A Little Jack Needleman

[Guest guest]

From A Little Book On Love , last chapter " Conclusion " .

 

Selected bits & pieces;

 

" The Legends of antiquity never let us forget that we have been born

and that we die. No matter what we do, no matter what drama, what

absurdity, what triumph or defeat, what horror or nobility; no matter

who acts or who is acted upon, who suffers or betrays, who helps or who

hinders, no matter the glory or the shame; no matter the violence or the

tenderness, or the wisdom, or the stupidity---always and everywhere we

are spoken of as " mortals " , as beings who have been born and who will

die. In this the legends of antiquity reflect the fundamental question

of

every human being who steps back from the vortex of life and asks and

ponders the question of why we are here and what we are supposed to be. "

 

~~~~~~~~~

 

" The question then arises: Do we love with an intensity and power that

is

equal to the fact of our mortality? We are not gods; we are men and

women.

We are called " mortals. " That is, our mortality defines us.

 

Or does it? Again the question: Do we love with the quality and the

power

that is given to us, we cannot escape it. But is the love that is

given to us

meant to be the answer to the finitude that brings us to question who

and

what we are? Love is surely the answer to death. But what kind of

love?

And how do we find it?

 

Throughout the ages, in every period of history, specific teachings and

practices have been offered to mankind that point to the possibility of

transcending our seemingly inescapable finitude. These teaching may be

likened to gods, visiting among the mortals---Jupiter in all his

far-reaching

power, and Mercury, whose role is, by any and all means, to further

communication between gods and mortals. Jupiter is the ruler of the

eternally real: Mercury speaks of it to human beings and shows them the

way: if they wish for it.

 

Essential to all such teachings is that the way to the new life cannot

be

forced upon human beings, either through fear or seduction or logic that

compels only the mind, or through habit and blind obedience. The gifts

that come from the gods must be asked for, freely, from oneself alone.

Countless are the legends and tales that speak of the paramount

importance

of knowing what to wish for, and the tragedy that awaits men and women

who

wish foolishly or egotistically.

 

Do these gods, these teachings, still walk the earth? What kind of

garment are

they wear? The story of Baucis and Philemon may be taken as a symbolic

hint

of the kind of love that can develop between two people who are search

for

truth and who wish to serve the truth. Perhaps it is that kind of love,

as it

blends with the mortal joys and needs of our lives together, which leads

men and women beyond their finitude. we may then say, without a trace

of

sentimentality or wishful thinking, that love is stronger than death.

In the

words of St. Paul: " Love abides. "

 

 

Anna note: What else would you have? Be? Find? Experience?

 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baucis_and_Philemon