Two Thousand years ago, the Middle East was in a state of frenzy ... waiting for The Promised One to come and save them from tyranny and war and illness. Greeks, Romans, so-called Barbarians ... Invading ... Ruling ... Being Displaced ... Whole Populations moved about so many game pieces. Religious and Philosophic cults must have been plenty. Today, all is different. The Crimea, once again, has become a momentary hotspot for Russians and Ukrainians to stand-off or stand-down. Two Thousand years ago, there were Essene Cults and Kumran Cults and the New Christian Cult and Pharisees, to boot. Some walked the line between cults. M and I named our second child after one of the scholars who did ... but not because of his Politics but rather due to his Pragmatism.
A story was told of Akiba that he had a child late and was planning a one month celebration of his birth and his faith tradition's requirement that he symbolically redeem the child from the Priest-Class who were promised the gift of first born among the Cattle, the Produce and Human Babies, too. The story goes that Akiba was confronted by a non-believer who questioned the reasonableness of his planned celebration. "Celebrate? Don't you know that your son was born a mortal and, therefore, surely shall die." Akiba responded: "We don't make an oleo of Glee with Mourning. We Celebrate at times of Celebration and Mourn at times of Mourning." So, was Akiba's Pragmatism.
It's snowing out, once more. Someone said it was -- for this Season -- the 15th measurable snowfall, here where we live not far from Philadelphia. It seems less violent that the hooplah that predicted it and the Prophets are prophecying only a few more hours of snowfall. Last night was the Oscar Awards Shindig. I was tired and decided to turn in early but caught bits and pieces. Lots of people having a good time.
I've often talked in these notes about the beneficial value of Sadness and try, simultaneously, to model my belief in the healing properties of Glee. There are many, though, who cannot enter these worlds in the spirit in which Akiba laid them out. They get caught ... stuck ... entrenched in odd thoughts .... that Immobilize them in Envy and other disrupting feelings that get stuck in their Emotion Craw. Some examples:
"Watching the Oscars is torturous ... all these Beautiful People without a care having fun. Not me." (envy of others)
"I'm at the Party but nothing could ever be this good, again, so I'm miserable." (envy of Self)
"Whenever I think of past Glee, I remember that I am no longer Happy." (no wonder)
"When I think about my Life, now, I realize it's not worth it." (If I may chuckle: Darke Diem!)
The Last Quarter, I admit, is not for the feint of heart ... it requires a combination platter of what Akiba would have called Chessed and Gvurah .... a plate with room for both Random Acts of Everyday Kindness in a mixture with Warrior-like Moxie, both in order to meet head-on a world that is not always kind.
It was a bit earlier than the time Akiba walked through his land that another peripatetic scholar opined that the Good Days would arrive when the "hearts of the Parents return to their Children and the hearts' kindness of the Children comes lovingly back to the Parents" (closing lines of Malachi).
Glee can oscillate with waves of Sadness ... but
Glee cannot conquer Envy.
War cannot block those Random Acts of Kindness.
Sadness has room for both Glee and Kindness.
If you didn't get it in Quarters 1 to 3, there's still time.
Ask the kids. Life is a variant on Rock-Paper-Scissors.
Gotta go shovel a bit .... May it be for joy.
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