Spending 40 consecutive nights in an old growth forest. That is the plan. Opening myself to whatever happens in those long dark hours as I lie awake, thinking, searching, absorbing, being. Hoping to experience the essential, and perhaps the transcendent. For a fuller explanation of the plan, as well as its logistical details, please see Seeking the Essential- Part 1.
The wind has died down, I realize. During the half hour walk to the little forest clearing, wind rustled through branches and sent last autumn’s downed leaves skittering. Feeling more like fall twilight than fresh spring gloaming. But at some point as I lay there on the ground, the wind drifted away to nothing though I didn’t notice, because I was thinking rather than observing. Clouds pass over the moon, intermittent brightness.
Thinking about the most recent book I’ve read, Persian Fire, by Tom Holland. Fantastic book, despite its already extensively examined topic, the attempted Persian conquest of Greece in the fifth century B.C., including that most famous of battles, at Thermopylae. (Holland’s book Dominion is also an excellent read, exploring a more unique historical perspective.) Clear and concise, yet nuanced and textured, Persian Fire is the best kind of history, factually detailed while also elucidating specific people and peoples within their particular societies.
Upon finishing Persian Fire, I realized. This book encapsulates human history. It encapsulates human nature. If a visitor to this planet wanted to learn about humanity, this book would be an excellent primer. Not in the specific details, perhaps, but both in the sweep of events and in societal behaviors. This same general set of motivations and actions has recurred again and again throughout history on at least five continents.
And yet the attempted Persian conquest of Greece was also a pivotal and nearly unique moment in history, a tipping point at which the entire future of Europe (before it was called Europe) hung in the balance. Had the Persian Empire conquered Greece, it would not have stopped there. It surely would have continued west/northwest, farther into the continent, as far as possible until stopped, or not stopped, along the way. Europe’s ensuing history would have been radically different. Europe today would be unrecognizable, as would a greater part of this world, including North and South America.
And the odd thing is, the Persian Empire really should have prevailed. It should have conquered Greece. The reasons for its failure are clearly identifiable, and yet they mostly consist of elements that simply should not have happened. The emperor and his commanders surely knew better, and yet somehow failed at crucial moments in crucial decisions. Little Greece with its factious and fractious peoples managed to repel the invaders.
A nearly unique moment, joined by a few others, also determining the course of European history. Had the Moors (the Umayyad Caliphate) not been defeated at Tours in A.D. 732, and/or had the Mongols continued their invasion of Europe in the 13th century A.D. rather than retreating (for as yet unconfirmed reasons), Europe would be an entirely different place, from those eras forward, to this very day. Much of the world would be drastically different.
These are three examples of crucial tipping points. Others exist. They are well-examined and well-documented by some excellent historians. Even so, it is interesting and even vital to think about such things on a regular basis, to understand the past, its countless elements leading now to A.D. 2024. And to recognize how, for instance, a single battle fought thousands of years ago contributes to this moment. Not one of us exists as an isolated entity. We are all integral elements in a continuum that has existed for at least 100,000 years of human history, and continues forward into the future.
Another aspect. Had the Persian Empire marched through Europe, Christendom likely never would have existed. And had the Moors or Mongols conquered Europe, existing Christendom certainly would have been gravely damaged and probably destroyed. I don’t, of course, mean Christendom as religion alone, but as the entire political, social, economic, and religious fabric of European and Eastern Christian society. (Whether Christendom is considered a good or a bad thing depends on the particular person. I myself tend to agree with the thesis of Holland’s Dominion.)
So as I lie here in this dark forest, the air now quiet though redolent of pine needles, dark earth, and fresh, flowing water, I think about the vastness of history, a nearly infinite number of events involving billions of people. And I think about how everything that happened before me somehow led to my existence, to my lying here at this moment. If some unknown person in the past had turned left instead of right, made this decision rather than that, I wouldn’t be lying here now. I might very well not exist. The same is true for every single person alive today on this planet. We are all the result of everything and everyone who came before us.
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Previous 40-Night Newsletters:
It is a wonder any of us are here and the world is the way it is. Not wholly good, not wholly bad. It’s just how it worked out. I’m going to have to read those books, I’ve never heard of either. Thanks for the new tunnel to go down. Cheers.