Perspectives : Hodiernal Terminus

We often hear the phrase, 'Live each day as if it is your last', from both sources of secular and Christian wisdom. While they bear a superficial resemblance, they are, at their core, profoundly divergent. My study group is going through 'Crazy Love', and we've just completed week two, reminding us of that opening adage. Incidentally, I'm reminded of the line 'Disce quasi semper victurus, Vive quasi cras moriturus'; which I used on a design for my class hoodie to the dismay of my classmates who had no idea what it meant and couldn't be bothered to search it up and justify my budding interest in Latin...

Differences first. From the secular perspective, I would argue that we live our lives to leave a legacy. That is what the world promises us is the noblest way to die. In a fashion that would leave those remaining compelled to give the departed respect of various kinds. One of the most straightforward is 'Pro Patria Mori', where soldiers who die are given the promise of posthumous commendations and memorials. Another commonly cited example is that of Alfred Nobel, who was able to alter his epithet from 'marchand de la mort' to 'benefactor of the Nobel prize' after reading his erroneous obituary. The world promises we will be remembered for what we accomplish. In a typical human method, we are judged by what we do, then sanctified or demonised in collective recollection. The number of those who remember us depends on the magnitude of our deeds. This would probably be the secular noble approach. 

There would probably be a second secular approach, which I would name the secular hedonistic approach. Quite simply, this alternative would propose enjoying whatever we have not yet experienced, but have harboured desire for. Since only a single day remains, you will never have a chance to experience it again, nor will there be any repercussions for you the following day. Of course this throws all consideration of regret and the future existence of others right out the window. Or perhaps the defenestrated concerns would not have been within the periphery of people who would subscribe to this view in the first place.

The Christian perspective asks us to consider a very different question, 'If you were to perish today, would you be able to face your God and confidently claim 2 Timothy 4:7?' The approval sought comes not from earth, but from heaven.

There are of course, many common implications that both the secular and Christian take on the final day share. Perhaps one could be expressed with another saying, 'Living life without regrets'. Yet even this can be subdivided into Christian and secular takes. From a secular perspective, consistently making choices that you know you would not want to rescind is difficult. You never know what may happen to change your reasoning, to cause the whole delicate construction of justifications and muddled emotions to come tumbling down in a regrettable heap. On the other hand, an ideal Christian walk with God involves a constant consultation about the complex choices we are confronted with. With prayerfully directed and divinely confirmed decisions, living in line with God and His principles does away with any regret because God is our immutable justification. Some might critique this as a denial of responsibility to deflect the piercing weight of regret, but I would say it was never our responsibility to begin with.

What then might both sides agree on? Perhaps in terms of how we relate to each other. For the good of all, it makes sense to live in a way that does not engender bitter hatred and deep divides between individuals or groups. To be in harmony with others. We may agree to disagree ideologically, but relationally and personally, let none hold the festering grudges and cold fury that seem so inconsequential in the spectre of the reaper's scythe.

A second point would be about the value of time. Every can agree that time is limited; that between our nativity and demise there is a finite period where we can manoeuvre to make the most of our lives. When it comes right down to it, whether you subscribe to the wisdom of man or the wisdom of God, it is hard to make the most of each second we have. The ultimate goal may involve living a good life from the secular perspective, or drawing closer to God from the Christian perspective, but wasted time may be one constant human failing that we all share, and for which all will bear a sentiment of regret.

A Complementary Blog

Just set up another blog : The Veiled Aspect, so that I can upload my draft without resorting to a gargantuan Google Document. There wasn't a good way to present it in Google Docs chapter by chapter except by creating a series of documents, which would have made for a very cluttered folder and a whole series of links to share. A second blog was quite necessary to prevent chapters of the draft being interrupted by posts about all sort of other details, given how I am working on the language, mythology, philosophy and so on of Eldwan's societies.

I decided to give wordpress a try, then I realised that neither blogger nor wordpress have user friendly table options... I wonder why they both don't seem to think tables on blogs are useful enough to make an approachable interface for that function.

Inhibited Linguistic Evolution

I recently read 'Latin: Story of a World Language'. Fascinating, although the technicalities are somewhat imposing for an amateur latinist like myself. It's gotten me thinking about linguistic developments and changes as societies progress, and how intimately it is tied with political and cultural factors. Of course there is one major difference between the society of Europe and the societies of Eldwan in the Age of Light which has rather unforeseeable consequences - lifespan.

It would be a massive oversimplification to attribute all alterations of language to generational succession, but it is undoubtedly a significant factor. As older speakers die, it is inevitable that their period's particular style of vernacular is lost. Conversely, as younger speakers and writers come into their own, they also wish to establish themselves, and part of this is involves inventing new expressions and reusing existing words in novel ways.

Perhaps it would be best to say that a written language has much more stability than a language that exists purely as atmospheric vibrations. The Radiant and the Faithful establish their written culture early on, having a common heritage of scripts from the Age of Harmony. Furthermore, if anyone contributed to Tas Eldwarach in the same way that Cicero and the other great Roman writers contributed to Latin, a codification of grammar and style would soon set a standard. Furthermore, these immortal authors would exist to clarify and critique any grammatical confusion of future generations, likely further inhibiting any drift away from their established rules.

Innovation would still be permitted, surely. But texts would be carefully sorted by the period in which they were written and overall, there would be far less change than what we observe in our present day languages. Furthermore, pronunciation would also have reduced variation, as the younger speakers grow up among a very static population of speakers who have been using the same vowels and consonants for centuries. The younger speakers would have to adopt the phonetic values of their elders to be understood, and this may have been firmly entrenched by formal education.

However, the situation is rendered a little more complicated by the existence of two separate societies in the Age of Light. I suggest that their grammar might not have differed significantly, since that was established when humanity was united. The definitions and connotations of words would have shifted. It might be particularly evident with words that were involved directly with the Day of Rebellion and Alero. For example, words like dragon, noon, independent, judgement and sunset, would have polarised positive or negative associations between the Radiant and the Faithful.

New words invented post-Rebellion would also have existed predominantly in only one society. This would include technical language, to describe new inventions, new discoveries and new ideas. These words would have migrated over to the other society, but would have been labelled as foreign borrowings. Since the Radiant focused on physics and electromagnetism in particular, they would have the appropriate terminology, while the Faithful, with their focus on natural symbiosis, would have had their own set of jargon. Words would also dance in and out of favour, just as they do today. The societies would have diverged in their choice word for a particular activity or noun.

Considering a wider range of events, the High Elves on the Far Continent would have had a very different language from the Cradle societies, but the telepathic abilities of the Elves would allow the Ward Elves to integrate themselves quite easily if they ever came into contact. But the essential features of the High Elvish language would have been fixed, as it is also descended from the original Tas Eldwarach.

Moving forward into the other ages, Tas Eldwarach is still spoken in Alaris in the Age of Water, but since death is now a prevalent spectre, it soon becomes the formal codified language and is distanced from the population's vernacular. The gods of Alaris would have persisted in Tas Eldwarach, so it would become the tongue of the state, the law and of religion. Of course the Elves would have spoken it as well, but the language of the Scattered along the coasts would have embarked on great Odysseys of transformation.

Tas Eldwarach was eventually lost to mortal man during the Confusion, the fatal blow to Alaris and human hubris. Thereafter it was known as the language of the Elves, as the Elves spoke it among themselves and not when interacting with the Fallen. After the Confusion, the languages of the Fallen would have proceeded, uninhibited, in their fragmentary metamorphoses. The languages of the Scattered would become isolate languages as the societies of the proud descendants of Alaris set out to claim vast tracks of land in the Age of Rulers.