Excerpt From
Thomas Babington Macaulay
“The History of England, from the Accession of James II — Volume 1”

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Thanksgiving is by definition occasion for the expression of gratitude especially to God.

Thanksgiving or Thanksgiving Day (in North America) is an annual national holiday marked by religious observances and a traditional meal including turkey. The holiday commemorates a harvest festival celebrated by the Pilgrims in 1621 and is held in the US on the fourth Thursday in November.  A similar holiday is held in Canada usually on the second Monday in October.

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The way in which these men lived was so ostentatious and voluptuous that, greedy as they were of gain, they seldom became rich. They dressed as if for a gala at Versailles, ate off plate, drank the richest wines, and kept harems on board, while hunger and scurvy raged among the crews, and while corpses were daily flung out of the portholes.

Excerpt From
Thomas Babington Macaulay Macaulay,
“The History of England, from the Accession of James II — Volume 1.”

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While the weather for our Thanksgiving congregation doesn’t promise to be particularly favourable, we have nonetheless put ourselves in good stead for whatever transpires.  This evening for example we judiciously restricted our meal in anticipation of what is assured to be a bounteous festive board at the home of my sister and her husband tomorrow. Most of the day today was blustery and cold but in the late afternoon the sky suddenly brightened, showing the upriver view to advantage.

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Il Pomo d’Oro is a prize-winning orchestra founded in 2012 and named after the opera Il pomo d’oro by Antonio Cesti. The ensemble specialises in Historically informed performance of music from the Baroque and Classical period which it performs and records led by its own lead violinists Federico Guglielmo and Zefira Valova, or by guest conductors including Maxim Emelyanychev (chief conductor since 2016).

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Moderately early this morning after completion of ablutions and upon connecting to the internet at my desk I received an email from a younger friend who is a renowned chef in “Cabbagetown”, a popular area of downtown Toronto. He abbreviated my previous enquiry about “Any news?” by recounting that he is up each morning between one and two o’clock followed by long hours at the restaurant, then to bed between six and seven in the evening. While he rightfully acknowledged the duress of his enterprise, I could sense his personal commendation; and I was similarly moved to admire his dutiful and functional application (even if I confess a degree of envy of his purposeful occupation).

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A recent fiery controversy of sociological and etymological proportions has broadened my knowledge of the two vernaculars. Such apparently is the unwitting but welcome nature of squabbling that with the proper application of rigidity, acuity and moral correctness, the outcome is not only instructive but also uncommonly relieving. I have at last succeeded to address what had become the behavioural equivalent of a cyst; that is,

.  a membranous sac or cavity of abnormal character containing fluid; or,
.  a tough protective capsule enclosing the larva of a parasitic worm or the resting stage of an organism.

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It would at first blush be pardonable to take for granted that modern business marketing has changed with technology. Or has it? How far removed are we from the renowned elements which have traditionally steered a successful business?  Surely quality, trust and communication remain the notable credentials. As for the rest “Word of Mouth” will forever abide as a salient feature.

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The day began well – and I won’t say it hasn’t been a predominantly sustained rapture – but mid afternoon unanticipated complications arose which disarranged and soured the initial perfection. We’ve had to battle the internet and computers, never an auspicious confrontation because more often than not the assured winner is technology over humanity. In the result I am uncertain whether it was just one of those “reboot” situations required; or, whether the site we were attempting to access was undergoing maintenance; or, whether the latest Apple update contaminated everything; or, finally whether it were necessary merely to remove the historic bookmark and start from scratch. Whatever. We at last succeeded in our researches and endeavours; and, in fact and in fairness enlarged upon the functionality of the site.  But what an unforgiving exercise!  We were close to fisticuffs between ourselves as the mounting obstruction heightened our voices and sharpened like arrows our otherwise well-intentioned directions to one another. Nonetheless it was a relieving undertaking upon completion.  Now at last I am at liberty to gaze upon the becalmed river in the distance, mellowed almost to the point of incongruity as the sun sinks and the shadows overtake the whole. By chance Pacelbel’s Canon restores my fractured conciliation.

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The Greek words mean “culmination” (synteleia) and “era” (aion) thus suggesting “the end of a point in time” which would embrace both social change or the end of one’s life.

Christianity is often seen as an “apocalyptic” religion, looking forward to “the end of the world,” but Jesus actually never says anything about “the end of the world” as such. In many Gnostic systems (esoteric and mystical knowledge), the various emanations of God, who is also known by such names as the One, the Monad, Aion teleos (“The Broadest Aeon”), Bythos (“depth or profundity”), Proarkhe (“before the beginning”), Arkhe ( “the beginning”), Sophia (“wisdom”), and Christos (“the Anointed One”), are called Aeons.

The Christian church has found a benefit throughout history in preaching that the end of the world is imminent. Their motivation is the same as politicians and scientists today preaching the end of the world through global warming. By magnifying the immediacy of the threat, such organizations justify increasing their power.

However, there is a more certain, more pressing threat to us all individually, our own deaths, the end of our personal worlds. Jesus uses his ability to see the ending of his era, the Judean world as it was then, as an analogy for the end of each individual’s life, a crisis coming to us all, one at a time, in our own places, a crisis more important personally than some future “end of the world” is generally.
© 2023 Gary Gagliardi

Gary Gagliardi, “known primarily as a writer and educator on competitive strategy”, is from what I can gather but another American aligned with the “Art of Money Getting or the Golden Rules for Making Money” by P. T. Barnum paradoxically of circus fame.

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