H,
When he was being wise, which was often, we called him ancient. These were
strained times, and everyone was shouting without listening and being right
without love. We had that odd texture of being in our early thirties and thinking
we were knew all the pitfalls. We were as stupid as ever, just older.
It is scary to think how little we learn from actual experience. It is
not a good teacher, just a good story. Or a bad one. Wisdom speaks through all
the ages. It tells us the real source of things and the actual destination of
everything. It is never about the speaker, except that one time in history, but
about what is being said. Some of the folk who struggle and suffer the most
give the best advice. Not all from experience. They just navigate from distance
better.
And wasn’t this our ancient? He saw things from a distance much better
than most people. When we listened, it worked. We had opinions of who we should
be and how we should act, he had the reality of what we actually did. He saw
us. We only saw our intentions.
I say none of this with useless regret. My point, and the thing I am always
learning, is we cannot be the reference point for our actions. We can only
speak for our intentions. The people affected by our actions can speak to the
rest.