The Person in His Natural and Supernatural Habitat

Wilfred McClay's essay "Mr. Emerson's Tombstone" begins with a look at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, which is the resting place for Ralph Waldo Emerson. Interestingly, Emerson's choice for a tombstone was, "a giant boulder, identified as his grave by a small bronze plaque affixed to the rock." While that may seem fascinating to some, the truly interesting aspect is that Emerson's grave is flanked by the graves of his wife and daughter. Their tombstones "are identical in size, symmetrically placed, absolutely conventional in their shapes and engravings." These are far different than Emerson's grave marker. What makes this ironic is that Emerson embraced things like self culture, self assertion, and the self set free. This writer, who embraced individualism, is joined in death by his family members, who were very important to his success. Whether we like it or not, this shows that death is a sobering reminder of our dependency, and the question that arises is, what will our individualism be when we are gone?

McClay's essay goes on to further discuss individualism. Emerson embraced self absorption and narcissism. He discarded all of the forms that constrain and bind us and chose to be individualistic as well as optimistic. The problem is that people, like Emerson, embrace these notions and try to find themselves and embrace their potential. However, if one continues to chase after this potential, it will become a never ending quest and everything else will be tossed to the side. In order to truly embrace your potential, you must do something in the face of any number of other things you could be and most of your potential must be cut off. McClay points out that Christianity teaches that the limits we set for ourselves make us free to do things. If we do not have any limits we will be slaves to longing, lust, desire, etc. Even with this, McClay recognizes the importance of the individual soul. He uses history and early Protestant theology to point this out. McClay writes, "The decision to submit to God in Christ meant nothing unless it proceeded out of an individual's utterly uncoerced movement of conscience." This means that individualism is important because faith has to be yours. It cannot be something that someone else comes up with or tells you to believe. A relationship with God is a personal one that must come from your inner self.

Instead of individualism, McClay calls for us to, once again, embrace "foundational texts" in order to give our society "an effective pattern for ordered liberty, whether in matters religious or matters civil and constitutional." This text includes the Constitution and, more importantly, the Bible, which is the genetic code to American society. In order for us to get more acquainted with the Bible, we must read it. Of foundational texts, McClay says:

It is a very different matter to attempt to constitute community without reliance upon the impersonal authority of a foundational text; and to imagine that one could produce the same effects without the same causes is folly.

Without a foundational text, McClay believes that a community or society cannot succeed in existence.

The Bhagavad-Gita is part of Hindu scriptures. It is comprised of eighteen chapters and an excerpt from the second chapter is a discussion between Arjuna, a soldier, and Krishna, a god. Arjuna is a great warrior and is standing on the brink of battle in his chariot. The chariot driver turns out to be Krishna, who is a Hindu god that has turned himself into this charioteer. On the threshold of the battle lines, Arjuna begins to doubt the benefit of war and killing. He says, "Evil they may be, worst of the wicked. Yet if we kill them our sin is greater. How could we dare spill the blood that unites us? Where is the joy in the killing of kinsmen?" Krishna responds by telling him to get over this cowardice and stand up to fight. He then begins a lecture on the Hindu religion and enlightenment. In the Hindu religion the self disappears. It is swallowed up like a drop in the ocean. This contrasts with the picture painted by Augustine of the perfect bodies we will have in the Kingdom of Heaven. To become enlightened, one must radically lose the sense of self. There must be an absolute evacuation of self consciousness.

Arjuna wants to be enlightened and he is told by Krishna that in order for that to happen he must not concern himself with killing men because that is an idea that someone stuck in the world of illusion entertains. Arjuna has been made a warrior and there are certain things that have to be done as a warrior. Krishna tells Arjuna, "If you fail to wage this war of sacred duty, you will abandon your own duty and fame only to gain evil." Krishna continues by saying that the results of the war are not important. He says, "If you are killed, you win heaven; if you triumph, you enjoy the earth." Arjuna is a warrior now and in the next life the only thing that will be important is that he was a warrior. If he is enlightened, or illumined as Krishna calls it, it will not matter. To an enlightened person life and death do not matter. Arjuna must forget about his internal feelings and the result of the battle. He must lose consciousness of the self.

In the short essay "The Winds of Force," Wilfred McClay tells us that history is important, but it is not all there is. Historicism occurs when history assumes all importance. We are all historical beings, but history cannot tell us everything, and ultimately, divine revelation is much more important. McClay points out, "It is an illusion to think that we are going to get any reliable answers - let alone any redemption - from history." History does not bring us salvation, but it does dispel ignorance. Actual knowledge about history is valuable and imperative.

Western and Eastern religions are generally known to be quite different. Even though they are, the theme of individualism is key. The Bhagavad-Gita shows the emphasis Eastern religions place on radically losing a sense of self. "Mr. Emerson's Tombstone" acknowledges the need for some individualism but uses Emerson individualistic notions to point out that, ultimately, Emerson's way of thinking is nice for him, but it cannot be lived. It still leaves individuals with the problem of death, which is a problem that only God can solve. History for Western and Eastern religions is also different. "The Winds of History" tells of the importance of history to Christians, while reminding us that it is not everything. McClay says, "We are not like Buddhists or Gnostics. The specific things that happen in time and space matter enormously for us." This goes against the idea of individualism that is adamantly displayed in The Bhagavad-Gita and cautioned against in "Mr. Emerson's Tombstone." What is ultimately important can be quoted from "The Winds of History." "For the Christian, the point is not to align oneself with the prevailing winds, but to make it to the right destination."

The Winds of History - Wilfred M. McClay, Copyright 2005 the fellowship of St. James.
Mr. Emerson's Tombstone - Wilfred M. McClay, Copyright 1998 First Things 83 (May 1998): 16-22.