“I know, John. I do know.”
Watch the following video.
All of it.
No cheating.
Sexual conquests are fine distractions.
But they amount to little, if anything, in the end.
Jobs will come and (in the world, this age) go without supplying meaning in any measurable quantity.
And popularity, like the bright, warm season it is, shall pass.
What matters is a man’s mission.
It is paramount.
It is the flag around which allies gather.
The beacon that guides love to oneself in the darkness.
An inspiration and focal point for loyalty.
It is purpose, goal and legacy all in one.
Looks will fade.
Muscles will weaken and atrophy.
The mind will slowly unravel until, like a clockwork spring, reaching the end of its efficacy.
Ironically, in an era when life-extension is more possible than ever, decay is even more present.
Yet mission accomplishments, and the opposite side of its coin – legacy, are as close a man can come to immortality.
From a certain perspective, it may even be the best way.
As it allows both the memory and soul to endure.
Find a new home.
And, perhaps, a new objective.
Ω
80-Proof Oinomancy 
December 11, 2014 at 11:41 pm
[…] “I know, John. I do know.” […]
December 12, 2014 at 12:27 am
That was a mix of comedy and tragedy that would make Shakespeare himself tear up from its brilliance.
Ben Sira said much the same thing over two millennia ago:
(Sirach 41:12-13)
December 15, 2014 at 5:48 am
Agreed.
And great quote.
December 12, 2014 at 12:31 am
This post is going to take a while to sink in.
December 15, 2014 at 5:47 am
Take your time.
May 29, 2017 at 3:27 pm
Pardon me for continuing to leave walls of text on your old posts. Feel free to delete any or all of them. But I got an e-mail saying you liked the last one, so hopefully there’s a least something useful in them and I guess I’ll keep rambling through your comboxes until you ask me not to. If nothing else it helps me get a few of my own thoughts in order.
–
“Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.”
These days the referenced passage from Corinthians is much abused, mostly used at weddings and such. Of course, so has its subject; even the “four loves” proponents attempting to strike back against its debasement don’t go far enough, and usually sooner or later lapse into a sort of sentimentality. But Aquinas, and even the pagan Aristotle, knew better. “To love is to will the good of another.”
The will, of course, is another much abused concept. So often we have this Cartesian delusion that we can somehow separate the will from the deed, that good intentions can exist apart from, or even in opposition to, bad deeds. But “by their fruits ye shall know them,” and elsewhere “If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.” Even these days, though, some remember, at least a little: Clint Black, for instance, has a song which repeats “love isn’t someplace that you fall, it’s something that you do.”
The only sure sign of repentance is an amended life.
Sure, the will is not always given opportunity, or at least not such opportunities as it would like, for manifesting itself. This is one reason that martyrdom has been so highly prized by the saints. “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” Notice, too, that love here is a deed, the act of laying down life. Martyrdom is itself that love than which no greater can be, and the martyrs are venerated because by such a love they claim God himself as a friend. And penance is the same thing, only little by little, instead of all at once. “Mortify the desires of the flesh.”
And this love, this death, is our mission.
Not a self-appointed mission, as if there could be such a thing: for mission comes from the word for send, and who can send himself? Even within the Godhead, the Father sent the Son. And since God is eternal, and God is love, to love God is an accomplishment that lasts forever, and in completing this mission, we not only come close to, but actually win, immortality.
And of course, as you’ve alluded to elsewhere, the only thing better than victory is sharing victory with brothers in arms. Y’know, monastic life is looking more and more appealing every day. I wonder if Norcia’s taking postulants these days, what with the quakes and all.
May 30, 2017 at 10:34 pm
Hrodgar,
I don’t believe you’re “rambling” in the least. If it helps you, by all means continue. I fear I have little to add, as I’m nowhere near as versed as yourself in details you discuss (much to my shame, as a Roman Catholic, I confess).
Regardless, I have read them and enjoy them immensely. They’re polite, knowledgeable and elucidating. In fact, I especially appreciated the self-appointed retraction. It demonstrated both maturity and civility – both of which are qualities I value.
All my best to you and yours,
A♠