how to speak, or who to seek out for company. They were concerned about what stood behind all of those details, hoping I would have the good sense to keep my priorities straight, to reflect upon where I came from, and where I was meant to go.
A young man, especially one raised in the old school, may think that he is expected to be prim and proper, and to become respectable by performing on cue. Though my family certainly did have refined manners, they perceived such impressions to merely be outer marks of an inner character, which I slowly learned was their only true intention for me. There can be no such thing as honor without virtue.
As I was growing up, a variety of strangers would insert themselves into my life, lecturing me on what I needed to fit their standards of success. The lists grew longer and longer, and the routines became ever more elaborate, and the supposed rewards were always just beyond the horizon.
Then the strangers disappeared, as suddenly as they had arrived, to be replaced by entirely new ones; the transition was usually marked by a quick handshake and a pat on the back. The common thread was a training in manipulating the circumstances, in gaining leverage, and in building a network of accomplices.
But did I really need any of that to be a good man, and thereby to be a happy man? Through all of it, I was being led astray, because none of those strangers were telling me what my eccentric family was patiently attempting to teach me: God is already present inside you. There is your glory. Settling for anything less will be a betrayal of your dignity.
There is never any doubt that the statue was crafted by a sculptor, and so its beauty is always a testament to its maker. So why do I continue to question my own origin, and to obstruct my own destiny? To occupy myself with fleeting pleasures, gaudy trinkets, and petty bickering is a waste of my gifts, like using a gold bar as a paperweight.
That value, however, is not in how much it glitters, or in what else it might be used to buy, but in the power to know myself and to master myself. While the Athena Parthenos was simply a lifeless image, I possess both vitality and awareness: what greater proof do I need of my Divine beginning, as well as my Divine end? It is best that I listen to my family, who would lift me up, instead of those strangers, who would sell me short.
—Reflection written in 7/2001
No comments:
Post a Comment