Hope...

XIV.

“The Worldly Hope men set their Hearts upon

Turns Ashes – or it prospers; and anon,

Like Snow upon the Desert’s dusty Face

Lighting a little Hour or two – is gone.”

The Christmas holiday period seems like an appropriate time to get into this verse. Here, we see an expression of the notion that worldly existence is illusory and that the things of the physical world are impermanent and non-lasting. In fact this stanza is quite Buddhist in its approach, although I suspect that Omar and FitzGerald would both find the idea faintly heretical.

By “Worldly Hope” we are told that we shouldn’t put too much faith in tangible, physical things. Things of the spirit are what last, while baubles and trinkets fade over time and lose their efficacy – they “turn Ashes”. This is not to say that we should have no hope whatsoever; it just means that the Bird of Time will eventually pass by the things of this world upon which we count to see us through.

Money drains away; fortresses crumble; youth and beauty fades. Politics shifts; ideals are replaced with new ones; treaties and contracts are broken. The only constant in the world is change and trying to fight it is like trying to pin a river in place with a lance.

There is a sense though, that worldly things do offer comfort - they turn ashes or they prosper. Some things will return on an investment; in the long term however, they disappear like snow falling on a desert. But, like snow falling onto the dust, it creates a small space of beauty and pleasure before vanishing – it lights a little hour and is gone.

With Christmas consumerism in full overdrive, I was sent a link to a Youtube channel with a short program displaying the “Top Ten Most Expensive Things on the Planet”. These ranged from a $2,000,000 pair of shoes, to a $16,200,000 iPhone, to a $52,000,000 ocean liner, to a woman willing to sell her virginity to the highest bidder – at last count $3,700,000. The whole display made me feel only that we live in a pretty sick world where such transactions and manufacturing take place. Sure, $16,200,000 makes for a pretty swanky mobile phone (until the next model comes out) but that amount of cash could also cure quite a bit of Ebola, I’m thinking.

I’m not sure that Omar (and FitzGerald) are telling us that we should invest wisely, that we should “live like there’s no tomorrow, but farm as if we’ll live forever” (as the Africans have it); in the context of their general “seize the day” philosophy, maybe they’re telling us we should just go for that diamond-studded footwear and be damned. If it makes you feel good, then why not? Just remember: it won’t last.