I think the simplicity of the
Japanese life – at least as it was when I was reading about it – is very
appealing. Very little in the way of possessions, just one or two special
things to be showcased in a special place in the home. The beauty of life lay
not in things, but in art and nature and traditional ceremony. (I’ve never been
to a Japanese tea ceremony, but I hope that from my readings I’d know some of
the proper etiquette for the occasion.)
Not everyone can have or even needs
things, but beauty and ceremony are
always needed, and are ours to see and enjoy for (usually!) free. In the ages
where the Roman Catholic Church would impose an interdict on a country, the
people there mourned the loss of the ceremony of the sacraments. Religious
ceremony, even a funeral, was one of the few things that enlivened otherwise
mundane lives. Today many people separate themselves from any religious
ceremony, but that may be part and parcel of the abundant availability of other
things to do on a Sunday morning.
In this era the television brings
us most of the ceremonies we see. Royal weddings, inaugurations, this New
Year’s Eve in Times Square, major sporting events – even the Daytona 500 –
involve not only the moment itself, but the ceremony surrounding it. We think
we’ve come a long way since the days of the interdicts, but really we’re quite
the same. We don’t need stuff but we do
need and love ceremony.
Let’s all go see a parade! Rose
Bowl anyone?
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