Nero was a murderer because he did not understand life. His mother was a murderer before him, and apparently the deaths which secured his reign were perpetrated without or even against his will. So? He was surrounded by evil. Not just murder, either – debauchery, lust, torture… I say Nero could murder because he did not understand life. If, for Nero, the image of life he saw in his companions was to live sensually, to glut oneself, if for Nero one man could cruelly cut down another before his eyes, is it any wonder that he did not value life? How could he sympathetically understand the importance of life to others? His own he only held onto because (as someone once said) people gain the habit of living much sooner than they start to reason about whether they should or not.
It is often said of the Round Table that its circularity signifies equality, but according to Mallory, the table was round to signify the unity of virtue. One vice in Nero lead to another. But true virtue goes together. As Erasmus said, “if a person, like a true Christian, detests one vice, he must, like a true Christian, detest all of them.” But it is equally important to note that the round table was not a symbol, it was a physical table. The pursuit of this unity of virtue was a communal thing. Nero in fellowship with the debauched lead himself into all kinds of evils. The knights in fellowship with the brave lead themselves to all kinds of good. As a comrade to the good, not only do you give yourself the opportunity to do good to them, you also give yourself the opportunity to see good done by them – a useful lesson for yourself. That is why the Bible, Old and New Testaments, so emphatically encourages meeting.
The moral to draw from these two examples is that one must surround oneself with the right kind of people. It may be that there will be few such people; it may be that you will spend your life riding alone like Arthur’s knights, only returning to fellowship as to a lodging place. It should certainly be the case that you live as much among bad company as among good, though your home is among the good.
But there is something more to be learnt. Modern thought is saliently scientific, and we forget that most of our conclusions are not reached scientifically. Our views on the world are constructed on our view of man. If we live in wretchedness and human suffering, we think of the world as a wretched place. If we live among the noble, we believe more readily in Nobility in the abstract.
That is why the Apostles Creed affirms belief in ‘the holy catholic church’. It is vital for Christians to believe what the church has always taught. But it is also important for them to know the living church and to have friendships within the church. Although we believe on the testimony of Christ and his apostles that the way of life they call us to is the truth, it is easy to doubt unless we continually see that life – in other Christians.
Camaraderie of the right kind is as essential to our beliefs and thoughts as it is to our behaviour.
theparsnipoftime 