Of Tea and Barbarians

I like making tea. There is a comfortable ritual to the process: put the kettle on, then tea bag and milk in the cup, wait for the whistle (the whistling kettle always brings me back to childhood memories), pour the water, add honey, and let seep. The culminating act of the ritual is then sipping the tea while reading a good book or while chatting with a friend.

I’m learning to appreciate the daily rituals in life. They make life. We fret and fuss over politics, or careers, or money, but most of the time life is the quotidian routine of small acts and simple interactions. I’m realizing what I make of this daily life makes the difference in my happiness. Herbert Fingarette in his little gem of a book, Confucius – the Secular as Sacred, claims the magic that is human life is best acknowledged and respected through consciously enacting these regular rituals. For example, by turning drinking tea with a friend into a little ceremony the sacred is found in the mundane.

I can dread or be bored by the mundane or I can live in the moment, even making a little ceremony of a simple act. Perhaps I can acknowledge the scenery in my daily drive rather than stressing at traffic, or when meeting a student with a poor attitude I can treat them with great respect and dignity, or I can savor my simple cheese sandwich rather than just stuffing it down. Better yet, eat my sandwich in good company rather than hurriedly at my desk. I can find the sacred in the mundane.

I think of Sidonius Apollinaris the 5th century bishop who lived in what is now France. He lived in an age of great upheavals as various German tribes took over the Roman Empire. He did participate in the great events of his day, but his letters give us an intimate view of a man enjoying life. He describes a good meal with enjoyable company, he discusses arranging books by writing style, and he enjoys a nice bath too. He likely would have enjoyed the company of Michel de Montaigne, the 16th century French essayist. Montaigne too lived in turbulent times – the brutal wars of religion which racked Europe at the time. Montaigne also participated in the politics of his time, but he too mostly appreciated daily life. Montaigne loved pleasant conversation with friends, reading good books, and long rides in the countryside.

Enjoying the mundane life is not a retreat but a balancing, a focusing. “The sage can achieve greatness because he does not act great” (Lao Tzu). The focus on enjoying the mundane can restore compassion for others while reinforcing humility and moderation in oneself. Apollinaris and Montaigne both lived in troubled times, but strove to maintain a balanced life. We live in a time where the American polity seems to be collapsing and Europe turns to authoritarianism. We must act as we are bound. However, we must not lose balance or fail to appreciate that which is most important, that which outlasts kings and kingdoms: our humanity.