I recently had the opportunity to visit some old friends on the continent: I had a lovely time. It has been quite a number of years, however, since I have been in Europe and I had forgotten the tremendous contrasts between the various strata of society. This is especially noticeable because of a pervasive sense of affluence. On the one hand, you can walk along the Champs Elysees in Paris and have a light meal in her many bistros and restaurants, all the while observing the bejeweled throng passing by: on the other “main,” this is contrasted by the many misshapen lumps that sleep on the metro ventilation grates or in the transportation system’s numerous subterranean tunnels. This led me to thinking, “Why would a person totally surrender the fight for life?”

I am sure that everyone in the human condition has been subjected to failure and defeat but, intrinsically, we get up and start again: much like the young child who loses his balance. How can you every come to a point that you are struck, thrown down and do not attempt to stand once more? How do you ever allow yourself to become a broken spirit? It must begin with the concept of the Sisyphean task: “Beginning with Homer (1) in Greek mythology, Sisyphus was notorious for being crafty and dishonest. As a punishment for his trickery, Zeus (2) sentenced King Sisyphus to endlessly roll a huge boulder up a steep hill. He was sentenced thus because his intrigue and duplicity surpassed that of even Zeus himself. Zeus accordingly displayed his own cleverness by ‘enchanting’ the boulder to roll away from King Sisyphus. However, just before he reached the top (and freedom) the stone rolled backwards towards the unfortunate king, forcing him, once again, down the hill: Zeus consigned Sisyphus to an eternity of useless efforts and unending frustration. He repeated this task on a daily basis.”

If you could not see any level of hope, you are consigned to failure. Dr. Viktor Frank (1905-1997), a World War Two death camp survivor, wrote extensively on the concept of faith in a better future. “He concluded that the meaning of life is found in every moment of living; life never ceases to have meaning, even in suffering and death. Frankl offered the thought that for everyone in a dire condition there is someone peering down, a friend, family member, or even God, who would expect not to be disappointed. The good doctor concluded, from experience, that a prisoner’s psychological reactions are not solely the result of the conditions of his life, but also from the freedom of choice he always has, even in severe suffering. The ‘inner hold’ a prisoner has on his spiritual self relies on having a hope in the future and, once a prisoner loses that hope, he is doomed.”

 We stumbled on in the darkness, over big stones and through large puddles, along the one road leading from the camp. The accompanying guards kept shouting at us and driving us with the butts of their rifles. Anyone with very sore feet supported himself on his neighbor’s arm. Hardly a word was spoken; the icy wind did not encourage talk. Hiding his mouth behind his upturned collar, the man marching next to me whispered suddenly: If our wives could see us now! I do hope they are better off in their camps and don’t know what is happening to us.’

A thought transfixed me: for the first time in my life I saw the truth as it is set into song by so many poets, proclaimed as the final wisdom by so many thinkers. The truth: love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which man can aspire. Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: the salvation of man is through love and in love.”(2)

The reason that those poor souls thrust their emaciated and sickly bodies upon sterile benches at night, and most of them succumbed, is because they lacked the ultimate love: the love of self. There, tragically, is no school or course that one can enroll in because this perception is self-taught. There is truth in the fact that this phenomenon is nurtured by external stimuli, but it is the self that alone can truly embrace it. These individuals, in my estimation, fear success. A wise friend of mine once said: “It is easy to be unhappy but difficult to achieve happiness.” Success in any form, therefore, is not easily attained: chronic failure (long-term homelessness, for example) must equate with laziness: cruel, but truthful. An Eskimo proverb from northern Canada leaves us with a thought: Perhaps they are not stars, but rather openings in heaven where the love of our lost ones pours through and shines down upon us to let us know they are happy. (Parts of this article were published in April 2011)                      

A closing thought: It is to be noted that it is easy to lose your path in life. This is where the love of family and the counsel of good friends allows you to reposition yourself and your thoughts. It could be said that those without some form of suffering, physical or mental, have never truly grown. They have never seen the depths from which to crawl back from. I am always most interested in what makes a man stop and reside in the “underworld” until they leave this mortal plane. It would seem to make no sense, but many, many do it – the drug addict, the alcoholic, those in bad relationships, the broken, and the unwashed — why? It can only be because of bad relationships, with the self and with others. Unless one has mental problems, there can be no excuse but sloth for the reason that people fail to discover their meaning in life. The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly. (Proverbs 26:16)

 

To sum up: This week we spoke about striving to never give up the fight to uncover the beautiful you. All of us are presented with this opportunity.

 

A small joke: A doctor examining an elderly patient said, “Don’t worry, you should live to ninety.” “I am ninety,” the patient wailed. “You see, I was right.” replied the doctor.

 

Just for fun – Joe Cocker – With A Little Help From My Friends

This week on your great walk, please contemplate your indestructible spirit.

 

Every day look for something magical and beautiful

Quote: Believe: Then goodness and wealth will come to you.

Footnotes:

1) Homer is best known as the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey. He was believed by the ancient Greeks to have been the first and greatest of the epic poets. Author of the first known literature of Europe, he has had a lasting effect on Western thinking.

Whether and when he lived is unknown. Herodotus, the great Greek historian (484 BC-425 BC), estimated that Homer lived 400 years before his own time, which would place him circa 850 BC.

2) In Greek mythology, Zeus was the god of sky and thunder. Zeus is identified with the Roman god Jupiter.

3) Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl: (ISBN 9780-6716-4670-7)