‽istis wonders at memory and legacy (weekending December 2nd 2023)
‽istis is pondering the announcement of deaths this week of people known more or less by many (and, like the rest of us, known to fewer): Henry Kissinger, Shane MacGowan and Alistair Darling.
The various descriptions of each in the media speak primarily of their ‘public’ faces and achievements.
Who am I? Can you match the phrase to the character?
· A ‘roustabout’
· Baron
· Widely praised
· Refugee
· Expelled public schoolboy
· A statesman of unimpeachable integrity
· Drunken stereotype
· A rare exception
· War criminal
· Teetotal
· In times of crisis he was the person you would want in the room
· Trailblazing
· All time great leaders
· Blood-stained
· Musician
· A man of decency, character, integrity and humour
· Fake
· Diplomatic powerhouse
· Academic
· Broken-toothed
· A man of endless contradictions
· Celebrated
· A gifted child
· A drinker with a writing problem
· The perfect counterpoint
· Titan
· Controversial
· Frontman
· Led a life too interesting
· Played a pivotal and polarising role
· Nobel Peace Prize winner
· With brains to burn
· Calm-handling
· Foul-mouthed
· Lover
· Underrated
· Consequential
· Deserves prosecuting for crimes against humanity
· Self-destructive
· Respected scholar
And ‽istis wonders how we might each be remembered and by whom?
And as Matt Hancock (erstwhile Secretary of State for Health and Social Care) in the UK gives evidence to the Covid19 Inquiry[i], ‽istis wonders how legacy is formed? Through a 500+ page book[ii] giving a personal account; from press conferences during a pandemic; by those who sat in meetings with; by images from a perhaps suspiciously placed CCTV camera; by wife or partner or both, by children, by parents; by the tone of WhatsApp messages; by TV audiences on far-from-reality shows; by answers given under oath…?
Meanwhile this week, research undertaken by the ‘think tank’ ‘Theos’ suggests that less than half of people in the UK today say they wish to have a funeral for themselves[iii]. And coincidentally ‽istis has also been pondering funerals - including one’s own funeral (fortunately out of interest and a general consideration of wishes if there were to be an unforeseen event such that ‘we are not spared’ - rather than necessity)…
· Music would feature significantly: a deeply loved tune by a grandparent to an old hymn; my words set to a well-known tune for a daughter’s wedding; new words to a favoured folk song; recordings of music played, looped, multi-tracked; maybe even a song from local community choir members; a hard-to-choose-because-there-are-so-many favourite recorded piece or track performed by others.
· Copies of some wonderings and ponderings, jottings and doodlings, writing that may yet be finished (before it is too late!) would be given (available digitally to save paper).
· Readings: one or two extracts from the wonderings and ponderings, jottings and doodlings[iv] (even in a funeral ‽istis prizes the maxim: ‘nothing about us without us’!) and some favoured poems and passages: perhaps a little Winnie the Pooh, a passage drawing from the Celtic spiritual tradition[v], some Cecil Rajendra, some Mary Oliver, some Rabindranath Tagore maybe (again hard-to-choose-because-there-are-so-many favourites)…?
However much these choices may shape a final memory, ‽istis suspects that legacy creation is an activity largely out of any one’s own hands - and that there are likely to be many, many views and both shared and uniquely individual memories.
‽istis is not sure whether Alistair Darling as Chancellor for the UK may have ever used the phrase ‘look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves’[vi] but maybe it holds a clue to matters relating to ‘how to spend a good life’ and any subsequent legacy.
Perhaps, possibly, maybe if we look after the present – seeking to do and be the best we can with and for others in every ‘now’ and in every ‘here’ – then the future may look after itself‽
(Mind you, ‘best’ may require some further definition lest it mushes down into something like ‘the best version of yourself’, a phrase that ‽istis, perhaps rather spuriously (not knowing any of them), suspects Alistair Darling, Shane MacGowan and Henry Kissinger may also have balked at‽)
©‽istis
NB: further reflections and comments linked to this week’s theme and past blog entries to be found on X/Twitter: replies, retweets (which don’t necessarily indicate approval, sometimes the very opposite!) and ‘likes’: @Pistis_wonders. X/Twitter ‘follows’ and respectful comment and dialogue welcome...
[ii] https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/uk-news/matt-hancocks-covid-book-flops-25856269 ‘Pandemic Diaries: The Inside Story of Britain’s Battle Against Covid’ (2022)
[iii] ‘Love, Grief, and Hope: Emotional responses to death and dying’ https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/in-the-news/2023/11/27/death-of-the-funeral-just-47-want-one-when-theyre-gone & https://www.nafd.org.uk/2023/11/27/theos-research-misses-the-point-funerals-are-for-the-living-as-much-as-the-dead/
[iv] Including citations from these blogs: https://pistisrec.blogspot.com/2023/09/pistis-ponders-without-whom-weekending.html & https://pistisrec.blogspot.com/2022/12/pistis-ponders-christmas-weekending.html
[v] John O’Donohue (adapted) in ‘Anam Cara: spiritual wisdom from the Celtic world.’ 1997
