 |
| Lhasa Apso |
No
one wants to feel guilty, and sometimes we go to great lengths to
avoid this feeling. It is awesome to contemplate what has transpired
in human history on a societal as well as an individual basis due in
part if not in whole to this driving motivation. We can at times find
ourselves in a situation where we simply must act – feeling that
even if in the end we are not successful, we will have done the very
best that we can, and thus by making such an effort can live with
ourselves. How many times has this one last best effort been the
decisive one that has changed the course of events? Often the fuel
for this drive to do one's best is love. Nowhere is the efficacy of
love more clearly demonstrated than in these situations where tragedy
is at times averted by sheer effort, determination, faith, and luck
(presuming chance had anything to do with it).
Today
we received great news. An e-mail arrived at work from our coworker,
Joe. Several weeks ago he and his wife Jenna traveled to the North
Carolina mountains for a vacation. They took with them their pets,
including Shadow – a small black dog. Somehow the dog got lost in
the mountains and Joe and wife had to return home to St. Petersburg
without her. This past weekend in one last great effort to do their
best to find her, they returned to North Carolina. They searched
again without success and were preparing to leave for home when they
got a call from someone who had seen their posted flyer. The caller
said that a little black dog had been on their back porch for four
days. Joe and Jenna immediately traveled the 3 miles and 400 foot
incline to the caller's residence. There on the porch was Shadow –
smaller now, having lost much weight in her ordeal. On hearing the
good news that Shadow had been found, we rejoiced in St. Petersburg
as well.
Essentially
such commitment to the promptings of the heart and mind underwrites
courageous integrity. In the end of his series Ascent of Man,
J. Bronowksi
relates that in filming the first episode of the series that took
place in the valley of the Omo in East Africa, a small plane with the
cameraman and the sound recordist aboard crashed. No one was
injured, but they had to wait several days for another plane. When
it arrived, Bronowksi asked the cameraman if he had rather not
someone else film shots that had to be taken from the air. But the
cameraman replied, “I've thought of that. I'm going to be afraid
when I go up tomorrow, but I'm going to do the filming. It's what I
have to do.” Then, in the last words of the series Bronowksi said:
We
are all afraid—for our confidence, for the future, for the world.
That is the nature of the human imagination. Yet every man, every
civilization, has gone forward because of its engagement with what it
has set itself to do. The personal commitment of a man to his skill,
the intellectual commitment and the emotional commitment working
together as one, has made the Ascent of Man. (The Ascent of
Man, Volume 13-DVD).
This
commitment is a form of disciplined love, and on it rest the survival
and ascent of civilization. Jenna and Joe in their actions showed us
the core value foundational to the human enterprise. This evening I
would like to retell their story with a few decisive amendments.
Jenna
and Joe traveled on vacation to the Great Smokies in North Carolina.
There, they lost their dog Shadow and had to return to Saint
Petersburg without her. Several weeks later they planned to return to
the mountains in a last-ditch effort to find her. This would require
taking several days off work. When Joe approached his supervisor to
request several days off to find his dog, the supervisor said that a
special project was scheduled for that weekend and its importance
allowed him to get approval for double-time pay, plus a bonus if all
went well. Surely the search for a dog did not matter as much. But
Joe insisted that he must go find Shadow. The Department manager
heard of the threat to his pet project and called Joe into his
office. He told Joe that he had been observing his good work on the
job, found him exceptionally skilled and loyal, and was contemplating
arrangeing an early promotion for Joe; but that the project for this
weekend was a crucial test. It would reveal if he were the
responsible and committed type that deserved promotion. Surely the
search for a dog did not matter as much. But Joe insisted he must go
find Shadow. Joe's father-in-law got wind of the pending promotion
and had a little talk with Joe. He told him that he was proud to
have him as a son-in-law, that he knew he was the type of young man
who would operate in the best interest of his daughter. Surely he
would postpone going to North Carolina and take advantage of this
great opportunity to further his career. But Joe insisted that he
must go find Shadow. Finally a wealthy close friend approached Joe.
He told Joe that he must look reality in the face. His dog was most
likely dead by now, and the lost dog was nothing in comparison to the
offer he was willing to make. If Joe would be willing to give up his
foolish idea of returning to the mountains to engage in a hopeless
search, the friend would purchase an exquisite white Lhasa Apso for
him. This purebred would be a much more appropriate dog with which to grace his
family. With this, Joe began to reconsider what was in his best
interest, and that of Jenna's. Surely he had to see things
realistically. So in the end he relented. He decided that he and
Jenna need not go find Shadow. He would stay in Saint Petersburg,
get double-time pay and a bonus, secure his future with promise of a
promotion, please his father-in-law, and end up with a young, fresh,
high-status breed for a pet. Thus, in the end, he forgot all about
Shadow. Surely we must conclude that not only did Joe and Jenna come
out winners along with the those who generously offered persuasion,
but in the end good sense triumphed over foolishness. Now at last we
can feel deeply reassured and happy about the long-term prospects for
humanity.
Print Page
