French Revolution, Execution of Louis XVI, 1793 (by Wm. Dent, UK 1793)
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.
–Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities (1859)
This famous opening paragraph of A Tale of Two Cities from Dickens echoes constantly in my head these days. It sounds a bit cliche but after reading it again, it’s hard not to see the parallels between our time and that of the book in the time of the French Revolution. It most likely applies to anyplace going through times of extreme civil, political unrest and upheaval.
Times of revolution and war.
Like Dickens’ opening words, there are so many ways in which this should be the best of times.
It is a time that finds us standing at the leading edge of scientific knowledge and technical progress. We possess more knowledge now than at any time in our history. We are better equipped to treat and possibly cure disease than at any time in history. Technology continues to advance at a dizzying pace that often outpaces our own understanding of its potentialities and consequences. Technology allows us to now connect to others around the world in an instant. For example, this blog is the product of these technological advances, not even being possible when I began painting in the 90’s. But today I am not surprised by the number of people who browse it from around the world.
If I had the time or desire, I could make a long list of all those things that should make this the best of times. By that, I mean the best of times for everyone, not just the ultrawealthiest and most privileged few.
Yet, we seem to never choose that option, instead tolerating or ignoring what amounts to being the worst of times for many.
For reasons I cannot fathom, we now glorify the stupid and the ignorant and cheer on the bad behavior of reality TV. It has become acceptable to speak words filled with lies, hatred, injustice, and illogical nonsense. It is even required of some, who are then are placed on pedestals. By that, I mean given high ranking positions in our government.
The quiet and measured voice of wisdom, while still there, is drowned out by of the din of insult, blame, falsehood, and conspiracy produced by our ever-swelling stupidity.
Likewise, light still remains but the darkness of stupidity is dense and deep, smothering all light at times.
Hope still remains in many. But despair seems to grow at a much quicker pace.
It often seems, as Dickens wrote, that we have everything before us and nothing.
And Heaven and Hell? Well, I have always thought that Heaven was not in some lofty place among puffy clouds filled with angels in comfortable robes nor was Hell in some deep, fiery pit brimming with screaming souls and hooved demons.
No, my thought was that both were present only here on Earth. You can see evidence of this on a daily basis. You can easily see Hell existing in the words and actions of many people. And there are those who find Heaven in this world, living lives filled with kindness, generosity of spirit, and goodwill towards all.
These Heavenly few are, of course, harder to detect or find since there are not as many of them. As much as we are taught to fear Hell, its lures are potent.
I can’t remember where I read this, but it is said that because of anticipated slow traffic there is only a Stairway to Heaven while there so many going in the other direction that a Highway to Hell is needed.
What does all this mean? I don’t know exactly. Not even sure we have arrived where I thought would end up when I started writing this. Probably not. Usually don’t. I just put it down as it comes into my head and, every once in a while, it works. Not sure if this is in that category.
Looking back over this quickly, I guess what I am futilely trying to say is that even though it seems like we find ourselves today neck deep in a shitpond (yeah, I know that’s gross image to put in your head early in the morning) we have to take some small degree of comfort in knowing that we as a people have been in this unenviable position innumerable times in the past.
Yet, we are still here. We have survived tyrants and despots and the horrors and holocausts they bring with them from their own Hells.
We always ultimately outlast and overcome them.
This time will be no different. It still remains possible that these will turn out to be the best of times once more.
But it won’t be easy. Never is.
And a hundred or two hundred years from now, the people of that time will find themselves neck deep in that same stinky shitpond and will take comfort in our own endurance and triumph. They won’t even question how we let our stupidity lead us into that shitpond because they will no doubt have followed the same route to their own pond.
Count on it.
Here’s a song from the always wise John Prine. It’s about finding that Heaven exists here if we can only recognize it. This is He Was in Heaven Before He Died.
Now, get out of here. Go find your own Heaven. Or Hell. It’s your call, after all.
Redtree Times 