Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Home

You can find the damnedest things in newspapers. James Carroll wrote this for the Boston Globe:

“. . . [H]ome is the moral center of the universe. The political philosopher Michael Walzer observes that a hotel room can offer safety and comfort, but it is not a home because it fails to offer “the dense moral culture” that locates a person in time and space. Home, in everything from familiar furniture to the clutter of mementos to the imperfections of chipped dinnerware, is a visible manifestation of the golden tie between past and present; between choices made long ago and consequences that present new choices to this day. Life is not a series of unconnected episodes, but a flowing drama, across generations and phases, driven by intense emotions, which are understood only in the tranquility of familiar rooms. Home is not just the stage on which the human drama plays out, but is the character against whom all other characters find their measure . . .

Home is the cosmic center, the secure spot on the earth from which men and women venture forth, and from which children test themselves.”

He was talking about the housing crisis, but I think he’s onto something bigger here, don’t you?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

So true, I can't wait to have one, without the guise of being a business also... all in good time I suppose... a female friend asked, upon meeting the three amigo's in our yard, "Why aren't they in the house?", to which I politically answered, "Oh, they like it outside", and she seemed to step back as if sizing me up and asked, "So, you would never have a dog in the house?", to which I felt my true politician emerge with the threat of imminent vaginal embargo, "Oh, not never"... but indeed, if there ever was a never it would include sleeping in a bed with dogs...

fred c said...

So, you got a home? Send me the address, I'll send you a housewarming card.