Catweazle

I am amazed by the show and can only suspect that Richard Carpenter had a huge crush on medieval history. It is never about politics, but always about the belief in miracles and as such it is quite informed, if I may say so, because the one field in which Catweazle is reasonably successful is dealing with other living things, whether they're human, fish or, in this episode, marrows.

I've written lengthily on the subject, transcendence and superstition, and it's nice to see that the show doesn't take a one-sided stance, but shows both sides: that you can't have luck, if you don't want it, but that grappling with the very things that determine our fate is too much for our intellect.

I guess there's a fiber of tradition involved, the continuous ambition to understand and control as much as to dream and the desire to realise one's dreams. I would even dare to say that there's a call for reminding oneself that it is oneself, who is the central command post for the development of the future, in a positively transcendent sense.

But that is of course a bit of a dilemma, because engineering is based on a very different outlook on life, specialising in the repeatable, standardising life, declaring miracles, that is isolated successes, meaningless, although this isn't really the reality of our lives, in which such successes are the most important ingredients.

This is not the place to pursue the dilemma of conscious determinism further, but it is appropriate to point out that flying means nothing, once you know there are balloons and there is really no simple way to see the industrial age as a full continuation of man's strife through time, although Catweazle tacitly implies it.

Now, the reason why I'm writing this is another though. It's related to actively seeking to engage in transcendence. In some way that is part of our life, we do have to actively try to define our life, but in the current situation there's not much to define, for little does it momentarily matter. That is not to say that nothing is to be done, but what is to be done is very basic, thus without any room for any complicated considerations.

So right now is not the time to push forward on our way, not the time to actively seek transcendence. It's rather a time to trust in God when needed, for thus only is faith rejuvenated. The factual importance of faith must re-emerge, and in an age of destruction the lifeboat is important, not the bulldozer.

Again it appears to be effectless to warn people, but then, only the re-emergence of the factual importance of transcendence can save us and how could it re-emerge through persuasion? One big lifestyle changing movement? It's not for me to rule that out, on the contrary, I'd advise anybody to do it, but there's the element of relevance, and it just isn't relevant until things fall apart and that they do by inertia.

No, we shouldn't rule anything out. Fearful is the last thing that we should be. There is no hope but in miracles, and that is, if understood, even a consolation: you're not leaving any unfinished business when you trust.