A Lesson of Life from Alexander the Great - "Each moment free from fear makes a man immortal."

A Lesson of Life from Alexander the Great
"Each moment free from fear makes a man immortal."

Having danced with death a couple of times already and returning from Myanmar/Burma recently, I am connecting many of the dots of my life. As I approach my 72nd birthday in a couple of months, it does seem an appropriate time to connect as many dots as possible. The reality that I do not have a lifetime to put all the pieces together is a great enabling force to move forward. If I do not act now, I am not certain how much more time I will have before death and I dance again and that time death might lead.

Between teaching and writing, I am on the Internet a great deal of the time. A couple of days ago, I came across a part of Renault's book about Alexander the Great entitled, Fire from Heaven.

Alexander the Great

Renault quotes Alexander as saying, "I have wrestled with Thanatos knee to knee and I know how death is vanquished. Man's immortality is not to live forever; for that wish is born of fear. Each moment free from fear makes a man immortal."

Thanatos was the son of Nyx, the goddess of the night
and his brother was Hypnos, the god of sleep.

What Alexander is saying is that he had danced with death, Thanatos, the god of death. He described his dance as wrestling knee to knee with him. However, Alexander's point about wrestling with death is not that we will live forever. He says that our desire to live forever is a wish born from the fear of death. We are immortal each moment that we are free of fear. We can be immortal in the moment that we are not fearful.

Listen again to Alexander, "I have wrestled with Thanatos knee to knee and I know how death is vanquished. Man's immortality is not to live forever; for that wish is born of fear. Each moment free from fear makes a man immortal."

A great catharsis occurs when one begins the process Alexander's point. The Greek word Κáθαρσιζ (catharsis) means "purification" or "cleansing." Aristotle, another Greek, used the term in his writings as an emotionally cleansing process as it relates to fear. Addressing fear is cathartic; it is liberating. When one begins addressing the reality of death, one experiences liberation.

Having danced with death, I know that I will not live forever. I get that reality far better than you do unless you have dance with death also. Moreover, to be honest with you, I would have argued with you had you maintained that knowing about death is liberating...unless I had danced with death. Nonetheless, what Alexander expressed over two millennia ago, I understand. It is freeing. The time that I have before me is a very precious commodity, which I will use wisely. The realization of one's own finiteness is a blessing.

What Alexander said two millennia ago, Saul Alinsky said in my lifetime. "We must believe that it is the darkest before the dawn of a beautiful new world. We will see it when we believe it." It allows us to wrestle with the darkness and emerge into a bright new day. Alexander and Alinsky are essentially saying the same thing. "We must believe that it is the darkest before the dawn of a beautiful new world. We will see it when we believe it."

I would only add that unless we believe it, we are dead even though we are still breathing. Trust me even if you have not danced with death. You will experience immortality each moment you are free from fear. Live now and remember Alexander's self-disclosure in all of your tomorrows, "I have wrestled with Thanatos knee to knee and I know how death is vanquished. Man's immortality is not to live forever; for that wish is born of fear. Each moment free from fear makes a man immortal."

However, you must also accept Alinsky's truism, "We must believe that it is the darkest before the dawn of a beautiful new world. We will see it when we believe it." Both place a beautiful new world before us if we believe. What is critical is that we believe. Pete Seeger morphed Alexander and Alinsky together in his song, Quite Early Morning.