Skyline Happenings

Should one be a stoic or be an epicurean – or are the philosophies of the “dead white guys” still relevant. Professor Massimo Pigliucci has written about his take on finding a happy life –  How to Be a Stoic: Using Ancient Philosophy to Live a Modern Life (2017). He uses Seneca as an example. (Marcus Aurelius is my favorite stoic.)

Pigliucci writes in Aeon: “Lucius Annaeus Seneca is a towering and controversial figure of antiquity. He lived from 4 BCE to 65 CE, was a Roman senator and political adviser to the emperor Nero, and experienced exile but came back to Rome to become one of the wealthiest citizens of the Empire. He tried to steer Nero toward good governance, but in the process became his indirect accomplice in murderous deeds. In the end, he was ‘invited’ to commit suicide by the emperor, and did so with dignity, in the presence of his friends.

Seneca wrote a number of tragedies that directly inspired William Shakespeare, but was also one of the main exponents of the Stoic school of philosophy, which has made a surprising comeback in recent years. Stoicism teaches us that the highest good in life is the pursuit of the four cardinal virtues of practical wisdom, temperance, justice and courage – because they are the only things that always do us good and can never be used for ill. It also tells us that the key to a serene life is the realisation that some things are under our control and others are not: under our control are our values, our judgments, and the actions we choose to perform. Everything else lies outside of our control, and we should focus our attention and efforts only on the first category.

Seneca wrote a series of philosophical letters to his friend Lucilius when he was nearing the end of his life. The letters were clearly meant for publication, and represent a sort of philosophical testament for posterity. I chose letter 92, ‘On the Happy Life’, because it encapsulates both the basic tenets of Stoic philosophy and some really good advice that is still valid today.” Click here for the full article.

Several years ago, we went to an Easter service at the Bellevue First Presbyterian Church. The pastor shared a story as follows: Two neighbor ladies were quite friendly. One owned a pet rabbit, the other a golden retriever. One day, to her owner’s horror, the golden retriever arrived home with the neighbor’s prized rabbit, dead, in its mouth. Totally flustered, the kind but embarrassed woman decided on a plan to solve her dilemma.  She brought dead rabbit in, bathed it and used a hair drier to fluff up the fur. Then surreptitiously she stole into the neighbor’s yard and placed the poor dead bunny back in its hutch.  Several hours later, she received a somewhat frantic call from her neighbor, “You’re not going to believe this. My rabbit died two days ago, we buried him, and I just can’t believe it. He’s back!

It seemed odd to me to tell this “resurrection” story in this Holy Season, but at least it does remind us of one of those lessons to be learned in kindergarten, “honesty is the best policy.” Also noted, “we tend at times to create our own crisis.” Perhaps the woman should have asked the eternal Christian question, “What would Jesus have done?”