Cal has made a very good point (see "comments, June 7); I, too, went to the graduation of my child - excuse me, young man - this weekend, and it would be hard to say that anything more than a small minority were 'evil.' The point must be refined; it is not so much that a majority might be evil, but that the inclination - that is, the cultural mind-set - might be situated on self-aggrandizement at the cost of spiritual considerations. If we look at American history, we can see that the people of the earlier centuries, the 19th and the 20th, appear to have almost universally accepted the notion of a higher power. On the other hand, we could not say that the leadership was any more moral than now - from thefts of Indian provisions to adulteration of foods to the gross excesses of the Robber Barons and the Gilded Age. It's hard to asses the degree of rot that has crept down to the remainder of us - is it more or less than in other times? Was piety in the past largely superficial and accounting for nothing? We also have to asses the world at large,and we can say that it is, without question, more involved in the world commercial enterprise. Tibet is a prime example of a truly spiritual country that has been destroyed for profit and power. China, India, much of Africa, Latin America - all are far more concerned with economic prosperity than they (collectively) once were. Of course, many more people are now able to get rich, and perhaps the envy of the peasant in past times was no less than it is today. Still...on the face of it, we are a more materialistic, spiritually callous world. There are signs of change - what I often deal with in this blog - but are they enough? We will return to this theme later, for sure.
But for now: Graduation. It was horribly long and filled with bloviating on the ordinary scale - which for graduation ceremonies is extraordinary. One speaker in particular went on for some time, making us all squirm on our hard bleacher seats (another may have been a bit lubricated, but that is not relevant here. It kept me a little more on the edge of my seat, though, as I waited for something truly unusual which, alas, never happened.) He did say something of note, though - that his uncle had given him much sound advice, and part of it was: never be ashamed to show your deeper, humane emotions (as opposed to anger and hate). I nodded dumbly at this at the time, marking it as a truism that I would never comply with. And then there were others, and songs and fuzzy loudspeaker background music, and - well, just what one would expect in small town, small bank-account America. And then came the time: the tassels were turned on the caps, and at that, they were graduates at last, the last time my son and wife and I would ever have to flatten our butts on bleachers again in that gymnasium. Mortar boards flew in the air, too-loud music was cranked through the inadequate speakers, and we were done.
Surprisingly, on my way out to freedom I met my son coming from his place among the steel fold-out chairs. I saw only his back, and I slapped it semi-hard while adding, "so, you've done it. Through!" And then he turned towards me with the most unexpected, thoroughly delighted, innocent look that I could ever imagine. Such absolute joy, unfettered by cynicism, relief or anything else. Just joy. And I almost lost it. I wanted to speak, but for a few seconds, couldn't - not because of graduation, but because of that pure, innocent joy, the ego-less delight of an angel. I immediately thought of the speaker who recommended not to hold back on our better emotions, but you know - can a man cry at a graduation? No, and I didn't. But that look, I hope I always retain the precision of it that I have now. Pure joy, nothing short of love for life. Certainly the young are still filled with it, and CAN stop this tumbling world from falling down if they let that out in life. Just as important, it's a comfort to know that we old cynics are just as susceptible to joy and open love, even if we must come by it through others.
I could close with a tear -jerker line, but I'll leave that to the graduation speakers. For me, just that brief moment made all those long hours worth it (yes, kind of like life, but I promised not to end with a tear-jerker). FK
But for now: Graduation. It was horribly long and filled with bloviating on the ordinary scale - which for graduation ceremonies is extraordinary. One speaker in particular went on for some time, making us all squirm on our hard bleacher seats (another may have been a bit lubricated, but that is not relevant here. It kept me a little more on the edge of my seat, though, as I waited for something truly unusual which, alas, never happened.) He did say something of note, though - that his uncle had given him much sound advice, and part of it was: never be ashamed to show your deeper, humane emotions (as opposed to anger and hate). I nodded dumbly at this at the time, marking it as a truism that I would never comply with. And then there were others, and songs and fuzzy loudspeaker background music, and - well, just what one would expect in small town, small bank-account America. And then came the time: the tassels were turned on the caps, and at that, they were graduates at last, the last time my son and wife and I would ever have to flatten our butts on bleachers again in that gymnasium. Mortar boards flew in the air, too-loud music was cranked through the inadequate speakers, and we were done.
Surprisingly, on my way out to freedom I met my son coming from his place among the steel fold-out chairs. I saw only his back, and I slapped it semi-hard while adding, "so, you've done it. Through!" And then he turned towards me with the most unexpected, thoroughly delighted, innocent look that I could ever imagine. Such absolute joy, unfettered by cynicism, relief or anything else. Just joy. And I almost lost it. I wanted to speak, but for a few seconds, couldn't - not because of graduation, but because of that pure, innocent joy, the ego-less delight of an angel. I immediately thought of the speaker who recommended not to hold back on our better emotions, but you know - can a man cry at a graduation? No, and I didn't. But that look, I hope I always retain the precision of it that I have now. Pure joy, nothing short of love for life. Certainly the young are still filled with it, and CAN stop this tumbling world from falling down if they let that out in life. Just as important, it's a comfort to know that we old cynics are just as susceptible to joy and open love, even if we must come by it through others.
I could close with a tear -jerker line, but I'll leave that to the graduation speakers. For me, just that brief moment made all those long hours worth it (yes, kind of like life, but I promised not to end with a tear-jerker). FK
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