St Joseph introduced himself to me at St Joseph's Oratory in Montreal in early 1996 ... shortly after returning from Medugorje. I was attending mass at the Oratory. At one point ... while quietly praying ... I tried to open my eyes and they wouldn't open. Since my experience at the Oratory the same sensation happens regularly ... while praying or contemplating ... and thus I attribute this to St Joseph. I learned several years ago that the location of this sensation is known as the 'third eye' in Indian thought.
Like his life in the Gospels .... I feel St Joseph's influence on my spiritual journey has been quiet and hidden ... yet profound nonetheless. On several occasions, March 19th ... the Feast Day of St Joseph ... I would be reminded of his presence ... he seemed to help me survive a 'storm' in my life many times on this particular day.
St Joseph completes the Holy Family ... seems he has no individual role for himself ... only hidden support for Jesus and Mary. He is the human component of the Holy Family ... a channel for Divine Love to descend to the human family ... the human species. Since my mission seems to involve 'family',... in all it's permutations and combinations ... seems logical that St Joseph would play an integral role.
The Holy Family is the role model for all humanity. Starting from the micro level ... a single family ... father, mother and children ... and expanding to the whole of humanity ... as one big family.
Seems St Joseph really helped me with my personal 'storms' in Nunavut. My Nunavut experiences were excruciating, exhilarating, stimulating and financially rewarding. I arrived in Nunavut for the first time in Decmber 2005 ... penniless ... worse than penniless ... my credit card was at it's maximum and I was in arrears with my income taxes. Being the good accountant that I am ... I saved some room on my credit card for cigarettes and food ... about $100. One day in Iqaluit I went to a bank machine to retrieve these emergency funds only to learn they had evaporated. Master Card had posted the interest charges fo rthe month ... not a penny was available. The day I received my first paycheck all I had were a few pennies on the counter in my apartment.
My first Nunavut job financed my trip to China where I married Huang Hui. We would return to Nunavut together exactly 2 years later January 7, 2008 ... I resigned my job in Pond Inlet and left Nunavut for China on January 6, 2006.
.
Like his life in the Gospels .... I feel St Joseph's influence on my spiritual journey has been quiet and hidden ... yet profound nonetheless. On several occasions, March 19th ... the Feast Day of St Joseph ... I would be reminded of his presence ... he seemed to help me survive a 'storm' in my life many times on this particular day.
St Joseph completes the Holy Family ... seems he has no individual role for himself ... only hidden support for Jesus and Mary. He is the human component of the Holy Family ... a channel for Divine Love to descend to the human family ... the human species. Since my mission seems to involve 'family',... in all it's permutations and combinations ... seems logical that St Joseph would play an integral role.
The Holy Family is the role model for all humanity. Starting from the micro level ... a single family ... father, mother and children ... and expanding to the whole of humanity ... as one big family.
Seems St Joseph really helped me with my personal 'storms' in Nunavut. My Nunavut experiences were excruciating, exhilarating, stimulating and financially rewarding. I arrived in Nunavut for the first time in Decmber 2005 ... penniless ... worse than penniless ... my credit card was at it's maximum and I was in arrears with my income taxes. Being the good accountant that I am ... I saved some room on my credit card for cigarettes and food ... about $100. One day in Iqaluit I went to a bank machine to retrieve these emergency funds only to learn they had evaporated. Master Card had posted the interest charges fo rthe month ... not a penny was available. The day I received my first paycheck all I had were a few pennies on the counter in my apartment.
My first Nunavut job financed my trip to China where I married Huang Hui. We would return to Nunavut together exactly 2 years later January 7, 2008 ... I resigned my job in Pond Inlet and left Nunavut for China on January 6, 2006.
.
Here are some thoughts that passed through my mind while sitting on the arctic ice in June 2005
Floe edge camping - hmmm - how did I get here? Walking barefoot on the arctic ice ... watching curious seals bopping up out of the water to check out us two legged creatures in their midst. Watching the sea landscape ... morphing from open water to a floating sea landscape of ice ... all shapes and sizes. Snow covered mountains popping in and out of sight ... at times reflecting the bright sun ... at times veiled by the fog and invisible.
Birds peacefully floating on the open sea ... an 'ivory gull' flies over head ... perhaps attracted by the remains of a seal lying motionless on the ice ... why am I here?
The story of a polar bear sighting early this morning ... looking at day old polar bear tracks ... awed by the size of the footprint ... how much more awesome the animal leaving these 'footprints' in the snow must be. Why am I here?
The silence ... here one is almost able to hear one's thoughts. Knowing there are so few people within 1,000's of kilometers in every direction ... such a pleasant feeling of isolation. Knowing that we are moving slower when being still ... the highest speed from the relentless spinning of the planet being at the equator ... more north ... slower. Why am I here?
Observing the difficulty my fellow campers are having trying to deal with the rather abrupt slowdown in their ‘pace of life’ ... despite weeks of conditioning in the village of Pond Inlet ... where the pace of life is already so much slower than say Ottawa or Iqaluit ... what a phenomenon!
I am reminded of my 'flock of sheep' philosophy ... I share it with one of my fellow campers ... experience here seems to confirm the 'phenomenon' yet again!
Our 'state of being' is a mirror reflection of the mood ....direction ... speed etc of the flock ... and distance from the flock doesn't seem to diminish the 'conditions'. I wonder how long one would have to be out here, so far away from the flock, ... to become 'detached' ... and more important ... comfortable with the detachment.
The Inuit peoples are an obvious exception to my 'flock philosophy' ... or perhaps such a micro version that they are insulated from much of the 'unhealthy' characteristics of the 'flock phenomenon' ... perhaps due to their geographical separation from the nucleus of the flock.
The Inuit have obviously tuned into the 'rhythm of nature' and found 'comfort and peace' ... dancing to nature's rhythm ... of course enduring unbelievable hardship as a result. Yet not at all looking for an alternative ... or looking for ways to defy nature. Rather, embracing nature and being comfortable with their place in it.
Seems to me the social challenges the Inuit have experienced in the past 50 years or so ... and continue to experience ... is a consequence of their succumbing to the 'conqueror' ... the white man ... perhaps not being defeated by the sword or the canon ... defeated nonetheless ... perhaps by government cheques ... flush toilets ... oil fired heaters etc The endless smorgasbord of man-made 'candy'. The varieties made with sugar ... and the technology 'candy' ... snowmobiles ... motor powered boats etc.
Seems to me there remains a strong 'remnant' of the former "Inuit Spirit' ... an invisible, intangible and indefinable ... yet very real ...'spark' ... that is pulling some part of their being back to the former 'dance' ... the dance to the rhythm of nature ... Jonathan in Pond Inlet seems to personify this 'reality'
Of course, they can’t go back ... the white man has irreversibly damaged their environment ... global warming ... the cumulative effect of jet airplanes polluting ... with noise ... and garbage ... the formerly pure air of the arctic, forever changing the habits and lifestyle of not only the Inuit ... also the entire animal kingdom of the Arctic. The former food chain that sustained the Inuit in the Arctic for millenniums no longer exists ... and the issue of Canadian Sovereignty ... a palatable word for 'global supremacy ... born in the era of the Cold War .... the West versus the East ... Imperialism, colonialism and capitalism.
Knowledge is power ... knowledge is the currency of the 21st century ... much more obvious and broadcast publicly today ... perhaps was always the case. Yet in times past knowledge was 'hoarded' ... because of it's inherent power ... by those who possessed the 'knowledge' ... Xavier's comment ... where did the 'knowledge' of the last 5 centuries come from? ,,, God or Satan?
The man's comment at the hotel the other night in response to my comment to him ..."knowledge is power" ... his reply … "debatable ... if someone connects the dots ... than you are screwed". My intuitive reaction ... if we (mankind) have been seduced and deceived by Satan ... and now the 'climax' of Satan's plan is near ... and someone 'connects the dots' to Satan's plan and threatens to foil millenniums of hard work ... the individual or groups of individuals who attempt to 'broadcast' the 'TRUTH' and reveal the 'DECEPTION' ... YIKES!! ... what fierce resistance they will face ... who will protect them ... who will save them ... of course ... the same Heavenly being(s) who gave them the pieces of the puzzle in the first place ,,, how else could it be ...?
Back to East versus West
The 'sled dog killing story' ... the stakes were very high ... 'global supremacy' ... were the Inuit 'pawns' in this game? Canada, under pressure from the USA and all the ‘Western’ global elite was compelled to solidify sovereignty of the Canadian Arctic. Like the maxim states ... possession is 9/10ths of the law and in this case occupancy is the clearest manifestation of 'possession'.
With nomadic peoples roaming the Canadian Arctic ... the Inuit peoples … moving with the 'rhythm of nature' ... following the Arctic animal kingdom ... the Inuit food supply ... this form of 'occupancy' was considered inadequate to support Canada’s 'sovereignty' claim. Canada needed stationery settlements ... people living in one place year round ... year after year.
How to achieve this? Eliminate the 'means of transportation' that permitted the Inuit to maintain their nomadic traditions in the Arctic ... kill their dogs ... by any means available ... sickness ... eg TB ... or the rifle ... shoot them ... ostensibly to prevent the spread of TB ... pretty shallow deception ... yet it worked.
Secondary strategy ... take Inuit peoples from populated areas and 'parachute' them into the key defense line areas where 'stationery' population is desirable ... the DEW line. eg Resolute and Grise Fiord. People were moved from northern Quebec and these people had no idea how to survive so far north. Had the local Inuit from Arctic Bay not gone over to help them ... they surely would have perished ... 'pawns'?
Ham's story this morning ... he saw an airplane for the first time in 1946 ... up here in Pond Inlet. His comment that the planes were US military planes? The large military base in Resolute ... more than 600 people.
All the research effort dedicated to producing materials ... including clothing etc ... that would sustain 'white man' ... white army man ... in the Arctic ... ignoring the fact that the Inuit already possessed all the 'know-how' necessary to survive up here ... survival was not the goal ... winning a war played out on Arctic Ice or perhaps beneath the ice ... or perhaps in the Arctic sky was the goal ... hmmm!
Were the Inuit peoples a 'pawn' in these war games?
The price was very low for the conquerors ... the western white man ... seems the price was very, very high for the Inuit peoples. All of today’s' social challenges ... suicide ... domestic violence ... drugs ... alcohol etc. resulted from this brutal and callous destruction of their culture.
Mentioning the price the Inuit peoples paid reminds me of the story of the chicken and the pig watching a family eat bacon and eggs for breakfast. The chicken bragged about producing the eggs the people were eating. The pig replied … “you made a contribution with your eggs … I gave my life so they could eat bacon with their eggs”.
The entire world is so interested in the Inuit peoples ... each Inuit child has a mother ... a father ... and an anthropologist! Why are the Inuit ... such a tiny group of people ... approximately 25,000 people in a world of billions of people ... so closely studied? Some say the most 'studied' peoples in the world today. Doctoral students from Holland are here for 5-6 weeks of research to support a PhD thesis in a Holland university?
Yet ... if it wasn't for them I wouldn't be here today ... at the floe edge ... thinking and writing these thoughts. At lunch on Friday she accepted my suggestion that she announce on the local radio that we are looking for a guide to take us to the floe edge. The cook... at the hotel where we were staying ... volunteers to call in the request ... the response came within 10 minutes ... two local Inuit elders responded and here we are ... hmmm!
The narwhals have just arrived ... 3 of them ... their spots identify them ... no 'long tooth' though ... swim by in front of us ... shot by cameras ... may be shot by rifles down the way ... some Inuit hunters camped a kilometer or so away. 2 rifle shots break the silence ... another one ... ouch!! ... Poor narwhals. Another loner passes by ... the rhythm of it's swim is majestic ... I can hear it breathing ... why am I here??
Why am I in the Arctic? ... learning and admiring the Inuit way of life ... seeing first hand how members of our species lived on the fringe of civilization for millenniums ... wow!!
The Inuit knew nothing of the rise and fall of the Roman Empire ... the Egyptian Empire ... the European colonization of most of the world ... the theory that the Inuit are descendants of Mongolia ... Mongolians who migrated north through Siberia and Westward across the Arctic ... hmmm!
Why was this tiny group of peoples insulated and sheltered from the rest of the world for so long? Reminds me of the caves in Nerja Spain ... closed by nature for 2-3 thousand years and opened again a few years ago. Israel coming back into 'nationhood' and the Inuit losing the equivalent of 'nationhood'.
Serious minded people today have the opportunity to see the 'fruit' of 1,000's of years of so called 'progressive evolution' of civilization and compare this to 1000's of years of non-exposure to this 'evolution' ... my first impressions ... progressive evolution came at a very high price ... the Inuit are now learning just how high this price is by trying to integrate their former lifestyle into 21st century Westernism.
The result ... suicide ... violence ... drug and alcohol abuse ... racism etc Yet the 'nature' of the former life still lives on in the faces of some of the elders ... their 'serenity' ... the leather like texture of their skin ... their child like sense of humor. Especially obvious with Ham who just said in his best English ... "my name not Ham ... my name Cookie Monster" ... all this with a wonderful child like laugh ... what a treat to be around him this weekend
OK so we can observe and note the contrast ... we can debate the +'s and -'s ... so what! ... where do we go from here??
We attach much significance to the biblical expression ... "I am the cornerstone" ... the cornerstone being Jesus ... He is the Cornerstone of all life ... our salvation ... our redemption. The 'cornerstone' ... using the same analogy ... the "Family” unit is the 'cornerstone' of all communities /tribes/ clans/ cultures/ societies/ nations
Reminds me of Augustine's writing ... a family is a collection of individuals ... a collection of families is a village ... a collection of villages is a province ... etc
Writing this brings me back to my earliest days of being alone ... the 'mystical' experience at the Maples Inn ... why did I stay there? ... it was from there that I started my trips to Europe.
The specific experience that is now 'top of mind' was the day I lie on my bed staring at the wall ... looking at 4 walls is a common pass time for lonely people ... seems I was no exception.
This wall was no ordinary wall ... it was not painted drywall ... bland and empty. This wall was painted bricks ... the large ones .. 8" by 14" or so. The wall served to divide the rooms and support the structure at the same time. Seems the owner was content not to 'dress up' the cement block supporting wall with drywall ... good thing ... or I would not have had the contemplation I am about to share!
1,000's of years ago man learned that if you stack stones in a staggered pattern ... the result is a strong and sturdy wall ... capable of holding up tremendous loads ... the walled cities of Europe and the middle east ... Jerusalem. In times past they didn't use mortar to cement a bond between the stones ... a tight fit was all they used and 1,000's of years ago the 'stone arch' was discovered ... by placing stones in a certain pattern ... each stone pressing against its' neighbors. They built an arch which was used to join two walls ... and soon large and complex buildings ... Parthenon ... Greek Temples etc
Back to the wall in my room at the Maple's Inn ... as I looked at the cement blocks ... neatly piled in a staggered pattern ... and evenly bonded to each other with mortar. It occurred to me that this same structure symbolizes 'civilization' with each cement block representing an individual ... the mortar symbolizes the bond that holds individuals together in a 'collective' ... a tribe ... a clan ... a village ... a family ... a culture ... a society etc
The strength of the bond manifests the strength of the unity of the tribe ... clan ... culture. A wonderful example is the 12 tribes of Judaism ... and equally impressive are the local tribes ... clans of Inuit. The Inuit camp or village was never more than an 'extended' family and seems as they roamed around members of one clan would be given in marriage to members of another clan and so on and so on ... avoiding the obvious threat of 'in-breeding' ... amazing ... profound ... wow!! Contrast this with 'marriage used as a 'tool' to gain more property and consolidate power ? ... the ancient ... and perhaps still current white man's way
Back to the 'bond' mentioned above ... as I stared at the wall and contemplated this analogy ... I thought of the bond as 'love' ... when 'love' between individuals ... first in a single family ... and simultaneously ... among families who share a common bond ... eg a tribe ... as long as this bond ...'love' remains strong the 'collectives' remain strong ... seems it is directly proportional. The 'bond' ...'love' ... is intangible ... the alchemist gold ... what is the recipe for a solid bond ...'love' ... a mortar that will not disintegrate ... crack ...erode.
Seems to me if we could measure the 'holding' strength or power of the 'bond' between individuals today ... be it individuals within a family ... among families ... within a village ... among villages within a province etc. We would find that the tercile strength has diminished profoundly ... corroded ... disintegrated ... melted ... whatever!!
United we stand ... divided we fall ... my dad would say this expression often when speaking of our family ... the words are so few ... so simple ... so logical ... and yet so profoundly true.... while our minds could easily understand the 'notion' ... this understanding is not enough ... the recipe is more complex and seems we have lost track of the ingredients ... the combination and mixing process etc.
Floe edge camping - hmmm - how did I get here? Walking barefoot on the arctic ice ... watching curious seals bopping up out of the water to check out us two legged creatures in their midst. Watching the sea landscape ... morphing from open water to a floating sea landscape of ice ... all shapes and sizes. Snow covered mountains popping in and out of sight ... at times reflecting the bright sun ... at times veiled by the fog and invisible.
Birds peacefully floating on the open sea ... an 'ivory gull' flies over head ... perhaps attracted by the remains of a seal lying motionless on the ice ... why am I here?
The story of a polar bear sighting early this morning ... looking at day old polar bear tracks ... awed by the size of the footprint ... how much more awesome the animal leaving these 'footprints' in the snow must be. Why am I here?
The silence ... here one is almost able to hear one's thoughts. Knowing there are so few people within 1,000's of kilometers in every direction ... such a pleasant feeling of isolation. Knowing that we are moving slower when being still ... the highest speed from the relentless spinning of the planet being at the equator ... more north ... slower. Why am I here?
Observing the difficulty my fellow campers are having trying to deal with the rather abrupt slowdown in their ‘pace of life’ ... despite weeks of conditioning in the village of Pond Inlet ... where the pace of life is already so much slower than say Ottawa or Iqaluit ... what a phenomenon!
I am reminded of my 'flock of sheep' philosophy ... I share it with one of my fellow campers ... experience here seems to confirm the 'phenomenon' yet again!
Our 'state of being' is a mirror reflection of the mood ....direction ... speed etc of the flock ... and distance from the flock doesn't seem to diminish the 'conditions'. I wonder how long one would have to be out here, so far away from the flock, ... to become 'detached' ... and more important ... comfortable with the detachment.
The Inuit peoples are an obvious exception to my 'flock philosophy' ... or perhaps such a micro version that they are insulated from much of the 'unhealthy' characteristics of the 'flock phenomenon' ... perhaps due to their geographical separation from the nucleus of the flock.
The Inuit have obviously tuned into the 'rhythm of nature' and found 'comfort and peace' ... dancing to nature's rhythm ... of course enduring unbelievable hardship as a result. Yet not at all looking for an alternative ... or looking for ways to defy nature. Rather, embracing nature and being comfortable with their place in it.
Seems to me the social challenges the Inuit have experienced in the past 50 years or so ... and continue to experience ... is a consequence of their succumbing to the 'conqueror' ... the white man ... perhaps not being defeated by the sword or the canon ... defeated nonetheless ... perhaps by government cheques ... flush toilets ... oil fired heaters etc The endless smorgasbord of man-made 'candy'. The varieties made with sugar ... and the technology 'candy' ... snowmobiles ... motor powered boats etc.
Seems to me there remains a strong 'remnant' of the former "Inuit Spirit' ... an invisible, intangible and indefinable ... yet very real ...'spark' ... that is pulling some part of their being back to the former 'dance' ... the dance to the rhythm of nature ... Jonathan in Pond Inlet seems to personify this 'reality'
Of course, they can’t go back ... the white man has irreversibly damaged their environment ... global warming ... the cumulative effect of jet airplanes polluting ... with noise ... and garbage ... the formerly pure air of the arctic, forever changing the habits and lifestyle of not only the Inuit ... also the entire animal kingdom of the Arctic. The former food chain that sustained the Inuit in the Arctic for millenniums no longer exists ... and the issue of Canadian Sovereignty ... a palatable word for 'global supremacy ... born in the era of the Cold War .... the West versus the East ... Imperialism, colonialism and capitalism.
Knowledge is power ... knowledge is the currency of the 21st century ... much more obvious and broadcast publicly today ... perhaps was always the case. Yet in times past knowledge was 'hoarded' ... because of it's inherent power ... by those who possessed the 'knowledge' ... Xavier's comment ... where did the 'knowledge' of the last 5 centuries come from? ,,, God or Satan?
The man's comment at the hotel the other night in response to my comment to him ..."knowledge is power" ... his reply … "debatable ... if someone connects the dots ... than you are screwed". My intuitive reaction ... if we (mankind) have been seduced and deceived by Satan ... and now the 'climax' of Satan's plan is near ... and someone 'connects the dots' to Satan's plan and threatens to foil millenniums of hard work ... the individual or groups of individuals who attempt to 'broadcast' the 'TRUTH' and reveal the 'DECEPTION' ... YIKES!! ... what fierce resistance they will face ... who will protect them ... who will save them ... of course ... the same Heavenly being(s) who gave them the pieces of the puzzle in the first place ,,, how else could it be ...?
Back to East versus West
The 'sled dog killing story' ... the stakes were very high ... 'global supremacy' ... were the Inuit 'pawns' in this game? Canada, under pressure from the USA and all the ‘Western’ global elite was compelled to solidify sovereignty of the Canadian Arctic. Like the maxim states ... possession is 9/10ths of the law and in this case occupancy is the clearest manifestation of 'possession'.
With nomadic peoples roaming the Canadian Arctic ... the Inuit peoples … moving with the 'rhythm of nature' ... following the Arctic animal kingdom ... the Inuit food supply ... this form of 'occupancy' was considered inadequate to support Canada’s 'sovereignty' claim. Canada needed stationery settlements ... people living in one place year round ... year after year.
How to achieve this? Eliminate the 'means of transportation' that permitted the Inuit to maintain their nomadic traditions in the Arctic ... kill their dogs ... by any means available ... sickness ... eg TB ... or the rifle ... shoot them ... ostensibly to prevent the spread of TB ... pretty shallow deception ... yet it worked.
Secondary strategy ... take Inuit peoples from populated areas and 'parachute' them into the key defense line areas where 'stationery' population is desirable ... the DEW line. eg Resolute and Grise Fiord. People were moved from northern Quebec and these people had no idea how to survive so far north. Had the local Inuit from Arctic Bay not gone over to help them ... they surely would have perished ... 'pawns'?
Ham's story this morning ... he saw an airplane for the first time in 1946 ... up here in Pond Inlet. His comment that the planes were US military planes? The large military base in Resolute ... more than 600 people.
All the research effort dedicated to producing materials ... including clothing etc ... that would sustain 'white man' ... white army man ... in the Arctic ... ignoring the fact that the Inuit already possessed all the 'know-how' necessary to survive up here ... survival was not the goal ... winning a war played out on Arctic Ice or perhaps beneath the ice ... or perhaps in the Arctic sky was the goal ... hmmm!
Were the Inuit peoples a 'pawn' in these war games?
The price was very low for the conquerors ... the western white man ... seems the price was very, very high for the Inuit peoples. All of today’s' social challenges ... suicide ... domestic violence ... drugs ... alcohol etc. resulted from this brutal and callous destruction of their culture.
Mentioning the price the Inuit peoples paid reminds me of the story of the chicken and the pig watching a family eat bacon and eggs for breakfast. The chicken bragged about producing the eggs the people were eating. The pig replied … “you made a contribution with your eggs … I gave my life so they could eat bacon with their eggs”.
The entire world is so interested in the Inuit peoples ... each Inuit child has a mother ... a father ... and an anthropologist! Why are the Inuit ... such a tiny group of people ... approximately 25,000 people in a world of billions of people ... so closely studied? Some say the most 'studied' peoples in the world today. Doctoral students from Holland are here for 5-6 weeks of research to support a PhD thesis in a Holland university?
Yet ... if it wasn't for them I wouldn't be here today ... at the floe edge ... thinking and writing these thoughts. At lunch on Friday she accepted my suggestion that she announce on the local radio that we are looking for a guide to take us to the floe edge. The cook... at the hotel where we were staying ... volunteers to call in the request ... the response came within 10 minutes ... two local Inuit elders responded and here we are ... hmmm!
The narwhals have just arrived ... 3 of them ... their spots identify them ... no 'long tooth' though ... swim by in front of us ... shot by cameras ... may be shot by rifles down the way ... some Inuit hunters camped a kilometer or so away. 2 rifle shots break the silence ... another one ... ouch!! ... Poor narwhals. Another loner passes by ... the rhythm of it's swim is majestic ... I can hear it breathing ... why am I here??
Why am I in the Arctic? ... learning and admiring the Inuit way of life ... seeing first hand how members of our species lived on the fringe of civilization for millenniums ... wow!!
The Inuit knew nothing of the rise and fall of the Roman Empire ... the Egyptian Empire ... the European colonization of most of the world ... the theory that the Inuit are descendants of Mongolia ... Mongolians who migrated north through Siberia and Westward across the Arctic ... hmmm!
Why was this tiny group of peoples insulated and sheltered from the rest of the world for so long? Reminds me of the caves in Nerja Spain ... closed by nature for 2-3 thousand years and opened again a few years ago. Israel coming back into 'nationhood' and the Inuit losing the equivalent of 'nationhood'.
Serious minded people today have the opportunity to see the 'fruit' of 1,000's of years of so called 'progressive evolution' of civilization and compare this to 1000's of years of non-exposure to this 'evolution' ... my first impressions ... progressive evolution came at a very high price ... the Inuit are now learning just how high this price is by trying to integrate their former lifestyle into 21st century Westernism.
The result ... suicide ... violence ... drug and alcohol abuse ... racism etc Yet the 'nature' of the former life still lives on in the faces of some of the elders ... their 'serenity' ... the leather like texture of their skin ... their child like sense of humor. Especially obvious with Ham who just said in his best English ... "my name not Ham ... my name Cookie Monster" ... all this with a wonderful child like laugh ... what a treat to be around him this weekend
OK so we can observe and note the contrast ... we can debate the +'s and -'s ... so what! ... where do we go from here??
We attach much significance to the biblical expression ... "I am the cornerstone" ... the cornerstone being Jesus ... He is the Cornerstone of all life ... our salvation ... our redemption. The 'cornerstone' ... using the same analogy ... the "Family” unit is the 'cornerstone' of all communities /tribes/ clans/ cultures/ societies/ nations
Reminds me of Augustine's writing ... a family is a collection of individuals ... a collection of families is a village ... a collection of villages is a province ... etc
Writing this brings me back to my earliest days of being alone ... the 'mystical' experience at the Maples Inn ... why did I stay there? ... it was from there that I started my trips to Europe.
The specific experience that is now 'top of mind' was the day I lie on my bed staring at the wall ... looking at 4 walls is a common pass time for lonely people ... seems I was no exception.
This wall was no ordinary wall ... it was not painted drywall ... bland and empty. This wall was painted bricks ... the large ones .. 8" by 14" or so. The wall served to divide the rooms and support the structure at the same time. Seems the owner was content not to 'dress up' the cement block supporting wall with drywall ... good thing ... or I would not have had the contemplation I am about to share!
1,000's of years ago man learned that if you stack stones in a staggered pattern ... the result is a strong and sturdy wall ... capable of holding up tremendous loads ... the walled cities of Europe and the middle east ... Jerusalem. In times past they didn't use mortar to cement a bond between the stones ... a tight fit was all they used and 1,000's of years ago the 'stone arch' was discovered ... by placing stones in a certain pattern ... each stone pressing against its' neighbors. They built an arch which was used to join two walls ... and soon large and complex buildings ... Parthenon ... Greek Temples etc
Back to the wall in my room at the Maple's Inn ... as I looked at the cement blocks ... neatly piled in a staggered pattern ... and evenly bonded to each other with mortar. It occurred to me that this same structure symbolizes 'civilization' with each cement block representing an individual ... the mortar symbolizes the bond that holds individuals together in a 'collective' ... a tribe ... a clan ... a village ... a family ... a culture ... a society etc
The strength of the bond manifests the strength of the unity of the tribe ... clan ... culture. A wonderful example is the 12 tribes of Judaism ... and equally impressive are the local tribes ... clans of Inuit. The Inuit camp or village was never more than an 'extended' family and seems as they roamed around members of one clan would be given in marriage to members of another clan and so on and so on ... avoiding the obvious threat of 'in-breeding' ... amazing ... profound ... wow!! Contrast this with 'marriage used as a 'tool' to gain more property and consolidate power ? ... the ancient ... and perhaps still current white man's way
Back to the 'bond' mentioned above ... as I stared at the wall and contemplated this analogy ... I thought of the bond as 'love' ... when 'love' between individuals ... first in a single family ... and simultaneously ... among families who share a common bond ... eg a tribe ... as long as this bond ...'love' remains strong the 'collectives' remain strong ... seems it is directly proportional. The 'bond' ...'love' ... is intangible ... the alchemist gold ... what is the recipe for a solid bond ...'love' ... a mortar that will not disintegrate ... crack ...erode.
Seems to me if we could measure the 'holding' strength or power of the 'bond' between individuals today ... be it individuals within a family ... among families ... within a village ... among villages within a province etc. We would find that the tercile strength has diminished profoundly ... corroded ... disintegrated ... melted ... whatever!!
United we stand ... divided we fall ... my dad would say this expression often when speaking of our family ... the words are so few ... so simple ... so logical ... and yet so profoundly true.... while our minds could easily understand the 'notion' ... this understanding is not enough ... the recipe is more complex and seems we have lost track of the ingredients ... the combination and mixing process etc.