At the coronation ceremony someone reminds a newly elected Pope that he is mortal. The “glory” of this world will pass. Life is transitory. Wealth is transitory. Lofty status and authority are transitory. Glory is transitory. Sounds a bit depressing, doesn’t it? I can imagine even a humble new Pope thinking, “All right, I get the message, but, gosh, I just got here. Give me a moment. There’s a lot to take in, and you’re telling me it’s not going to last long.”
We live most of our lives ignoring the transitory nature of things. We plan; we build; we hope; we reach. But in every generation there are those who just don’t quite understand that everything is transitory and headed for destruction. Entropy increases.
What is it that attracts someone to terrorism? What is it that attracts someone to destruction in a world where destruction is inevitable? What’s the rush to see the glory of the world pass? What argument does one make to justify terrorism that simply results in destruction with no enduring ethical reconstruction?
Of course, the reality is that there are hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people who think destruction is not only justifiable, but also a moral obligation.
People have been rushing to a destructive end for millennia. So, this generation has its terrorists; the next generation will have its terrorists, and so on.
What happens when “terrorists” win? Well, they destroy on the way to their winning, of course, and what they “win” is broken. Ironically, if they win they themselves become the object of terrorism, if not in their own generation, certainly in one that follows. What a perfect human cycle! Establish; destroy; establish; be destroyed; establish; be destroyed. Sic transit gloria mundi. There will never be a generation that fully gets the lesson of transitory existence.
But there is some good news. The words gloria mundi imply that the world does have its glories, however fleeting they are. Those not bent on destruction can reach those “glories” before their achievements succumb to the destroyers or fall apart in the coming entropy. This is not your practice life, not your practice world, and not your practice glory. Strive, maintain, and enjoy while your glory lasts.
We live most of our lives ignoring the transitory nature of things. We plan; we build; we hope; we reach. But in every generation there are those who just don’t quite understand that everything is transitory and headed for destruction. Entropy increases.
What is it that attracts someone to terrorism? What is it that attracts someone to destruction in a world where destruction is inevitable? What’s the rush to see the glory of the world pass? What argument does one make to justify terrorism that simply results in destruction with no enduring ethical reconstruction?
Of course, the reality is that there are hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people who think destruction is not only justifiable, but also a moral obligation.
People have been rushing to a destructive end for millennia. So, this generation has its terrorists; the next generation will have its terrorists, and so on.
What happens when “terrorists” win? Well, they destroy on the way to their winning, of course, and what they “win” is broken. Ironically, if they win they themselves become the object of terrorism, if not in their own generation, certainly in one that follows. What a perfect human cycle! Establish; destroy; establish; be destroyed; establish; be destroyed. Sic transit gloria mundi. There will never be a generation that fully gets the lesson of transitory existence.
But there is some good news. The words gloria mundi imply that the world does have its glories, however fleeting they are. Those not bent on destruction can reach those “glories” before their achievements succumb to the destroyers or fall apart in the coming entropy. This is not your practice life, not your practice world, and not your practice glory. Strive, maintain, and enjoy while your glory lasts.
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