Poem for Semester Crunch Time

Mirrors

I just reread That Hideous Strength, and was caught again by the scene near to the end when all the ladies of St. Anne’s on the Hill are dressed by each other in the great wardrobe of Logres. Each pick out the gowns that the others will wear, and are only able to see themselves in the reactions of the ladies around them. None of them would have chosen the gown they wear for themselves; all are revealed in the fullness of the splendor of their beauty. Their splendor, however, is not and cannot be for themselves. There are no mirrors.

It is interesting to think about this in relation to all the previous posts on praise. It is part of the stuff of love to share others with themselves, to sing about someone to them. It’s foundational to mutual joy.

This should serve as a moderator, I think, to anyone who is tempted to become a praise-o-phobic, a very similar vice to that of the praise-o-centric. Either way you go, it constitutes an obsession with the stuff, either as vigilance to obtain it or as vigilance to divert it.

Ah, for a world where we could sing of and be sung of in love rather than idolatry! Ah, for a world with no mirrors.

Praise, continued

The previous post may be true (or may not), but it is singularly unhelpful, practically speaking.

The fact is that very few people wholeheartedly desire praise. In fact, very few people wholeheartedly desire anything. Even fewer people singlemindedly seek what they desire. The previous post would only actually affect people who could and would do both. Its use to the rest of us is something more like a simple test of our desires. If you or I are unable to see ourselves wholeheartedly and singlemindedly pursuing any object of our desires, it seems wise to evaluate whether or not it should be desired as an object at all.

Praise

If you desire praise, seek it. But do not desire praise.

Praise is a futile end, and its pleasure is never complete. It is a response; properly, it has its own object, and ought not be an object itself. Yet, to desire praise and act as if one did not is more heinous than simply to desire it. It is unordered desires and deceit crossbred.

If you truly and fully pursue your desire, you will discover its insufficiencies.

If you ignore or mask it, you grant it stealth.

If you truly and fully pursue your desire, you will find that others find you insupportable.

If you ignore or mask it, you will allure men into loving you while all you intend to love is their attentions.