Torch

Today I visited the High College of the Art, whose sigil is a flaming torch. I was impressed by the dedication of its craftsmen and of the journeymen they trained. Most impressive was the pervasive sense of honesty; there was an abiding belief in good hard toil that was leavened by a desire to do things intelligently.

Many years have passed since I saw the High College as the most likely rivals for the crown. I have not changed my assessment. They are a passionate lot, with a rich and powerful pedigree. They have cast their arms abroad not out of agony and loss, nor for swords about the Cross, but out of a desire to make East and West meet on terms more favourable to the East. (And in case you're wondering about those odd phrases, read this.)

At the same time, in these wild days of global famine and global synthesis, who is to say which is East and which is West? It is a good thing to remember that the major religions of this earth are ALL Eastern religions, if one treats 'East' as a matter of geography and not of attitude. If you are a Jew, Christian, Muslim, Zoroastrian, Hindu, Jain, Buddhist, Taoist or a member of any of the variants or sects thereof, you are an adherent of an Eastern religion – one that was first seen in Asia.

It reminds me of reading Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs and Steel and realising that he had all but left out one of the most powerful dynamics of all: the idea of God, a flame that has never gone out.

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In other news, I woke up this afternoon and for some reason immediately thought of Woodward & Bernstein's 1974 account, All The President's Men and its interesting (but far less famous) sequel, The Final Days. What an odd way to wake up! Yet another reason to abandon afternoon naps except when absolutely necessary.