Nobility
It's funny what kind of reflections one makes on Maundy Thursday, when thinking of a garden named Gethsemane.
True nobility is an odd thing. It elevates those exposed to it. In a group of people dedicated towards a goal, a noble leader raises each one up, so that a peer becomes peerless, and a peerage is an exaltation. I have met very few such leaders before; I think that in one's life, to have even met one of these great leaders.
There are those who may not be so exalted in the way that society measures it, but they make you a better person just by being around. This also is ennobling, which I have realised is a better, more powerful version of the weak and profligately used 'enabling'. To ennoble someone makes you a bringer of transcendance, makes you a source of light and inspiration (or at least, a conduit of such).
I have known one person of the first kind and perhaps three of the second kind. And somewhere out there is that person I know whose name means 'nobility' and who is indeed appropriately named.
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On another note, there is also a kind of nobility associated with not letting others grind you down (oft expressed in the pseudo-Latin phrase illegitimi non carborundum). One of my favourite songs about this phenomenon is the one most eloquently delivered by Annie Lennox in her 1995 album Medusa, Neil Young's Don't Let It Bring You Down.
Old man lyin'
By the side of the road
With the lorries rollin' by
Blue moon sinkin'
From the weight of the load
And the buildings scrape the sky
Cold wind rippin'
Down the valley at dawn
And the morning paper flies
Dead man lyin'
By the side of the road
With the daylight in his eyes
Don't let it bring you down
It's only castles burning
Find someone who's turning
And you will come around
Blind man runnin'
Through the light of the night
With an answer in his hand
Come on down to the river of sight
And you can really understand
Red lights flashin'
Through the window in the rain
Can you hear the sirens moan
White cane lyin'
In a gutter in the lane
And you're walkin' home alone
Don't let it bring you down
It's only castles burning
Find someone who's turning
And you will come around...
You will come around...
Don't let it bring you down
It's only castles burning
Find someone who's turning
And you will come around...
True nobility is an odd thing. It elevates those exposed to it. In a group of people dedicated towards a goal, a noble leader raises each one up, so that a peer becomes peerless, and a peerage is an exaltation. I have met very few such leaders before; I think that in one's life, to have even met one of these great leaders.
There are those who may not be so exalted in the way that society measures it, but they make you a better person just by being around. This also is ennobling, which I have realised is a better, more powerful version of the weak and profligately used 'enabling'. To ennoble someone makes you a bringer of transcendance, makes you a source of light and inspiration (or at least, a conduit of such).
I have known one person of the first kind and perhaps three of the second kind. And somewhere out there is that person I know whose name means 'nobility' and who is indeed appropriately named.
=====
On another note, there is also a kind of nobility associated with not letting others grind you down (oft expressed in the pseudo-Latin phrase illegitimi non carborundum). One of my favourite songs about this phenomenon is the one most eloquently delivered by Annie Lennox in her 1995 album Medusa, Neil Young's Don't Let It Bring You Down.
Old man lyin'
By the side of the road
With the lorries rollin' by
Blue moon sinkin'
From the weight of the load
And the buildings scrape the sky
Cold wind rippin'
Down the valley at dawn
And the morning paper flies
Dead man lyin'
By the side of the road
With the daylight in his eyes
Don't let it bring you down
It's only castles burning
Find someone who's turning
And you will come around
Blind man runnin'
Through the light of the night
With an answer in his hand
Come on down to the river of sight
And you can really understand
Red lights flashin'
Through the window in the rain
Can you hear the sirens moan
White cane lyin'
In a gutter in the lane
And you're walkin' home alone
Don't let it bring you down
It's only castles burning
Find someone who's turning
And you will come around...
You will come around...
Don't let it bring you down
It's only castles burning
Find someone who's turning
And you will come around...
Labels: Annie Lennox, Medusa, Nobility, Reflection
etched with acid at 10:33:00 pm
2 Comments:
People with this name tend to be a powerful force to all whose lives they touch. They are capable, charismatic leaders who often undertake large endeavors with great success. They value truth, justice, and discipline, and may be quick-tempered with those who do not. If they fail to develop their potential, they may become impractical and rigid.
The French 'Arjean' wasn't the answer, although it has been taken to imply all those things.
This blog is extremely Romantic in linguistic orientation.
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