Meditations #33

 Without an understanding of the nature of the universe, a man cannot know where he is; without an understanding of its purpose, he cannot know what he is, nor what the universe itself is. Let either of these discoveries be hid from him, and he will not be able so much as to give a reason for his own existence. So what are we to think of anyone who cares to seek or shun the applause of the shouting multitudes, when they know neither where they are nor what they are?

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book Eight

For several reasons, none of them particularly surprising, this passage from the Meditations jumped out at me this morning. At several places in the Meditations Marcus Aurelius discusses the city and the individual, or, to think of it another way, the macro and the micro, or maybe the external and the internal. Last night we were watching the first public broadcast of the January 6th Commission. As the committee members laid out the treasonous actions of Trump and his followers it provided more proof (or, as Sandy Zale would opine, as if we needed more proof) of a nation that has clearly lost both an understanding of "the nature of the universe" and also of "its purpose." As I said to Janet last night, for probably the thousandth time, it's not simply the actions of one deranged, sociopathic leader, but the one hundred million Americans who are completely cool with his actions - apparently democracy is just one of those quaint ideas from the past, or simply something that happens to other people. Now, on the smaller, more personal, more internal level, these words resonated with me as well. Yesterday I finally, officially, physically, moved into Janet's cabin in Calais. Obviously, to get to this moment I've needed to devote time to trying to understand both the nature of the universe and its purpose, but it's also clearly just the beginning of the process. Every time we cross a boundary it is the perfect time for that manner of self-reflection, and this is no exception.