Grace of Gratitude

For food in a world where many walk in hunger
For friends in a world where many live alone
For peace in a world filled with fear and anger
For love and a place that we can call home
For the meal that what we are about to receive
Let us be truly thankful

A New Stoic Practice - Winter Solstice

[As the aim of this series of essays is also to establish a Stoic approach to the received cycle of celebrations, each will in turn present a practice that will seek to honour both the historicity of the celebration, as well as emphasizing a specific Stoic practice. Alignments with current societal practices are deliberate, adding meaning, but not necessarily changing, the habits and rituals that are already in place.]

The occasion of the winter solstice, with it's twin themes of birth and death, is for Stoics a clear reminder of our own mortality. Despite our modern society's obsession with youth and vitality, it is a stark fact that we all must die. The Stoic accepts this, and more, embraces it as a truth, like all others, that is neither good nor evil, but merely factual. For 'death shall have no dominion' over the Stoic, to whom death is a final, natural culmination and release.

Modern Stoics practice daily and weekly resignation, the release of the cares of the present into the hands of fate, or the Gods. The winter solstice is thus the Grand Release, the ultimate Memento Mori (Remember that you will die).

In the weeks approaching the solstice, the Stoic will finalize his or her preparations to depart this life. All small debts will be cleared, if possible. Arrangements for larger debts will made, and Stoic will ensure that all legal obligations and burdens are taken care of, such as the updates to will, testaments, insurances, funeral plans etc.

This is also the time to recognize, honour and celebrate the friendships and relationships that he or she may have. Holiday gatherings, celebrations and the preparation of gifts of gratitude are already part of many cultures' routines for this time of year. The Stoic is glad to participate with them, and understands the depth of meaning that these occasions can hold.

The grand fire, a feature of so many pagan and neo-pagan winter solstice practices, is for the Stoic the funeral pyre, the symbol of the final peaceful release. The Stoic does not, however, call into being the new sun, through sympathetic magic or other rite or ritual. The rising and setting of the sun, and indeed all universal cycles, are part of the logos, the perfect natural symphonic rhythm of which we all are but a single line of  melody.

Should the cycle restart the next day, then the Stoic has cause to celebrate their rebirth. Since all arrangements are already made for their departure, it is with complete freedom that the Stoic is able to join in festivities and joyous gatherings, as in days of old. This is also a time for reflection on the value of his or her life, and the contributions that can be made in the coming year.

With the coming of the new year, and the return to the regular routines of life, the Stoic is prepared to make new commitments, renewing responsibilities from the past year if there is work still to be done. Bearing in mind that all plans are tentative at best (which is seen the practice of Reservation that receives special recognition at the February Cross-Quarter), the Stoic begins the new year with solemn commitments to improve his or her life, and to make real positive change in the world.

More Mneme

The Virtues great will I express 

My actions right and true

To help all men learn happiness

And courage to pursue

I trust Intelligence Divine

To guide all Nature's ways

And make my light to fully shine

Thus peace will fill my days

With care all judgements I review

And ever mindful be

That I may say that which is true

The path to wisdom see

My Mneme

In my efforts to live the excellent aretes, to exercise utmost kathekonta, for the sake of universal oikeiosis,

I have the courage to face the world and its visicitudes.

By my faith in divine logos, my trust in providential phusis and my hope of fulfilling eudaimonia,
I receive the serenity of knowing all is as it should be.

Through my practice of careful aproptôsia, constant prosoché, and proper epilegein

I acquire the wisdom to choose my own path.

Definitions:

aretes = Virtues (sort of) it really means an excellent disposition of the mind, or the healthy and perfect way of being. we use virtuous, but it has some victorian baggage (victorian morality mostly) that is not part of it.

kathekonta = appropriate action, or the correct and right way to do something given all the available choices and options.

oikeiosis = our interconnection to each other and the univers, which brings with it the obligation of care and support.

logos = the active and creative Reason and intelligence that underlies the structure of the universe

phusis = Nature and all of the natural processes, from evolution to growth and change, and that which makes a thing truly what it is.

eudaimonia = flourishing, the fulfillment of our individual natures, being and doing what we are made to be and do, sometimes experienced as joy, caution, hope or flow.

aproptôsia = the Stoic practice of not assenting too quickly to judgements that correspond directly to representations.

prosoché = the exercise of self-attention or mindfulness.

epilegein = to add something to an impression, like "it is a bad thing' or 'i have no control over this'. It can be good or bad, depending on how you use it. (that is why I used the adj. 'proper')

Are we here for a Good Time?

A song was going through my mind this morning. Trooper's "We're Here for a Good Time," and the song follow with 'not a long time.' For some reason I started to think seriously about the implications of these lines.

It is true that we aren't here for long time, relatively speaking. The billions of years that stretch uncaringly on either side of our lives are testament to the brevity of the flicker that is our existence. But, of course, that doesn't invalidate the meaning of that flicker. Duration does NOT equal meaning.

The question then remains, are we here for a good time? Back to this in a moment.

In an effort to find meaning, or at least to quell the chaos, over the years I have searched for the Time Management System, from Covey, to GTD to everything in between. The hope, the aim was that I would find a way to find a way. To manage all the noise so that I could get the right things done. Do the work, clean the yard, read the book. But the real question isn't how to manage my life and time. The real question is, what can I do with my life and time that MATTERS. I can stay busy, but busy at what.

In the grand scheme, if there is one, what is it that I am to do with the small 3 score and 10 I have allotted to me, and that now is over half spent. Am I to merely embrace pleasure, and avoid pain. The Stoic path even points to this, by redefining true pleasure to be eudaimonia. But it amounts to the same thing as Epicureanism, just with the points redefined. Are we here for a "Good Time", however we may define 'Good'?

Is this even the right question? Wherein lies the meaning, the mattering? Where should I be pouring my daily resources and my concious hours? Should I strive to maintain the job I have, so that I can keep paying for the life I have, the house, the kids, food, clothing, bills? Should I leave, seek to fulfill the 'true inner self' and damn all the consequences?

The answer to that question lies partly in compromise, partly in cowardice, and partly in comfort. I WILL keep working at my job, though it is  no longer one that fulfills any direct purpose in my life, to support the choices of the past, the moments of comfort and joy, though they are brief. Perhaps because this is what they call a 'difficult' time.

But there are other things that have filled my time. Things that not part of my comfort, things that do not add to me, but draw from me. The challenge there is that I am loved and admired. And that is a form of repayment. But sometimes it feels like an audience/actor relationship. And it is a large time commitment.

But as I asked Adam, what else would I be doing with my time? Maintaining the house, living the Canadian dream? Waiting to die? What AM I here for? A good time? or a meaningful one?

Towards a Stoic Methodology

Recently, my daughter interviewed me as part of a university project. In it we discussed Stoicism in some detail. She asked me to define Stoicism, and after some round about discussion, I finally came down to this. Stoicism is a Methodology, a WAY to live, not necessarily a set of rules for living. It is all based on 'living according to nature'. First, we must understand what nature is, what OUR nature is, what ALL nature is, then live to the best of our ability according to that knowledge. Stoicism is, in effect, a rational life style that is an extension of scientific discovery. It is life, lived in the best way that we can, in the most rational way we are capable of.

Between Ancient and Dead

Pam and I have been struggling, wrestling even with our search for  Rule of Life that would be rational, compassionate, and fulfilling. Most revealed religions were passed by, not because of their tenets or life-styles, but by the appeal to the supernatural to fill the gaps. Organized atheism and secular humanism spent most of their time focused on religion as well, strangely enough. So when we stumbled upon Stoicism about a decade ago, we though this just might be 'it'. Rational (check) as far as rationality could go. Even the most disruptive emotions were explained by bad judgments. Compassionate (check) because we are all one, each of connected to each other and to the universe itself in a chain of unbroken relationships. And fulfilling (double check) due to some of the most uplifting and beautiful reflections of reality we have ever come across.

Recent events in some Stoic online groups have left the idea of a virtual community in question. The real issue though is the continuing perception that because of the fragmentary nature of the record, the distance in time, place and culture, and more recent theories about optimal human function mean that the Stoic path is not a viable one. Leaving aside the incessant grinding of minutiae on the International Stoic Forum, there is some validity to these concerns.

But here is the reality. Stoicism isn't a religion, with the need for plenary innerancy in it's supporting documents. Nor does it require flawless saints and leaders to shepherd the hapless flock. It is a series of documents, letters, journals, student notes, with common themes. That we can live our lives rationally, without fear or apprehension, without debilitating grief or guilt, and with joy and optimism. That we can love and give with great compassion, because it is what we do that matters, not whether some other deserves eternal punishment for abrogating some minute religious law, and that each day is an opportunity to challenge the 'that is the way it has always been' as well as the vicissitudes of fate. That we can be fulfilled, mindful of the present blessings, understanding beauty and goodness, feeling life all around us, and being grateful for the moment.

This is was Stoicism has offered us. This is living philosophy, and a philosophy of life. While it is ancient, it is also growing, and changing, and making lives meaningful today.