Day 11: The Virtue of Vices
- Jim
- Jan 23, 2019
- 3 min read
As I continue on The Journey of 1000 days it amazes me that when I quiet the noises in my head and focus on things that echo through my life, how many of them go back to my youth. One in particular that has been rumbling around my mind the last few days is a rather frivolous thought that came from a Hallmark special I watched in the 60’s ! ... It was a one man play entitled Mark Twain tonight ...
From the time I saw this play Mark Twain has occupied a special place in my heart. And why not? He seemingly lived a full life on his own terms. He tried his hand at a number of occupations including: journalist, humorist, author, newspaper editor, miner, riverboat pilot, entrepreneur, satirist and probably a few more not mentioned in his lengthy bio. But it is mostly his courage in pointing out the absurdity that human beings harbor in the contradictions of their most sacred beliefs that causes me to revere the man!
“It was written long ago that God created man in his own image and man has been busy returning the favor ever since.”
“Man is a religious animal. He is the only religious animal. He is the only animal that has the one True Religion ... several of ‘em.”
“Man is the only animal that blushes ... or needs to!”
“There has only been one Christian. They caught and crucified him - early!”
Mark Twain’s cynicism about the human condition rivals that of the Old Testament prophets. Like them he was willing to stick his neck out and reveal the Truth of things. It’s amazing what you can get away with when you present it in a humorous way! I suppose that is why I like him so; his wit and wisdom echo timelessly through the years. His cynicism rivals my own. Maybe it is because I know my own condition so well, I agree with Twain that humans most likely did not evolve from lower life forms, but devolved from higher ones.
He was a teller of tall tales that in my imagination I hear him telling wryly in his gravelly voice: “I was feeling poorly and went to the doctor. He told me that he could not help me as long as I was eating poorly, drinking too much alcohol and running around. So I stopped doing those things and, he was right, I got better! Not long after that I was speaking and mentioned to my audience that I had recently recovered from a lingering illness. An elderly woman came up after the speech and said she was feeling poorly herself and inquired as to how I got better. I told her about the doctor’s advice to stopping the drinking and carousing. Offended she declared, ‘Sir, I do not do those things!’ - There you have it!- She was a sinking ship with no baggage no throw overboard!”
It seems logical to me ...
Don’t get me wrong. It is not just because Twain points out the hypocrisy in “them” that I enjoy him so. I realize that he sees it in himself and that gives me permission to confront it within myself ... He handles his imperfection so openly and with such grace and humor he gives me permission to laugh at myself. Perhaps there should be a book of Twain tucked neatly between Isaiah and Jeremiah! It might not change the message much, but it would certainly leave those of us with the ability to laugh at ourselves.
The journey continues...
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