What Really Matter
DATES AND EVENTS, YOU AND ME
"The eye cannot see itself" said an aged Latin Language teacher. The eye cannot see itself because the eye is not self sufficient. Humans too are not self sufficient; infact no existential phenomenon is self sufficient or self reliant. This implies that there is always a vacuum that needs filling, a condition that requires real interpersonal feeling.
This closure is met the moment friendship is built and trust achieved. This friendship whether biological or societal, exists with the unassuming values of trust, faith and love.
The friend is able to see what the other cannot see in himself, he is able to criticize what the other would call obligatory rights and Civic rights, freedom and responses. Every human being is at one point or the other blind to himself. We are at those times of our blindness condemned to voluntary mistakes and misappropriations, to ignorance and it's consequences, to naivety and failure; we are drawn into a pit of confusion. The only way out is to unshield your shield and welcome that perfect mirror, that friend. For with him, you can behold perfectly what the eye wouldn't see by itself alone.
From the forgoing, it is quite clear that value is placed on the friend, the individual, and not on some accidental features which by necessity, providence or accident are identifiable with him. Hence, dates and events when marked in honour of a dear one, do not take the place of that person. Infact they are mere accidents and they derive their importance from the existence of the individual. Anniversaries and memories are quite important events marked with specific dates, they add meaning to the life of the celebrant but they most importantly, derive their values from the existence of the celebrant.
Dates do not always matter, people matter. Dates are forgotten, people are never forgotten. Dates are approximated, people are never approximated. One can choose to mark his birth anniversary on a day other than his birthday, but no individual can be celebrated in place of another. The question was never about whether Jesus Christ was actually born on 25th of December... The invaluable reality is the fact that Jesus Christ, the Messiah, was born into this world. It is not about his date of birth, it is only about him. We don't argue whether Socrates or any of the Ancient Philosophers were actually born on a certain date, we simply make an approximation of the year and carry on with our philosophical enquiry. What we talk about is the philosopher, and not the day he was born or the event that maked the brilliant moment he became a philosopher.
In very many cases, we place so much emphasis on accidents and ignore the things that truly matter. You celebrate your marriage anniversaries but you never celebrate your marriage. It is not about the day you got married. It is more about the both parties who got married. It is more about the marriage itself and not just the anniversary. You celebrate your marriage when you make it a daily affair. But when it's an annual event, it is your anniversary that you are celebrating and not the marriage itself. Celebrate a daily existence of that friend and not an annual anniversary of his birth.
Consequently, the value we place on our friends are reflected only in the short notes we place in our diaries. The diary becomes our world, each year for each friend. What an unhealthy irony.
So, I tell you this day, hold to the heart that friend. Do not attach him to a date, for the human person is not an object of some mistaken apparatus. Friends are not accidents of nature, neither is friendship itself a make of emotion. A friend is simply a reality and friendship is nature. From this natural reality, time is begotten. And from the reality of time, dates are created.
Theopet.
The friend is able to see what the other cannot see in himself, he is able to criticize what the other would call obligatory rights and Civic rights, freedom and responses. Every human being is at one point or the other blind to himself. We are at those times of our blindness condemned to voluntary mistakes and misappropriations, to ignorance and it's consequences, to naivety and failure; we are drawn into a pit of confusion. The only way out is to unshield your shield and welcome that perfect mirror, that friend. For with him, you can behold perfectly what the eye wouldn't see by itself alone.
From the forgoing, it is quite clear that value is placed on the friend, the individual, and not on some accidental features which by necessity, providence or accident are identifiable with him. Hence, dates and events when marked in honour of a dear one, do not take the place of that person. Infact they are mere accidents and they derive their importance from the existence of the individual. Anniversaries and memories are quite important events marked with specific dates, they add meaning to the life of the celebrant but they most importantly, derive their values from the existence of the celebrant.
Dates do not always matter, people matter. Dates are forgotten, people are never forgotten. Dates are approximated, people are never approximated. One can choose to mark his birth anniversary on a day other than his birthday, but no individual can be celebrated in place of another. The question was never about whether Jesus Christ was actually born on 25th of December... The invaluable reality is the fact that Jesus Christ, the Messiah, was born into this world. It is not about his date of birth, it is only about him. We don't argue whether Socrates or any of the Ancient Philosophers were actually born on a certain date, we simply make an approximation of the year and carry on with our philosophical enquiry. What we talk about is the philosopher, and not the day he was born or the event that maked the brilliant moment he became a philosopher.
In very many cases, we place so much emphasis on accidents and ignore the things that truly matter. You celebrate your marriage anniversaries but you never celebrate your marriage. It is not about the day you got married. It is more about the both parties who got married. It is more about the marriage itself and not just the anniversary. You celebrate your marriage when you make it a daily affair. But when it's an annual event, it is your anniversary that you are celebrating and not the marriage itself. Celebrate a daily existence of that friend and not an annual anniversary of his birth.
Consequently, the value we place on our friends are reflected only in the short notes we place in our diaries. The diary becomes our world, each year for each friend. What an unhealthy irony.
So, I tell you this day, hold to the heart that friend. Do not attach him to a date, for the human person is not an object of some mistaken apparatus. Friends are not accidents of nature, neither is friendship itself a make of emotion. A friend is simply a reality and friendship is nature. From this natural reality, time is begotten. And from the reality of time, dates are created.
Theopet.
Values should be placed on individuals rather than dates.. With this friendship would be made stronger
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