Collected Essays of Valerie Lynn Stephens (Part 8)

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ISBN: 978-1-365-35197-6

©2021 Valerie Lynn Stephens

EROS & THANATOS, I THEE WED

Disclaimer: Prepare for some sanguine ribaldry in this next installment.

You are hereby cordially invited to attend the ceremonial union of Eros & Thanatos. Heavy refreshments & aperitifs will be served. Bacchanalian revelry of every variation also encouraged.

Eros & Thanatos are evidently, kissing cousins that want very much to wed & bed. Have you ever noticed that you get really horny at funerals, not even including those persons with necrophilial impulses? (Ha ha-just kidding about the necrophilia-that is an activity definitely not advised-not that I know from personal experience). And weddings, incidentally (Oh, nevermind-tautology-these two things are the same) seem to have a similar effect. I suppose the obvious explanation is that, when an awareness of our own ever-impending mortality is introduced, what could be a better diversionary mindly tactic than enlivening ourselves in other ways, right?

Yes, that primal terror of one's own ever-immanent (and EMINENT) annihilation rearing its cantankerous head again. And, although some of us have always, no matter what age we have been, experienced this. Yet it does seem to intensify its efforts of thought-intrusion with each passing year granted to us on this earth. Logically, it makes sense that the older we get, the nearer we get to our own death (although we also realize that we could go at any time). Yet, those are only a few surface interpretations of the matter.

Nevertheless, the sex response & the death response seem to be intractably intertwined. There is also, of course, the instinct to leave something meaningful & concrete behind, such as progeny. Although in truth, our progeny aren't carbon copies of us to 'carry on our legacy' but are very much each their own individuals, and we should respect that. Yet on the whole, with all of these glorious juxtapositions & paradoxes regularly presenting themselves to our human consciousness, we have many opportunities for discourse & intercourse. Indeed for some of us, the intellectual can be quite sexually arousing. I believe the term for this is 'sapiosexuality'. Ideational foreplay can lube my mechanism more so than any pornographic images presented either externally and/or internally. And thankfully, my 'progeny' begin and end with my artistic & intellectual creations.

No, really. This is the legacy which I desire to 'leave behind'. It is my 'immortality project.' It means more to me & brings me more pure joy & existential satisfaction than anything on this earth. In fact, whenever I am asked (which is very rare, but does sometimes happen) what I am working on, if the work is not finished I will reply: “It's in the gestational phase.” Or I say to myself: “I'm gonna let this one gestate for a while before putting anything 'on the page'.” Works of Art, including Literature can often 'live on' in even deeper & more profound ways than that 'progeny' bore in the more traditional sense. Because the latter 'progeny' have the freedom of will to not leave much of a mark in this world & the world(s) to come if they so choose. But once Art is disseminated 'out there' & 'into' the collective (& private) consciousness, it's pretty much out of our hands to retract it.

I am reminded of the old playground lullaby, “Sticks & stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” We all pretty much have it figured out by a tender age how untrue this is. Words definitely are very powerful & can hurt us. Of course, the Artist's good intentions might get merely misread by the 'viewer', yet we all must still be conscientious of our phrasing when we are attempting to share our works with the world at large. Indeed, I often think that words are more powerful than anything else on God's green earth. After all, as Judeo-Christian Scripture quoth: “In the beginning was the Word.” But even if you don't follow the belief that the Scriptures are the inerrant 'Word of God', you can still see the impact which words can have upon the human psyche & therefore upon the engineering & evolution of human society at large.

Nevertheless, getting back to the subject of Eros & Thanatos & their likely pairing, we can also experience this phenomenon whenever we are feeling melancholic, or even suicidal. Again, I think the most likely explanation is the tug 'o war between 'oppositional' forces such as Life & Death. The sexual arousal is perhaps caused by the 'heat' produced by the 'friction' which the Soul experiences in the face of Life's attendant anxieties. After all, we humans are complex, highly sentient, & therefore vulnerable beings. Yet this is also what distinguishes us & crowns our heads in glory & honour. We just must make sure that we don't let these crowns weigh too heavily upon our fragile frames, lest we feel it necessary to abdicate from our throne.

I believe the purpose of this human experience & life to be that of positive growth towards higher ideals & the actualization of our inherent skills & talents. Mind you, we have a very limited time on this earth, so we can't expect ourselves to fulfill all of our hopes & dreams while we are still here, but we can fulfill at least some of them. In fact, I believe it to be a win-win situation both for ourselves & for others when we assume accountability for our own lives. This is why a certain amount of 'self-centeredness' is not only essential, but should be more encouraged in our society. We can only be as happy as the life we have chosen to lead; and we can only reliably share this health & happiness with others when it has been achieved authentically. This, I suppose, is an inside-out kind of approach-mind you, I realize, not easily achieved for some than for others.

Nevertheless, to summarize: Individuals with more 'Introverted' proclivities should work on honing more of our 'Extroverted' skills so that we can better serve not only ourselves but others. And those people who are more inherently 'Extroverted' in nature can benefit from developing some more 'Introverted' capacities such as self-awareness, etc. 'Cause in the land of Eros & Thanatos, all's fair in Sex & Death. Now, time to sign off here & go get ready for that funeral...Wedding? Funeral. Wedding?...

REMAINING IN THE VINE

Oftentimes, for the vagabond human heart, taking root somewhere wholesome can be one of the most challenging tasks of our existence. And I refer not necessarily to geo-spatial locality, but rather, to one of a more existential, philosophical nature. Moreover, one of the most arduous, & yet, rewarding endeavours of our Judeo-Christian faith is what Jesus referred to in John 15, verses 1-4 as “remaining in the vine.” As we have all at one time or another noticed, opening our hearts to Christ & even surrendering our will to the will of the Father is difficult, but not nearly as difficult, we soon find out, as remaining submitted to His will & His will alone.

Yet we are also reassured that, as long as we genuinely repent & go & “sin no more”: “No one who lives in Him keeps on sinning. No one who keeps on sinning has either seen Him nor known Him.” (1 John 3:6) However, since no one can always keep this promise to resist sin in every possible way, the Word in Romans 6:12 tells us that it is perhaps healthier & ultimately better for our salvation to focus on not letting “sin reign in our mortal body.” We will sin. This is an intractable aspect of our fallen human nature: “For surely I was sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” (Psalms 51:5) Yet the key is to quickly apply the atoning ash of self-examination & repentance to our sinful words, thoughts, & deeds so that we can prevent ourselves from further, & more deleteriously, being deceived by the “powers of this dark world & the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12)

And, on a more ecumenical & colloquial note, as Franklin Delano Roosevelt once keenly observed: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” And to this the Scripture also offers precedent & solace: “For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, & of love & of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7) We indeed can, (& are expected), to submit to a daily discipline of reverence before & praise of God for His providence & grace, through honest self-reflection &, when necessary, repentance of our sins. But, after weighing both the pros & the cons of such a trying task, what a joyous & strengthening thing it is to know that God's mercy never fails; that God's mercy shall never cease for those who love Him & continue to seek Him.

FIDES ANTE INTELLECTUM

It is oftentimes easier to believe in the devil than it is to believe in God. For such a thing is so easy to fall prey to when the sentient organs of mortal human experience, by Truth's indiscriminate hand, are dealt the first blows of the profane. Yet without first, recognition of Tragedy, even Comedy turns tragic and then there would be no evident or immediate cause for redeeming ourselves.

But perhaps Tragedy is overrated and we do not need it as much as we think that we do. Perhaps the true Tragedy is in how we continually seem to compulsively create something out of what is essentially, nothing of true substance or import.

But now, once the acknowledgment has been made, how exactly do we let go of it all in order to better our species? For as anyone beyond a certain age of cognizance is all too sentiently made aware, nothing can truly be held onto or even let go of for long in this life of transience. And the very act of surrender requires an inscience of self-sense which we do not even naturally possess and that probably would not be in our best interests to coddle anyway.

In continuum, perhaps however it is within human nature to still wonder if it is necessary for life to be so consumed and potentially jeopardized by this existential juggling act which we must perform with such exactitude every day.

Yet this is where the Metaphysical comes into play: the matter behind Mind vs. Matter, Good vs. Evil, the Material vs. the Intangible, the Intellectual vs. the Intuitive, and, last but certainly no least, the Self vs. Others.

Although many believe these struggles to be the very meaning of this human life journey itself. And this philosophy indeed does not betray legitimacy, as more than half of a human life is expended upon the pursuit of some higher knowledge as to how this life can best be lived.

And indeed, perhaps it would not be hyperbole to state that every moment of human consciousness is wrought with the weight of choice. For no matter how seemingly large or small, the energy expended for the seeming mundane minutiae of this life seems to interfere with the full actualization of our higher selves and faculties.

In finale, I suppose the philosophical theme of Survival vs. Thrivance will always play itself out no matter how we may attempt to ignore it. Yet it cannot be wholly denied, that no matter how much we attempt to attribute a factor of nihility to each our own existences or fates, we all nevertheless feel a pull towards something far from arbitrary, nor worthy of our feigned Apathy or Indifference.

For every organism throughout Nature possesses an undying instinctual drive towards the pursuit of Life over Death, or Production over Destruction. And no matter how melancholic or even ambivalent we may feel, there is always a faint murmur of Exultation and Life-Force felt within us, striving to potentiate itself.

And even in those moments of human extreme, such as with suicidal ideation or inclination, there is never a true desire for Death, but rather, a fear of facing Life and what this might further exact from us beyond what we, in these moments, already feel we have had stolen from us or has been ravaged within us.

And indeed, whatever we choose to call this invisible yet dynamic force guiding us all towards our transcendence or our demise, we all feel and sense it. We all sense that there must be a greater purpose to our existence, and not merely because it is comforting to think so. As a matter of discourse, I personally find it much more trying to believe in a God or a Higher Power behind all things.

Life is in truth not so much easier to adopt an atheistic or completely indifferent attitude towards all things as many deistic skeptics may believe. Life is actually not only more challenging to believe in things like a God who I must honour and revere in word, action and even intent, but it is also much more complicated as such.

Nevertheless, I have always believed such concepts to be inherent within humankind anyway. To clarify, even the self-professed atheist cannot truly and fully disbelief in higher spiritual realities because I believe these things are a part of our very design. I suppose this is in tandem with St. Augustine's ontological argument for the existence of a higher spiritual being.

But in closing, is not humankind's ability to imagine and to conceptualize the very foundation upon which all of our greatest achievements are solidly built? And if we could continue working to synthesize the Metaphysical with the so-called Practical, or rather, the Platonian weltanschauung with the Aristotelian one, there is no telling what we might achieve.

ON MORALITY & RELATIVISM

Contrary to popular opinion, there is no relativism in morality. In fact, the very essence of what makes 'relativism', relativism & 'morality', morality, reeks of mutual exclusivity, from both a purely logistic as well as an orthopraxic standpoint. Reality may be relative, or at least the perception thereof, but Truth is absolute & immutable. What we call 'reality' deals mainly with the basic physical senses & the phenomena which arise out of our experience of these, often in combination with our psychological state.

Truth, however, transcends these 'fleshly' phenomena altogether, although it can be enhanced by them, at least during a direct experience of higher revelation and those deeper insights which can be arrived upon during states of mystical contemplation. Seeing as Truth concerns matters more 'otherworldly' or 'metaphysical', if you will, some may argue that perhaps we cannot definitively declare Truth, or any mortal human experience, as 'absolute', due to the limitations inherent within our species & in our intellective capacities. Fair enough. However, one could also counter that argument with an equally valid statement such as: “Yes, but, despite the limitations of the 'perceiver', there is also no way to disprove the workings of a power & force of mind which is perhaps enabling a mortal human to escape those bounds, at least within a finite period of time.”

Thus, there we have it again. That old paradox. Yet even within certain scientific & academic circles there is a credo to, at least, partially ameliorate this cognitive dissonance: “Absence of evidence does not mean evidence of absence.” Nevertheless, let us continue on with our dissection of 'Reality', which is indeed, often subjective & relative to the 'perceiver', and 'Truth', which is presumed to be absolute & immutable. One simplified way of putting it would be: “The perception of 'reality' is processed by the eye, the ear, the nose, etc, & overall, the brain or our 'neuro-apparati', and 'truth' is processed by the 'soul', or the 'spirit'.

Yet many believe that the 'brain' (and some the 'heart') is the seat of the soul/spirit, so this breakdown may not work for them. Thus, another way of describing the experience of 'reality' versus the experience of 'truth' could be: Reality is how we make sense of the mundane world in which we live. Truth is how we make sense of the more profound mysteries & psycho-spiritual struggles of this life and of our human condition. Yet, no matter how we dichotomize these things with mere words & sentences, morality & relativism, which are the subject of this essay, indeed are complementary, and yet still mutually exclusive. They are mutually exclusive at least in the sense of their form & function, but not perhaps, in their complementary co-existence or in the bipartite unity inherent within the human mortal.

Our perception of 'reality' can either aid or impede our ability to discern 'truth', for example. (Although when discerning truth, we will be able to maintain & perhaps even experience a refinement of our clarity as it relates to 'reality'. Indeed, if one experiences a distortion of perceptual experience of 'reality', one is most likely not truly in touch with 'truth', but merely just an unfamiliar variant of 'reality', whose novelty & intensity may be mimicking a transcendental or mystical phenomenon.)

Furthermore, there is the age old dispute amongst laymen & epistemologists alike: What are the varying 'types' of perceptual/cognitive experience and/or 'knowledge'? Where does our 'knowledge' come from in regards to each of these 'types'? Are there limitations to what we can know or claim to know? And the list goes on. Some may again claim the relativity inherent in each individual person's answers & beliefs on these particular inquiries. And often, that will prove to be somewhat true. Yet the boundary will eventually be crossed from 'relativity', over into 'absolutism'. It's gonna happen. Ya can't stop it, folks. Such a thing as 'Absolute Truth' does exist.

I believe that truth is found mostly within the realms of Mysticism & Morality. I do, however, appreciate & understand the revulsion which some feel in the presence of any kind of Aristotelian-Exclusion-Of-The-Middle, either-or kind of thinking. I have the same initial reaction. Yet the truth remains, that there is such a thing as phenomena which does not contain within it, a 'right' or a 'wrong', at least as it relates to interactions between sentient beings & the environs in which they must both survive & thrive.

In a word, what I'm saying is: We all possess an inherent moral cognition or a knowledge of right & wrong, and indeed of all attending oppositionally constructive/destructive forces at work within ourselves & the world around us. In Judeo-Christian scripture, these forces are referred to as “unseen principalities.” Despite our seemingly keen ability to 'rationalize' our 'sins' into gentler, more spiritually sound (or even just benign) entities of intention & effect, they still have a destructive effect nevertheless. Confusion of intention & effect seems to be a tool which we often use to weasel our way out of the truth in many cases. But, as the saying goes: Right is right, and wrong is wrong. No matter which way we try to spin it. I believe the branch of thought which touts 'situational ethics' as an acceptable way to approach moralistic issues to be fallacious. There is a difference again inherent in these two realms of thought.

Ethics deals mainly with the world, or, with more ecumenical matters at hand. Morality concerns itself mainly with the 'afterworld', and with more 'extra-mundane' matters. (Although, to be precise, both realms do often intersect & complement one another in their missions & tasks.) I am mainly addressing the problem of an over-extension which seems to plague humanity, of a claim to 'relativity' in service to depravity & evil. In other words, in order for me (or anyone) to be able to rightfully claim something as being 'relative' either to the culture in which I live, or any other extenuating factor, it must, indeed, be found to qualify for such a distinction! Because, not all things are relative!

To use an example: Killing a human person in self-defense, or in defense of someone else. I personally believe this to be morally justifiable. I should respect & honour that of my own value-of-life just as much as I respect & honour another's. Now, mind you, I do not believe that this is 'right', morally speaking, just that it is justifiable. Hence, we have been led into another area of 'legalistic' (and semantic) distinctions & classifications. But when we are having a hearty & open discussion about things, this will happen. If our inquiry is answered quickly, without leading us into at least one more question, then we may not truly be onto anything.

On the whole, we can presume that each individual has the moral right to choose whichever path they need to take in their journey towards Truth, but one thing is both universal & absolute: Those actions taken upon self & 'other' which cause harm, & those actions taken upon self and 'other' which cause healing. Whichever one we choose to contribute to, does indeed, have a very real effect upon ourselves, others, and the world at large in which we live. This, we can be absolutely sure of.

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