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One of my favorite authors is a British gent named Terry Pratchett. He has a long-running series set in a place called Discworld, which is technically fantasy but is at least as accurately labeled as satire.
One of his books, “Hogfather,” is set around this time of the year and deals with the beliefs surrounding “the Hogfather,” or what we would call Father Christmas, Santa Claus, or similar names. It was made into a movie a few years ago, and was done quite well, but the book (as usual) is better. We watched the movie last week, and I just finished re-reading the book.
There is one particular conversation towards the end, between Death and his granddaughter Susan, that always makes me sit back and think.
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Susan: “You’re saying that humans need… fantasies to make life bearable?”
Death: “Really? As if it was some kind of pink pill? No. Humans need fantasy in order to be human. To be the place where the falling angel meets the rising ape.”
Susan: “Tooth fairies? The Hogfather?”
Death: “Yes. As practice. You have to start out learning to believe the little lies.”
Susan: “So we can believe the big ones?”
Death: “Yes. Justice. Mercy. Duty. That sort of thing.”
Susan: “They’re not the same at all!”
Death: “You think so? Then take the universe and grind it down to the finest powder and sieve it through the finest sieve and then show me one atom of Justice, one molecule of Mercy. And yet,” he waved a hand. “And yet you act as if there is some ideal order in the world. As if there is some … some Rightness in the universe by which it may be judged.”
Susan: “Yes, but people have got to believe that, or what’s the point—“
Death: “My point exactly.” [some snippage here] “Humans have a very special kind of stupidity. You think the whole universe is inside your heads.”
Susan: “You make us sound mad.”
Death: “No. You need to believe in things that aren’t true. How else can they become?”
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How else, indeed?
As the days wind down and we head towards the longest and darkest night of the year, I find myself wondering about things like this. What things will we help to become as the light returns? How far will we apes rise, to meet those falling angels… and what must we do in order to soar among them on wings of our own?
One of his books, “Hogfather,” is set around this time of the year and deals with the beliefs surrounding “the Hogfather,” or what we would call Father Christmas, Santa Claus, or similar names. It was made into a movie a few years ago, and was done quite well, but the book (as usual) is better. We watched the movie last week, and I just finished re-reading the book.
There is one particular conversation towards the end, between Death and his granddaughter Susan, that always makes me sit back and think.
==================================================
Susan: “You’re saying that humans need… fantasies to make life bearable?”
Death: “Really? As if it was some kind of pink pill? No. Humans need fantasy in order to be human. To be the place where the falling angel meets the rising ape.”
Susan: “Tooth fairies? The Hogfather?”
Death: “Yes. As practice. You have to start out learning to believe the little lies.”
Susan: “So we can believe the big ones?”
Death: “Yes. Justice. Mercy. Duty. That sort of thing.”
Susan: “They’re not the same at all!”
Death: “You think so? Then take the universe and grind it down to the finest powder and sieve it through the finest sieve and then show me one atom of Justice, one molecule of Mercy. And yet,” he waved a hand. “And yet you act as if there is some ideal order in the world. As if there is some … some Rightness in the universe by which it may be judged.”
Susan: “Yes, but people have got to believe that, or what’s the point—“
Death: “My point exactly.” [some snippage here] “Humans have a very special kind of stupidity. You think the whole universe is inside your heads.”
Susan: “You make us sound mad.”
Death: “No. You need to believe in things that aren’t true. How else can they become?”
==================================================
How else, indeed?
As the days wind down and we head towards the longest and darkest night of the year, I find myself wondering about things like this. What things will we help to become as the light returns? How far will we apes rise, to meet those falling angels… and what must we do in order to soar among them on wings of our own?
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