With the presidential election in the U.S. apparently settled, our attention can now be given to other, more important personal matters—such as the meaning of life and how to live.
Life
as a Brief Candle
Contending
with Romeo and Juliet as well as Hamlet, Shakespeare’s Macbeth
is regularly ranked as one of his bests plays. Consider this oft-quoted passage
in that tragedy: In Act V, Scene V, King Macbeth exclaims,
Out, out, brief
candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
What
a negative, even cynical, view of life!
While
unlikely to express themselves so eloquently, I’m afraid Macbeth’s words,
sadly, characterize the way many contemporaries see life.
Life
as a Splendid Torch
Regularly
rated among British dramatists as second only to Shakespeare, George Bernard
Shaw was an interesting and complex character about whom I have mixed feelings.
There
is much that is objectionable in Shaw, who was born in 1856 and died 75 years
ago, in November 1950. For example, he promoted eugenics and opposed organized
religion.
But
I have been impressed by these words of Shaw:
In
the sentence before those notable words, Shaw declared, “I want to be
thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live.”
Perhaps
the impact of that statement is lessened somewhat when we realize that he wrote
them in 1907, the year he turned 51. But he did live a long and productive
life, writing his last full-length play in 1948, at the age of 92, and a short
play the year of his death.
Life
as Both a Brief Candle and a Splendid Torch
In
numerous sermons through the years, I have cited James 4:14 (in the New Testament):
“What is your
life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes”
(NRSV).
That verse resonates
with Macbeth’s view of life as a brief candle, although in context it certainly
doesn’t see life as signifying nothing.
J. Mike Minnix is
a Baptist pastor in North Carolina, and in a 2012 sermon based on James
4:14, he stated, “You will never live your life as you should unless you
recognize how quickly your life is passing.”
Pastor Minnix then
quoted Psalm 90:12 – “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a
heart of wisdom.” Following his example, I calculated how many days I have already
lived.
The number of my
days is now 30,039. That is a lot of days! And I might even live another 4,000
more days, which would take me to a couple of months past my 93rd birthday.
Or maybe not.
Even the biggest
candles eventually burn up. Accordingly, although I have lived more than 30,000
days, I do recognize that, indeed, that life is short.
Regardless of how
many, or how few, days I have left, though, I want to be like Shaw and to “burn
as brightly as possible” for as long as possible.
Rather than
spending most of my time thinking and talking about the past, as we oldsters
are inclined to do, I want to keep thinking about the future and about what
(little) I can do to help create a better world for my grandchildren.
In that regard I want to keep taking seriously the words of Shaw that were slightly paraphrased and made widely known by Bobby Kennedy in the years before his untimely death (brief candle, indeed!) in 1968:
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You've written a beautiful blog for us today. Thank you. Unfortunately, I read it only minutes after reading Heather Cox Richardson's column from last night, and I'm shaking so much I can hardly type this. I think we're currently facing a worst crisis than 9/11. Bless his heart, Shaw lived through unutterably terrible times in the 20th century. You quoted him at one of the most optimistic moments in history, when he was 51. I wonder what he was saying in terms of such an attitude at, say, 83 (1939) or 90 (1946).
ReplyDeleteThanks, as always, for your comments, Anton.
DeleteI, too, read Richardson's column soon after making the blog post this morning and felt uneasiness because of what she wrote. I marvel at how she can write so perceptively day after day.
Briefly, I thought about not continuing my writing of this post when I first realized that Shaw wrote the words about being a "splendid torch" when he was only 51, for I, too, wondered what he thought about that when he was 81. But when I discovered that he was still writing plays when he was in his 90s, I thought that he was keeping his splendid torch burning--although I have not read those plays to know anything about their content.
I was intrigued by your exchange about Heather Cox Richardson, but did not find anything on the open internet. Were you reading on Substack? I did find an interesting video she posted this afternoon which I suspect was on similar material. It can be viewed here: https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson/videos/379595136792840/
DeleteI will say that while Trump's henchmen are busy, he himself seems more like Macbeth brooding in his castle as the woods moved in. Of course, Macbeth had the luxury of having Shakespeare write his Tweets for him! Just keep him away from Nero's torch!
Yes, Craig, as Anton, I also get Richardson's daily blog posts on Substack, but I haven't listened to her at all on Facebook--but thanks for linking to that (and because of your link I did listen to a bit of it--although I prefer reading to listening).
DeleteAnd thanks for your brilliant second paragraph!
A very beautiful blog this morning. Thank you. I would see you as being a splendid torch so I think you are living life well. Certainly, we need more than candles these days.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lonnie, for your kind, affirming words!
DeleteHere are comments from Jerry Cain, a third local Thinking Friend:
ReplyDelete"Last Sunday, November 8, was my 75th birthday and I preached on Psalm 90:10-12 especially focusing on verse 12, 'teach us to number our days.' I was pleased this morning that the same passage had occupied your spirit at the same time. Thanks for your good words about candles and torches, Shakespeare and Shaw. As wise and thoughtful as usual.
"And we ended our service singing the song inspired by the last words of verse 10, 'I'll Fly Away.' I am grateful for your good thoughts after a heated year of election chaos."
Thanks for writing, Jerry. it was good to hear from you again -- and congratulations on your 75th birthday. I still think of you as a relatively young man--and I guess you are, compared to me.
DeleteI think that Psalm 90:12 is better to focus on than verse 10, which says (for those of you who don't remember it or want to look it up), "Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away." It sounds as though these words are closer to Macbeth than to Shaw.
I hadn't heard or thought about that gospel song for a long time, and I searched for more information about the author, who was Albert E. Brumley (1905~77). And what I find interesting is that he was still in his mid-20s when he wrote that song.
I also found out that Brumley was also the author of "This World is Not My Home," and I started thinking about writing a blog article sometime perhaps titled "Where is Home?"
Leroy, thanks for quoting Shakespeare and [especially] Shaw and evoking this memory.
ReplyDeleteECCE HOMO
Yes, I know whence I came.
Unsated like the flame
I consume myself and glow.
All becomes light that I seize,
Charcoal all that I leave.
Flame am I, certainly so!
- Friedrich Nietzsche [from the ‘Prelude in German Rhyme’ of “The Gay Science” (1982), my translation]
And, of course, Ecclesiastes 1:2b:
Vanity of vanities, all is vanity! [Merest vapor, all is vapor!]
Hamlet seems to be a student of Kohelet.
Shalom, Dick
Thanks, Dick. Whenever you comment you always enhance the quality of my blog articles and the following comments.
DeleteNietzsche's quote, which I don't remember having read, is certainly appropriate, as are the words by Kohelet. I like the translation of Eccles. 1:2 in The Voice: "Life is fleeting, like a passing mist. It is like trying to catch hold of a breath; All vanishes like a vapor; everything is a great vanity."
Shakespeare and the writer of James must have had those words from the Hebrew Bible in mind.
I have a sister who was a school-teacher, a Catholic nun. One of her favorite stories—and now mine—was this.
ReplyDeleteShe was teaching the religion class that started the day and they had been reading the sermon on the mount and the words to the disciples about being the salt of the earth and the light of the world (Mt 5, 13-16). She had them each draw a picture for the lesson and add a short prayer. One little girl had a picture of an upside-down basket. This was the prayer, “Dear God, please don’t let anybody put a basket over my candle.”
Probably, apocryphal, but is a ray from your theme of the day
Thanks, Larry, for sharing this delightful story.
DeleteThe little girl must have known the song "This Little Light of Mine," which was a favorite of Fannie Lou Hamer and others in the civil rights movement. "Hide it under a bushel? NO!"
Wade Paris is one of my local Thinking Friends who is older than me. He sent this brief comment this morning:
ReplyDelete"This blog truly spoke to me. I too, some time ago, googled how many days I have numbered. As of today it is 31,991."
Thanks, Wade, for reading and responding -- and for keeping your splendid torch burning. I just read your monthly column in the November issue of Word&Way yesterday.
Delete[For those of you who do not know of Word&Way, which is now a monthly publication, they self-identify as the periodical which has been "informing & inspiring Baptists since 1896."]
I believe it was Kierkegaard who said something like this: Only when I have experienced the misery of this existence so profoundly, that I can say, "For me life is worthless," only then can life have worth in the highest degree.
ReplyDeleteI've also liked the following quote: "One thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve. The purpose of human life is to serve, and to show compassion and the will to help others." –Albert Schweitzer
Garth, thanks for sharing these important quotes. In the theology course I taught at Rockhurst University after moving to Liberty, Mo. (where I live now), I would usually cite these words by Schweitzer when talking about him.
DeleteBut even though I have read Kierkegaard rather extensively, I don't remember those words--and while I found them at various places on the Internet, there didn't seem to be any source listed. I would like to know when, and in which of his writings, Kierkegaard wrote that. But those words do sound like him with the paradoxical tension of life being worthless and of the highest worth.
Here are comments made late yesterday afternoon by Thinking Friend Eric Dollard in Chicago:
ReplyDelete"Thanks, Leroy, for your comments about life and its continued affirmation.
"Although I have a cynical streak, I am nonetheless an idealist and I see so much that we need to do and we can do as a society. But I am dismayed by the severe polarization we are facing and the lack of any real vision on the part of many Americans. Instead, many are attracted to the politics of anger rather than the politics of hope.
"As for cynicism, the quote from Macbeth reminds one of some famous lines in Act 2, scene 7, of As You Like It, provided by Jaques, a pessimistic character. 'All the world's a stage, and all the men and women are merely players; they have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.' I won't quote the rest as it is rather long.
"Jaques, however, is rebuked by the heroine of the play, Rosalind. When he says, 'Why, 'tis good to be sad and say nothing,' Rosalind replies, 'Why, then 'tis good to be a post.' (Act 4, scene 1)"
Thanks for sharing these pertinent comments, Eric. While most who know me now would probably not guess it, in my younger years there were times, I'm afraid, I was rather like a post.
ReplyDeleteEarly last night I received an email from Thinking Friend Truett Baker in Arizona. Here is part of what he wrote:
ReplyDelete"Thanks Leroy. A lot to think about.
"It is a temptation in the senior years to sit back and bask on the laurels of yesterday. However, I find myself obsessed with the thought of the impact the past four years will have on our nation and our grandchildren. I can't do much about the future but I can read and write and I find great joy in that, particularly as I think about what our nation can become rather than what it has been.
"One of my interests, as you know, has been church-state relations. I'm becoming uneasy about the gathering strength of the Religious Right. Many of us have been concerned in years past about the dominance of the state over the church and the so-called liberties we have lost through decisions of the Supreme Count. I'm becoming more concerned now about the dominance that religious groups are pursuing to gain control of the government. The talk of making America "a Christian nation" is truly threatening the religious liberty we have cherished since this country was born."
Thanks, Truett, for your comments. It seems to me that you are doing well in keeping your "splendid torch" burning.
DeleteSince I`ve probably known you longer than Anyone else Sharing their comments, I can attest to the fact that your candle has been burning bright for a long, long time and I Pray that our LORD will allow it to shine for many more years.
ReplyDeleteYou are indeed a Blessing to us All!
In Him,
John(Tim)Carr
Yes, John Tim, I think you are the Thinking Friend I have known the longest, and I much appreciate your kind, affirming words.
Delete