Tag: blog

Holiday 2024

Most of the time, somewhat in the spirit of wine making, I handwrite these essays months ahead, followed by a schedule on which they are dictated into digital, edited, “aged in the silicon” for a month or so, and re-edited. They finally are placed into the blog, often with photographs of nature taken weeks before.   This one is recent.

Lately I have worked hard at having a strong and focused immediate perspective _ what am I thinking of today. Larger cosmic questions are usually beyond my reach. 

At my age, the local personal issues are magnifying greatly, the longer term worldwide ones diminishing in importance. Sadly, the aches in my teeth affect me more than the fate of creatures in the Amazon. Anything beyond my immediate (and also diminishing) senses is a kind of fantasy, anything much beyond next week more or less irrelevant .

I was, fortunately, not always like this. But it has its compensations. This holiday season, for example, has been wonderful, steeped in family and nostalgic memories. The past as wonderland. The present as an endless candy store. And gratitude settling on all as a kind of golden glowing syrup .

Ethical Rituals

I do not believe there is or ever could be an absolute universal code of ethics for humans or the cosmos they inhabit. I do believe there is a code of ethics implicit in every civilization. This indicates what should be done even if it is not legally necessary. And cultural rituals enforce and recognize these ethics .

For example as a sign of respect in different places one may offer a handshake, or a bow, or a kiss on the cheek. Customs indicate how strongly one is affected by statements or arguments. Expectations of acceptable behavior when shopping range from blind acceptance of prices to extensive haggling. Beginnings of romances vary greatly. “Telling the truth” means different things in different situations .

Sure, laws are necessary. But the web of “ethical” behavior and its rituals may be the real glue of civilization. In fact, too many “petty” laws trying to enforce former common rituals may be a sign of the decline of any society.

People are, in general, surprisingly social. Amazingly adaptable. And generally quite content to “go native” and “when in Rome .”

A culture which has lost most of its ethical rituals and instead relies on enforced laws is probably not much fun. Rituals have a way of expanding personal freedom, which laws usually do not .