DE Weekly: Inspiration, Service, & Transcendence
Below is an archived email originally sent on October 28, 2024.
Inspiration, Service, & Transcendence
Throughout history, a certain kind of person has transcended their own lifetime and remained an inspiration for generations of people to come. To achieve that feat, that person likely performed some great service for humanity.
This type of person is seen to be rare. So rare, in fact, that it’s almost a mythological archetype– one reserved for the great servants of history. Saints, Mother Teresa, Gandhi…
I’ve recently warmed to the idea, though, that one need not be as historically exceptional as those aforementioned figures to transcend their lifetime and be a lasting inspiration.
It could be as simple as building something for our children.
I recently came across a post on X from user @hannahityfair2 with a passage from a bricklayer’s manual found at her grandfather’s house:
“When we build, let us think that we build forever. Let it not be for present delight nor for present use alone. Let it be such work as our descendants will thank us for; and let us think, as we lay stone on stone, that a time is to come when those stones will be held sacred because our hands have touched them, and that men will say, as they look upon the labor and wrought substance of them, ‘See! This our father did for us.’” –John Ruskin
I think this is a perfect example of living to serve your fellow man. I find it incredibly inspiring, even more so because it is deceivingly “ordinary”... which is exactly what makes it so extraordinary.
Let’s take a look at an example of that principle on a grander scale.
In Barcelona, there’s an unfinished basilica that’s been under construction for 144 years: the Sagrada Familia. It’s set to be completed in 2026.
It was designed by Antoni Gaudí, a Catalan architect famous in his day for his work in Barcelona.
He took over the Sagrada Familia’s design in 1883, but still worked on other projects simultaneously. In 1914, he dedicated his full energies toward it. In 1925, he died from an accident at age 73, before construction ever finished.
I don’t think Gaudí died feeling unaccomplished, however. After all, he said “My client (God) is in no hurry.”
Construction underwent several setbacks, including total stoppage during the Spanish Civil War. And, obviously, it still remains unfinished today.
But here’s what inspires me about it: future generations picked up the tools and continued the work.
People saw something valuable in what Gaudí started.
And when they’re finished, their children and their children’s children will thank them for it.
This hammers home something I’ve come to feel recently. I feel that perhaps our duty to humanity is to secure a better future for everyone.
Not in some grandiose, “I’ve got to save the world” type of way; rather, in a “What good thing can I do today?” type of way.
I know this isn’t a new idea. But I feel like it’s been lost in some ways.
Horace Mann said “Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity.” That victory can start small.
I think all philosophies–existentialism included–innately work toward this conclusion.
Existentialists must agree–for the most important thing is creating meaning in a world devoid of it.
Humanists must agree–for the most important thing is finding a way to help others now, in this mortal life (and don’t forget, Sartre says existentialism is a humanism).
Even utilitarians must agree–for the most important thing is choosing the action that produces the greatest good for the most people.
Whichever philosophical underpinning you most identify with–existentialists especially–I believe there is no shame in living a life of service, no matter how small that service may seem now. Laying one brick for your children who will lay one brick for theirs is no small feat. It might even be the greatest purpose of all.
Thanks for reading.
Sincerely,
Brandon J. Seltenrich
P.S.––
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