Our Only President, as instructed by Congress, has proclaimed today a day of prayer of permanent peace, and a day of national remembrance. And, Gentle Readers, if you will excuse my paraphrase, it is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this day. Brave men, living and dead, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract.
It is for us the living rather to be dedicated.
What that means to you, I will leave to you, Gentle Reader.
chazak, chazak, v’nitchazek,
-Vardibidian.
I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim Memorial Day, May 30, 2005, as a day of prayer for permanent peace, and I designate the hour beginning in each locality at 11:00 a.m. of that day as a time to unite in prayer.
i don’t know if other presidents have claimed this kind of religious authority, but i find this particular declaration particularly galling.
i do not pray.
i do not believe that there can be such a thing as permanent peace on this earth, because i do not believe that in our universe there is such a state as “finished.” nor do i think that anything perfect should be sought or emulated, for we as children of a cyclical universe can only be mistaken in our conception of completeness or perfection.
peace is achieved through awareness. seeking perfection leads to stupidity and blindness, for it is against our nature, and against the ways of our world.
it is a different thing to seek goodness than to seek perfection, obviously.
Yes, I had noticed it, but being charitable, I interpreted prayer as something like prayer, meditation or hopeful thought, as it is often used in public. I believe the language is taken from the language of such proclamations in the fifties and sixties.
As for the permanence issue, well, I understand the idea that seeking permanence even in peace encourages fundamental misunderstanding of the universe, and yet here, as well, I am inclined to charitably interpret permanent as something like long-term or merely more than momentary.
I suppose what I’m saying is that I see both as allusions. As you object to the terms themselves, you rightly object. On the other hand, I don’t know that you object to the things that (I think) the terms allude to.
None of which is trivial. Rhetorics applies.
Thanks,
-V.
i bristle in the president’s general direction because his is an “is” administration beyond any. i become quick with the fine-toothed comb after people pick only abuse out of a torture pile.
after i wrote that rant i thought about the meanings of “lasting” and “durable” and “permanent” and their interrelation. i was also thinking about how ridiculous our situation is, in relation to the universe, although i certainly would enjoy driving our bright yellow car to the moon one day, such things are pointless and come from boredom. i don’t want to die any more than other people but fighting against change seems like one more way to while away the hours in good company.
i thought about permanent especially yesterday when i took the car to a car wash. the line was very complicated and as in many such lines, heartbreak occurred. i ended up right beside another driver, who was then incensed that i moved directly forward into a lane on which they’d laid an uncommunicated claim. when i then discovered a better spot ahead and to the side, i pointed it out to them but they kept yelling at me, even as far as to say that they didn’t care there was a better spot ahead of me, they were never going to forgive my parents for my birth. they continued yelling (even stopping midway to try to start a face-to-face confrontation) all the way across the lanes and into the better spot, where they promptly shut up upon realizing how big a favor i’d done them. there was continued glowering of course.
i’m still thinking about it, of course. the point though is that time screamed to a stop while the order of immediate gratification was under examination. i was thinking, “this is a person who believes in permanence, until distracted.”
Feh. Somebody needs a good dose of perspective indeed. I’ve got to figure a grievance has got to have consequences more than a two-minute delay before it’s worth my energy to brood, much less holler. And your story is a suspiciously good parable of how concentrating on the grievance blinds a fellow to his good fortune.
Thanks,
-V.