Von guten Mächten wunderbar geborgen

On this 6^th of January we celebrate the feast of Epiphany, more widely known as Three Kings’ Day. It marks the end of Christmas time. Many of us go back to work after a nice Christmas break, and in a certain way, we feel catapulted into a deep cold darkness, including work, stress and uncertainty about the future. We may recognise ourselves in the three magi, as they face many risks on their unpredictable journey, yet we may also find relief in their courage and steadfastness when they follow the star, convinced that it will lead them to their destiny.

This is a great time to listen to this German song Von guten Mächten wunderbar geborgen (By good forces wonderfully protected).  The song is well-known in Germany, and I plead it should be better known in our Low Countries and in the rest of the world. I found this excellent performance by Siegfried Fietz. The text has been written by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a spiritual man. He did what was right, irrespective of what other people believed or did. The irony of his destiny is that he was not wonderfully protected by good forces at all; you may even argue he was terribly attacked by evil forces. The fact that he found the incredible strength to resist these evil powers, is due to his strong faith and steadfastness. His spiritual consistency with his writings made him embody the good forces in himself. Let us resist to the temptation of supporting inhuman solutions to difficult problems. Let us draw poise, bravery, hope, courage and steadfastness from Bonhoeffer’s words. May the good forces be with you!

I refer to my blog Dunameis and to my Dutch blog Driekoningen 2018.

Image: The Three Magi, Hendrik Van Balen, Sint-Andrieskerk Antwerpen, artinflanders.be, photographer Hugo Maertens (public domain)

Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord

You may feel relieved after having defied the dangers of professional life and you may cherish hope for a peaceful Christmas time with family and friends. Peace on Earth, however, seems beyond reach in these awkward times.

The sad news is that peace at your family’s Christmas table is equally threatened. In this time, everybody tends to have a strong opinion on political matters and even within families, we tend to have polarised viewpoints on almost everything. We may have academics and populists around the table. The only thing we could agree upon, is the decline of the West, and it looks like this drives our concern about everything else.

On the left-right axis, we have different viewpoints on almost everything: treatment of refugees, social security, property taxes, war in Palestine, deforestation in Brazil, etc. The left-right divide is essentially a socio-economical divide: do you promote the interests of the stronger or the interests of the weaker? The problem would be easy if the stronger felt strong. In times of upheaval and economic decline however, the strong feel threatened by the weak and opt for solutions that keep the weak away.

On the conservative – progressive axis, we have different viewpoints on immaterial values. The conservative viewpoint is that our ancestors have worked hard to establish immaterial values and that we should honour these. The progressive viewpoint is we need progress as the status quo proves our inherited values are not adequate to establish a fair society. Consider gay rights, abortion, the use of obligatory vaccination, the quality of education, the tolerance for life philosophies and the treatment of animals. Very often, conservative viewpoints resonate well with the right, and progressive viewpoints resonate with the left. The reason is our social order is based on possession, not on needs. Therefore, the protection of possession has a somewhat conservative character, whereas the standing up for the needs of the weak tends to have a progressive character.

The discussions are often not based on rational arguments, rather on belly feeling, sometimes even admiration or disgust for famous representatives of each side. Whatever you want to discuss at the Christmas table, keep in mind two things. First, the people at your table mean well, they are of good will, and they are concerned about you and about the entire planet.

Secondly, and this is the most important: resist cynicism. Don’t give in to the temptation of claiming everyone is stupid or selfish. Let there be peace on Earth. Prepare ye the way of the Lord, like Saint Joseph in his dream.

I also refer to my blog Why Do the People Imagine a Vain Thing?

Picture: Joseph’s Dream, Gerard Seghers, MSK Gent, artinflanders.be, photographer Hugo Maertens (public domain)

Science and Belief in Lucky Charm

On this commemoration day of Niels Bohr, we reflect on an anecdote about the famous scientist receiving a colleague* in his log cabin at the Danish coast. The fellow visitor noticed Niels Bohr had put a horseshoe in the cabin as a talisman – lucky charm. He asked Bohr if he, as a scholar, could believe that his horseshoe could bring good luck. Niels Bohr is said to have replied: "I don't believe it, but they tell me that it brings good luck, even if you don't believe it!".

This anecdote says a lot about what faith is. Faith is not scientific certainty, not perfect control. Rather, faith is a humble attitude of surrender. It is acknowledging that others could know more about the theme, something that does not suit us very well in this time of strong opinions. It is letting go of all certainty, leaving the truth open and trusting others while remaining open to the possible positive effect of your faith practice.

That doesn't mean we can believe everything. At the very least, there must be confidence that our faith and our faith practice are good and healthy for us. And this confidence can only grow with the help of fellow human beings who have grown up in that same faith. There must also be respect for the faith of others.

The anecdote also reveals something about science, or at least about the wise attitude of Niels Bohr as a scientist. Niels Bohr starts from an attitude of humility. He makes a clear distinction between what he believes is true and what is actually true. He recognises there may be a difference, with a certain non-zero probability. Probabilities are popular in quantum mechanics. Moreover, even though he doesn’t really believe it, Bohr opens the door to the possibility of the workings of lucky charm, an interesting viewpoint for the world of quantum mechanics, where the observer may influence the actual outcome of a measurement. According to some, this may explain the evolution of the universe.

I refer to my blog Bigger than my faith and to Belief Creates the Actual Fact.

(*) Probably not Albert Einstein. The frequent scientific dialogues between the two have suggested Einstein as a visitor, but that is an apocryphal story, a so-called urban legend.

Image by Bernhard Rauch from Pixabay

Brothers in Arms

One of the most touching monuments in Flanders’ fields is the Brothers in Arms Memorial Park near the Polygon woods of Zonnebeke, in the vicinity of Ypres. It shows Australian soldier John Hunter dying in the arms of his younger brother James. James buried John carefully in the forest in September 1917, survived the war but could not find back his brother's grave after the war. In 2006 however, the remains of five Australian soldiers were found in the forest. One of the five soldiers was identified by DNA research as being the lost John Hunter.

Touching as this monument may be, I feel an inner resistance to attend public praise events to fallen victims, especially when political powers are present, claiming the boys had given their lives for their country. What the officials should say is: “We failed in diplomacy and have taken the lives of these young people to uphold our doubtful reputation…”. What on Earth is worth more in a country than the lives of young people? Abstract principles like ‘freedom’ or ‘democracy’ are of no use for people who have died already, nor for the numerous family members who stay behind, dead from sorrow.

In these times of belligerent talk, we prefer silence or the wonderful Brothers in Arms song of Dire Straits.

I refer to my earlier blog Pray for peace.

Dedication: I dedicate this blog to ir. Marc De Jonghe († 15 November 2025), friend and brother in arms.

Picture: Brothers in Arms monument Zonnebeke, Ypres 2025 ©Wim Lahaye

Enjoy the Solitude

Solitude and loneliness are not the same. In loneliness, we long for the company of other people who are not (longer) with us. Solitude -being alone- is state which we may want to strive to. The world would be better, happier, less polluted, if we could grant ourselves a daily time of solitude.

Solitude, silence and boredom go well together and offer the same benefits. Among these are curiosity, creativity, erudition, spirituality and patience.

I also refer to my Dutch blog Liefde voltooit het bloggen.

Picture: Lac d’Annecy 2025 ©Wim Lahaye

The Re-emergence of the West

A century has passed since Oswald Spengler wrote his Decline of the West. Prophesies may become self-fulfilling, therefore I opted for a more positive title. Admitted, the Decline of the West is the only belief the political left and right seem to have in common. A cultural pessimism dominates the media, and there are indications other geopolitical powers support such pessimism through social media propaganda as they know it weakens us.

It is true that the West doesn't seem to get rid of the pain of postmodernism, which halted our belief in progress. And as belief creates the actual fact, non-belief destroys the actual fact. Very few European leaders (one of them was the Belgian prime minister) have sufficiently pointed to the fact that economic welfare is in our hands and needs to be re-established. This requires a sacrifice from all of us. In his book Against the Tide, Roger Scruton points to the fact that anything worth pursuing, requires sacrifice. The Left and the Right however, believe the sacrifice should be brought by the political opponents at the other side.

Here is the truth, not generated by AI:

1)      We will see more poverty entering Europe through migration. Whether that migration is legal or illegal, we may be able to slow it down a little, but we won’t be able to stop it.

2)      Some of us may open the door a little for humanitarian reasons, but the imported poverty is not an enrichment in the economic sense. Our economy falters and our integration capability is too limited. As a result of this, we will need to work harder for less money. Being human can be costly; don't deny it if you claim to be human.

3)      We will face more mental risks in life. Loss of jobs is the most bearable one of these risks.

4)      We will be more exposed to safety threats, be it physical threats, environmental threats, technological threats. Some of the upcoming threats we don’t know yet.

The re-emergence of the West will depend on our willingness to bring sacrifices. Clinging on to old certainties, such as untouched pension schemes, company cars, four holiday trips/year, not-in-my-back-yard vetoes against the industry etc… will only make the insecurity worse for the generations after us. It will turn us into a prey for other more autocratically led geopolitical powers. 

Picture: Prometheus statue at Rockefeller Centre, NYC 2015 ©Wim Lahaye

Epictetus’ Toolkit for a Good Life

Epictetus was the main contributor to the late Stoic Roman philosopher school of which Seneca and Marcus Aurelius were the best-known representatives. His work Enchiridion is a handy pocket guide for a good life according to the Stoic tradition.

One of the foundations of his teaching is that man should make a clear distinction between the feasible and the unfeasible. To the realm of the feasible he considers our feelings, emotions and opinions about the things we go through. To the realm of the unfeasible are the things we go through themselves: changes in material prosperity and honour, health and disease, life and death. Epictetus states that whoever masters the feasible, will be equanimous towards the unfeasible and therefore he will be happy.

While writing this, it struck me that postmodern man has an almost opposite view on the feasibility of things. He considers his possession, his health and his personal safety as belonging to the realm of the feasible, whereas he keeps shouting, in this age of endless self-expression, he can’t do anything about his feelings, emotions and opinions. By sticking to this inverted view on the feasibility of things, postmodern man actually follows the perfect recipe for unhappiness as we can see from the full therapist waiting rooms.

Epictetus considers possession, fame, health and safety (the unfeasible) as belonging to the authority of the gods. He recommends people to become philosopher, to accept the godly decisions and to believe they happen for the greater good. As such, we should remain respectful towards our gods, we should neither be upset from injury nor from insults against us, we should neither engage in gossip nor in judgement. (Surprisingly, we should not even engage in praise towards third parties according to Epictetus – I still need to think why not.)

The Enchiridion is really another Swiss army knife for a Good Life and I intend to keep it in my travel bag for interrupted reading in public places. This theme is also related to Hartmut Rosa’s book about unavailability.