Propagators of Revolution

Edmund Morgan, in Inventing The People, reminds us that "We assume too easily that popular sovereignty was the product of popular demand, a rising of the many against the few. It was not. It was a question of some of the few enlisting the many against the rest of the few."

But such is not always the case. Take for example, Gibbon's description of the subjects of Maximin in ancient Rome: "[They] were reduced to that uncommon distress, in which the body of the people has more to fear from oppression than from resistance. The consciousness of that melancholy truth, inspires a degree of persevering fury, seldom to be found in those civil wars which are artifically supported for the benefit of a few factious and designing leaders." The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

Is a revolution of the people, therefore, only to be ignited by the indomitable instinct for survival? Or have less drastic means simply not yet been discovered by man?

Sanctuary

Outside the office where I work there was an area, cordoned off by four orange cones (of the usual, construction variety) connected by yellow "Caution" tape (of the usual, crime scene variety). The area protected by this formidable array, in the midst of a plaza, measures about six feet by six feet.

I see it when I walk in during the morning, via my usual circuitous route, by way of Dunkin Donuts. It stands in defiant opposition to the sprawling remainder of the plaza, practically staggering with the intoxication of its selection.

Though I'm unaware what danger lurks beyond that yellow tape (or, indeed, from which direction it might come. Above? Below?) I've often envied its ability to dissuade. It would be no great task for these barriers to be surmounted, yet the world, like a massive river, choose to move smoothly around its silent, repetitive protest.

What if I took up temporary habitation there? Is the worth of the thirty-six feet increased sufficiently by the addition of one person to draw the gaze of those passing by? What if, in an effort to tie into our mutual subconscious, I laid down to prepare for a chalking? Like on CSI? Or if I fell asleep? Would the world disturb me in a catnap? And, if I could dissuade, perhaps people of the same sentiments might cohabitate briefly? Could we all together establish a homebase? A refuge for any people who might not want to wrestle with the world for a little while? Or a long while?

On Pride.

Of the Seven Sins, some say that Pride is the Devil's favorite. If true, this should be no surprise to us. It was, after all, the Devil's own sin.

Yet it is otherwise peculiar among its loathsome brothers. For example, for the rest we can easily discern an opposite. For sloth, we have diligence; for avarice, we have frugality; for lust, we have contentment. Similarly, for each Sin we have an element of choice. The Lord does not condemn anger any more than breathe, sleep, defecation or any other bodily function. It is the indulgence, and consequent perversion, that draws contempt. So it is with Wrath. We draw no ire for being weary, or being ambitious in life and love. It is excess that is punished.

But what of Pride? It has been said, and I think is commonly accepted, that it has the odd characteristic of making some men appear noble, while making others appear foolish. Can the same be said of the others? Although we may take pleasure in the effect of wrath visited upon the deserving, nothing is pleasing in the state itself. Though we may admire success in the accumulation of goods, the bottomless, ravenous desire to have more is disquieting.

So let us examine: What is the opposite of pride? Does it illustrate the perversion of a natural state?

Modesty is the only answer, yet the match sounds imperfect to modern ears. Let us take an example. Imagine on the event of his relatives death a man returns to the home of his youth after a great many years. Imagine similarly that it is in poor repair and so the man chooses to resume his residence at this place, and succeeds in bringing it again to its proper state through much exertion. As he stands before it, his work finished, surely it is jarring to say that he is wrong to take Pride in his accomplishment? Much less that he has violated one of the Seven Deadly Sins? Can he not take Pride, but in a modest way?

He can not. Our confusion lies in whom we are addressing. What we really mean when we say "take Pride, but in a modest way" is to take Pride inwardly while displaying a modest face to our neighbors. But it is not our neighbors that should concern us. For what is this house rebuilt, compared with the leaves of the trees, or the grass of the fields? Mountains that stretch beyond sight both above us and past the horizon? What is it to take Pride in our own pitiful small work when faced everyday with the wonder of God's creation? What is it not to recognize that, indeed, we ourselves are only God's creation, and that all we do is His will? Is that not sinful?

Seen in this light it is plain that our virtue is modesty, and our instinct is satisfaction. Yet so far have we wondered from constantly thinking of ourselves as God's creatures that Pride appears itself to be a virtue and to make men noble. If it is the Devil's favorite, it is for this reason: It encourages man to place himself before God and, by doing so, to replicate the Devil's own fall.

Tribute

"My words have been connected

to the poets of old.

The way I utilize the pen

to turn ink to gold."

To young relatives

One of my great sorrows is that, of necessity, most of your life will pass in my absence. Like the glimmering stars in the night sky, you will be unknown to me except for a few pinpricks of pure white light in an otherwise impenetrable night sky.

But know this - the night sky is filled with stars.

They are hidden to us by distance and the extraneous material of the cosmos, but they are there nonetheless. And, though we can not see them we should take comfort in their presence. Because, if we could but see them, we would know that their light outshines all the radiance of the day.

Do you feel the sun on your face? The wind on your cheek? These are better proofs of God's existence than can be produced through the exertion of the human mind.