Montaigne

Many years ago I had the good fortune to find a copy of Michel de Montaigne’s book of essays at a garage sale or the dump’s recycling shop or some like location.  I have happily rediscovered it in one of those attic boxes full of stuff that we all say ‘I might need this one day.’  And it is true: I do need it to remind me of the delight that can be had by reading an inquisitive, far-reaching, utterly unpretentious yet self-appraising mind, a small piece of which, by the reading, must have rubbed off on me. 

   

His book of essays gives me a clue, or provides for me another piece to the puzzle of who I am, for I am always, like him, engaged in the occupations of observation outwardly and self-appraisal, but not self-preoccupation, inwardly (“Let a man examine himself…” 1 Corinthians 11:28). One—observation—influences the other—self-appraisal.

This essay, for example, was precipitated by my yesterday’s essay where I disparaged the notion of MY (me, myself, I) a preoccupation with the self that I find so distastefully proclaimed in public by others but in its refined form of ‘self-appraisal’ find so privately necessary for myself.  Unlike him, my treatment of anything—even the most serious of subjects—regretfully is not done with such good humor.  Like him, my essays are not confined by the titles I give them.  Again, like Montaigne, I think of myself as a browser because, by my (and his) experience, a couple of interesting thoughts or stories in one book or current event will always remind me of something or someone smarter, or more interesting in another book, and I open that.

Though he is something of a gadfly, he is also a visionary; he lands on and expresses some really profound and useful thoughts: “In a truly loving relationship—which I have experienced—rather than drawing the one I love to me I give myself to him,” he says.  “Not merely do I prefer to do him good than to have him do good to me, I would even prefer that he did good to himself rather than to me: it is when he does good to himself that he does most good to me.”

He is, of course, a moralist.  But reading him is like talking with a very old friend.  He is not pompous for he readily admits, as most men should, that inconsistency is an identifying psychological characteristic of human beings in general. “We are all a patchwork,” he says.  “We become so many different people in ourselves, at so many different times.”  “There is as much difference between us and ourselves as between us and others.”  He candidly despairs of making any sense of himself:  He writes, “All contradictions may be found in me. . . bashful, insolent; chaste, lascivious; talkative, taciturn; tough, delicate; clever, stupid; surly, affable; lying, truthful; learned, ignorant; liberal, miserly and prodigal.” 

He reminds me of another great man taken from his own scriptural confession: “My heart exclaimeth: O wretched man that I am!  Yea, my heart sorroweth because of my flesh; my soul grieveth because of mine iniquities.  I am encompassed about, because of the temptations and the sins which do so easily beset me.  And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins; nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted.  My God hath been my support; he hath led me through mine afflictions in the wilderness . . . he hath filled me with his love . . . he hath heard my cry. . .” (2 Nephi 4:17-23).

Montaigne (like Nephi) is without question one of my heroes, another giant in my pantheon of visionaries, yet a man, like all of us, who puts on his pants one leg at a time.  What an encouragement!

My Music

It is strange that I would give part of the title to this posting the pronoun ‘my,’ but I do it to illustrate that we all are being bombarded by invitations to come in to the place or the cyber-site of MY Toyota, or MY Bank of America, or MY Save-a Smile dentist, or MY space or whatever.  It is strange because people who profusely use the pronouns ‘my’ and ‘I’ in their conversations invariably put ‘me’ off.  The person who enters a room with “I’m here!” as contrasted with the person who says, in effect, “You’re here!” tells me more than I want to know about them.  

In any case, back to the point of music. . . .  I read (or heard) not long ago the observation made by an Islamist-watcher—or Muslim I had been talking with—I don’t remember which—who said that devout Muslims do not or are not allowed to listen to music.  I have been assiduously ploughing through the Qur’an (Koran) in the past few weeks to confirm this and other doctrines attributed to the Islamic religion, but have not yet found the music doctrine. (My English language copy of the Qur’an does not have an index.)  If this imputation is true, I find it to be astonishing.  Music, at least the genres I listen to, can be superbly pacific and inspiring and uplifting.  A life without music is to experience a great deprivation. If true, it may explain some things about the Islamic faith. 

I further explore this topic (rather shallowly, I admit) by relating to you a very interesting—and seemingly unrelated-- interview I heard on NPR last week (Feb. 3, 2015) about a songwriter named Rose Marie McCoy, who died last month at age 92.  Audie Cornish, the host of NPR’s All Things Considered, interviewed producer Joe Richman of Radio Diaries about Rose Marie McCoy on this program six years ago, and he brought us this remembrance.  Rose Marie was a black woman who wrote over 850 songs, many of which were popular in the 1950’s and ‘60’s.  Some were sung by well-known artists such as Elvis Presley, The Platters, The Four Tops, Ertha Kitt, Bette Midler, and numerous other less-well known singers.  Some were never sung at all.

A quotation from Rose Marie McCoy makes the point that I want to emphasize today.  She said, referring to the boxes and boxes of tapes of songs she had written—many apparently never produced and distributed—and kept in the living room of her little house, “I keep all of my tapes - country songs, gospel songs, pop songs, every kind of song. I'm just going to wait till love come back in style. That's a good title.”

“I’m just going to wait ‘Till love come[s] back in style.’”  Her songs, some of which I heard, dealt with love—finding it, losing it, needing it, valuing it.  That is indeed a good title.

This lyric haunts me every Christmas, (not written by Ms. McCoy): “For hate is strong, and mocks the song, of Peace on Earth, Good Will to men.”

The antidote?  “What the World Needs Now is Love, Sweet Love.” Music can set the tone of so many interactions.   

Old Schooler-Scholar: Observations, Opinions, Reflections

As promised, this is my first offering of Omnium-Gatherum- Millerum in a new look and with a new name.  It is still a miscellaneous ‘gathering’ of things of value to me, and to be true to my mission the content will be much the same as in the past: current event opinion pieces, ruminations on cultural trends, moral guidance, wisdom from great minds of the past (my ‘heros’), poetry—my own and others’, insights from my own life’s experiences, religious applications to principles of living through adversity, poverty, wealth, social change, and some occasional wholesome humor. 

 

My choice of material comes from my own personal reading in contemporary news sources and public opinion pages, insights from modern science and political and social science, modern fiction literature, and in listening to/viewing interviews, debates and analyses on N.P.R., TED talks, and in local forums.

  

I then filter all this input through the lens of classical literature, scripture—ancient and modern (yes, there is modern scripture), history and philosophy, my own formal education, and my religious convictions and life experience as a dedicated ‘observer’ and disciple of Jesus Christ.  I rely heavily on insights from the cultural and intellectual ‘giants’ of the past and the present, but I also greatly value and use the intelligence and experience, and spiritual companions and ‘Companion’ God has given me

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Through this mix of inputs comes a ‘world view,’ or better said, a much larger ‘cosmic-spiritual view’ that drives my life in a positive way and that I share with you.  I hope you will find something here—if not today or tomorrow but some day soon if you keep reading—that will enrich your life. 

 

I also encourage you to look back through my archives (to the right) covering some 275+ postings over the past five years—I think you will find something there that will touch your mind or heart or resonate with you (or provoke you) to share your views with others’ who you care to influence for the good.

 

I submit to you, my friends, a continuing view from the ‘shoulders of giants.’

Comments from my readers are always welcome.      

Blame

Consider this cover to The New York Times Magazine of October 5, 2014:

“Every hour, an Acre of Louisiana Sinks Into the Sea.  Who is to Blame?” As intriguing as the title is, what irritates me is the question, ‘Who is to blame?’  Is it necessary to look for ‘blame’ at the outset of nearly every issue that comes before the public?  Could we not approach things with something like, ‘How is this affecting people? or ‘Has this been going on for long? or ‘What seems to be causing this to happen? or ‘What needs to be done or can be done about the situation?’ or ‘Is this as bad as it sounds?’

 

Blaming, pointing fingers, affixing guilt, assuming that identifying a single cause or person or entity will absolve everyone else (including the blamer) of culpability seems to be the modus operandi of many journalists, television ‘personalities,’ politicians, criminal justice, and,  of course, the law profession.  Accusation, right off the bat, has taken the place of civil dialogue and debate. 

 

I read the article about Louisiana and sure enough, an ‘investigator’ was quick to file a lawsuit against the oil and gas industry.  Never mind that many disparate entities (farms, levees, population growth, dams, canals, shipping, vagaries of weather and climate change, as well as oil and gas) each contributes(ed)  to the situation, someone needed to be blamed.  Surely money could be made from somebody’s conviction!  Witness how much money in legal fees and fines were made from BP’s conviction in the oil eruption in the Gulf! Let’s get in on the act!

Practically every aspect of Louisiana’s economy is/has been affected by the oil industry, but let’s now ‘bite the hand that feeds us’—it still has some blood left.

It reminds me of the incident in the Bible where the woman who was caught in adultery was brought before Jesus to get his opinion on the matter.  Of course nothing was said by the accusers about the man who was involved with the woman, or the mutual consent, or the probable intrusion upon the privacy or property of the accused or her paramour, the accusers wanted her stoned—they wanted blood.  They also wanted Jesus’ blood.  Jesus in reply said those memorable words, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” “And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience [departed]” (John 8:3-11).

In the milieu of our present society ‘conscience’ (even the scribes--lawyers--and  Pharisees, at this Biblical time, had a conviction of conscience)  has practically been silenced in favor of shifting the blame. 

   

My view is, let us not be so adversarial in our common interactions with each other.  Let us look for solutions to problems rather than a scape-goat, or someone else to blame; for more often than not we, too, if we honestly look inward, may have contributed to a problem or been somewhat less than perfect.  Let us take responsibility for our own actions rather than immediately looking for someone to blame. Let us take the 'beam' out of our own eye before we consider the 'mote' in our brother's eye.