So, the old ball and chain decided to make a group within a group, to divide the already divided group even further, with the evident aim of cutting one particular scholar out of the loop, namely: yours truly. I am not a practitioner. I am merely a scholar, a man of thoughts and words. I do not conjure up spirits or commune with them. If anything, I am merely a sinner, a Christian, not a person involved in that... business. This does not mean that I do not respect those that do practise the Craft (for there is much enlightened knowledge and wisdom to be gained from such entities), but rather I am content to simply be.
If the group within the group has the sole aim of cutting me out of the loop (which, based upon the evidence, it seems that this is its sole purpose) then what happens if I leave the group? (Which I just did). Then surely, it stands to reason, that there is no enemy within, no Judas Ascariot, no Daniel Plainview, no Francis Urquhart. The only purpose of creating such a division, is to cause disharmony and chaos.
In a normal, regular, standard university, the team members work together. They support one another. There is none of this dictatorial style of leadership, but rather, as in the ancient writings and indeed in the practise of archaeology today, if one is fortunate enough to be in charge, one is first among equals. These people are your colleagues, friends, associates, brothers and sisters. They are not anything else, but are entrusted with the charge of facilitating matters, so that everyone works together, in the spirit of friendship and harmony.
What the old ball and chain has done is something like a child might do, thinking to herself, "It's mine. This is my toy, no one else's." It is puerile, and not the way things should be run. Maturity does not come over night. It takes time. There is the all important faculty of reason, the spirit of compromise, meeting people half way. Such things are absent in this little school ever since the old ball and chain took over.
If I'm honest, I'm glad it's all over. I have other, more important matters to attend to (such as work, and study) than to devote a large portion of my time to creating a course, then lecturing it, only to find that I am out of pocket and back in that... place again the next morning.
One advantage of being a grammarian, is an acute awareness of the way in which language(s) work. For example, when the old ball and chain suggested forming a group within a group, the post in which she stated it was actually incorrect. The Genitive singular was supposed to be in the plural. She doesn't know this, of course, because she has not studied her Latin (sine qua non).
What I am really looking forward to, is mastering ancient Greek.
I absolutely love this language. It's challenging, yes, but like the obscure verb forms or deponent verbs, or even third declension nouns in Classical Latin, despite all its strange little quirks, it is a language well worth learning. I have lost count of how many times while researching an assignment that an academic article or footnote in some primary source simply expects the reader to have a firm grasp of ancient Greek. It is an excellent language. Never mind all the fluff. Let us get back to the serious business of scholarly endeavour. Let us think on Latin and ancient Greek, for they are - in truth - more important than this little hobby-horse of a school.
In my heart of hearts, I will miss being a part of it (because, as I said, there is much wisdom to be gained by treading that path). Yet, imagine being mundane, and focusing on ancient Greek? There is the Holy Bible, the hermetic texts, there is the GMP, and not to mention the other half of the hallowed classical tradition. In truth, I have come around to more of my lecturers' point of view, than the view which I have championed up until now. I actually love formal education. It is proper, it is correct, it is excellent. More than that, it actually means something. When the university confer me with the honours of a qualification, it is not like some Mooc like Coursera (which doesn't even use books), but it has real significance. Imagine, if a person said to a prospective employer, "Well, I've done [such and such a course] with [such and such a website]." It is meaningless. Now, imagine if that same person said, "I hold a master's degree in Classical Latin." That actually means something. It is not nothing.
Max.
No comments:
Post a Comment