Holy Week: Love and Sacrifice

Love and Sacrifice

This is Holy Week, a time when we conclude Lent and focus on Christ's sacrifice.  Before Christ was crucified he had one final meal with his disciples.  He washed their feet and instructed them that they should serve each other as he has served them.  He left them with a strong mandate to love each other as he has loved.  And in case anyone misunderstood what he meant by "love" he made it painfully obvious:"Greater love has no one other than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."

With that mandate we as humans have our work cut out for us.  We are to forgive each other when we wrong each other, treat others better than we treat ourselves, accept others without judging, not lie to each other, encourage each other, not slander each other and live in harmony with each other.  To accomplish all this we have been given lives, personalities and souls so that each of us in our own unique way can serve others in love.

Christ's commandment puts forth a universal truth which is beyond debate -- if we love each other as Christ loved then our joy will be complete. A study was performed looking at the lives of Harvard Students over a period of decades which demonstrates the importance of love. Begun in 1938, the Grant Study of Adult Development charted the physical and emotional health of over 200 Harvard students, starting with their undergraduate days. It followed them from 1938 until the present.  In 2012 Harvard Professor George Valiant published his findings from the study in a book titled Triumphs of Experience:  The Men of the Harvard Grant Study. What it found was that over the course of 80 years of study the key to happiness was strong loving relationships with others.  Such things as money, genetics, social status, education and work did not matter anywhere near as much as good loving relationships.  

But as Christ shows us loving each other is frequently easier said than done.  The sacrifices we must make -- the offenses from others that we must both endure and forgive -- while at the same time placing others ahead of ourselves is not an easy task for anyone. But if we are to achieve a truly sterling life, one in which we end our lives polished with a patina of weathered happiness there is one ingredient that must be present -- love.  

I hope you enjoy your Easter and find the joy of Christ.  

Vitae Summa Brevis Spem Nos Vetat Incohare Longam

Ernest Dowson

The brief sum of life forbids us the hope of enduring long. –Horace

They are not long, the weeping and the laughter, 
Love and desire and hate: 
I think they have no portion in us after 
We pass the gate. 

They are not long, the days of wine and roses: 
Out of a misty dream 
Our path emerges for a while, then closes 
Within a dream.

Cold Winters - Warm Hearts

When looking at a classic painting of a winter scene, it almost feels warmly romantic.  Of course there is nothing romantic about the experience of cold winter storms.  We Americans have been recently reminded of the harshness that bitter cold brings.  Nevertheless, when I look at paintings like the one below I don't think of being out in the cold, I think of home, shelter, comfortable food and loving family.  Seeing the cold scene brings to mind thoughts of protection from the storm.   It's an odd emotion in response to such a painting, but the painting does not appear to be painted to create cold emotions.  There are warm colors of brown and black with flowing waters and men working as a team. There is the shelter of the ship and the sense of adventure that comes from trying to navigate the Thames in Ice.  It's amazing to me that paintings can depict one thing,  here a winter storm, but produce emotions not experienced by being actually present in the scene.  It reminds me that if I do find myself in a harsh storm, that on the other side of the storm is the warm comfort of home and family.  I hope you enjoy Whistler's The Thames in Ice.  And I hope that no matter how cold it gets you find warm comfort in your life.

Christmas Past

Washington Irving's description of Christmas Eve:

"Some say that ever 'gainst that season comes Wherein our Saviour's birth is celebrated, This bird of dawning singeth all night long; And then, they say, no spirit dares stir abroad, The nights are wholesome--then no planets strike, No fairy takes, no witch hath power to charm, So hallow'd and so gracious is the time."

The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent, Washington Irving, 1819

Beautiful Video Suggesting a Simpler Life: Get Back

Lincoln has posted the following video by Eliot Rausch in which the director encourages all of us to get back to our relationships by putting down our phones and technology and relating to each other.  Enjoy.

http://vimeo.com/64641161

SIMPLICITY

I have been reading about simplicity lately.  It seems that all of the high-tech complications with which we have filled our lives are not all that healthy for us.  In the end the best things for us are those things which God has provided -- fresh air, fresh food and fresh living.  But what does that mean exactly?

The best form of living is to simply live -- to know and be known, to love and be loved, to hear and be heard, to celebrate and be celebrated -- to experience the simple elements of a sterling life.  The best food we consume are vegetables which are no more enhanced or complicated than they were thousands of years ago.  The best air is unpolluted fresh air as crisp and clean as it was when Christ walked the earth.  The further we inundate our lives with technological advancement, the more disconnected we become from the beautiful experiences that make us human.

So does that mean that we should plunge ourselves into ultra minimalist living by throwing out our computers, cars and air conditioners?   Heavans NO!    Instead we need a greater focus on a concept of elegant simplicity.  We need to incorporate technological advancements seamlessly into our lives so that  instead of altering our environment, and ourselves, the technology does its job without interfering with our ability to be human.  And we are seeing improvements in that area.  People are being encouraged to get out in nature, even if nature is the street on which you live.   Human experience is found in the butterflies and fire ants,  the elegant dog and the smelly skunk,  the squirrels and the rats.  

We are finding that meditation connects us to ourselves in simplistic ways: a walk at lunch time around the block brings experience to our minds; and gazing at a sunset is not just for hopeless dreamers but a clear sign of a fully connected soul.

As I type on my computer, I am feeling fully human knowing that my life experience isn't found in the silicone microchip or HD screen, but instead it is found in embracing all that makes us human -- happiness, glee, beauty, pain and suffering.  Indeed, the entire spectrum of the soul is necessary to bring fullness to our lives.

I encourage all to find their way to live a life of elegant simplicity, it will truly be a sterling experience.

LEATHER TANNING -- HOW THE ELEGANCE IS MADE

I recently purchased a pair of shoes from Alden of New England. I got the Norwegian Split Toe in calfskin leather.  They are by far the most expensive pair of shoes I have ever owned  ($570 including tax).  One reason that Alden shoes are so expensive is that they are made from excellent construction with the finest leather.  The leather comes from the Chicago based Tanner, Horween.  (www.horween.com).  When you look at pictures from a tannery like the one above you come to understand that the elegant leather on your feet, your watch and your car come from less than elegant beginnings.  It is truly a sausage making type operation.  But quality leather is an essential, yet costly, part of sterling products.  My car's seats are wrapped in leather from the Scottish tanner Bridge of Weir. (http://www.bowleather.co.uk).

I have learned that the best leather available is known as Shell Cordovan.  Shell Cordovan comes from the tail end of a horse and is apparently the smoothest and best leather available.  Since horses cannot be slaughtered for hides, the only Shell Cordovan available comes from horses who have died of old age, illness etc....  One horse will produce only a single pair of Shell Cordovan shoes.  Consequently, the shoes are very expensive.  I chose to pass on the Shell Cordovan's this time, given the $635 price tag.  But maybe next time.

In the mean time I will be enjoying this wonderful purchase: