“He allowed himself to be swayed by his conviction that human beings are not born once and for all on the day their mothers give birth to them, but that life obliges them over and over again to give birth to themselves.” ~ (from Love in the Time of Cholera)
Marquez (1927 – 2014) died a few days ago. I have not read any of his novels but was familiar with them from some audio tapes. The quote above is profound, relaying that we can continually re-create ourselves—at least to some extent. In an ideal world, individuals would live in situations where this was possible, where they could actualize their potential and develop their talents.
Unfortunately, we live in a world of pain, poverty, greed, lying, imprisonment and other injustices—in a world where most lack the basic necessities while others have more than is good for them; where politicians deny people health care and willingly enslave and exploit others for profit. How should we respond? I don’t know. We try to enlighten the little spec of reality in which we live, knowing that our efforts are feeble against the weight of an infinite universe.
So is the problem in the stars or in ourselves? It is in both. We are thrown into a reality that we did not make with a nature we did not choose, drifting along the current, paddling, grasping, thinking and hoping … that somehow we can change both the stars and ourselves. Hoping that everything can be continually and more perfectly, reborn.
