Cato–or Laelius

I stand by what I said about Brett Favre: More power to him for wanting to stick it to the Packers. (Even though the Packers never did him any wrong.)

If ever there was a good reason to come out of retirement to play football, a personal vendetta is it.

Speaking of returning All-Pro quarterbacks: My heart goes out Michael Vick as he fights doggedly to get his reputation back…

…The Roman statesman and philospher Seneca wrote letters to a young friend to exhort the young man to live a virtuous life.

Seneca was a demanding moralist, much like his hero Cato. He urged his young friend to choose a role model.

We need to set our affections on some good man and keep him constantly before our eyes, so that we may live as if he were watching us and do everything as if he saw what we were doing.

Excellent advice. Even more excellent, I think, is the way Seneca then tempered his advice:

So choose yourself a Cato–or, if Cato seems to severe for you, a Laelius, a man whose character is not quite so strict.

According to Cicero, Laelius like to go on holiday to the seashore and collect shells on the beach, “like a child.”

Strict role models are good. Not-quite-so-strict role models who are good men are okay, too.

(“Non Sequitur” by Wiley Miller)

My Man! Plus, a vademecum to come

After a dozing former mayor-for-life woke up, a contentious debate ensued in the D.C. City Council chamber yesterday.

The question under discussion was: Should the District of Columbia recognize the “marriages” of a man with a man and a woman with a woman performed in states that permit this nonsense?

Only one man refused to jump on the “gay rights” bandwagon: Ward 8 Councilmember Marion Barry.

…Things are not looking good for no-defense Dirk and the Mavs. The Thuggets are dominating them…

…Recently I received this charming note from one of our young people, and I wanted to share it with you:

Dear Father White,

I loved the retreat. You helped out in so many different ways. I learned so much that I can’t remember it all.

Thank you!!

…This morning, the sports world is abuzz with the news that Brett Favre just might come out of retirement (again) to play for the Minnesota Vikings!

It is pretty clear that the man is petty. He would like to stick it in the Green Bay Packers’ eye. That would be the one motivator for his return to the rigors of professional football.

There has been general tsk-tsking over this. ‘He can’t be allowed to come back just to satisfy a personal vendetta. He would have to show full commitment to the team!’ etc.

Let’s take a step back from this.

Please do not moralize at me over football. Football is not a religion that requires ritual purity. Football is a game.

When the Lord said, “Forgive your enemies,” He was not talking about during a football game. Games are FOR vendettas. Games are for score-settling. You are supposed to want to kick your opponents butt, and it makes it more fun when it is personal.

This is my humble sports-blogger position: There is only one thing that would keep me from mocking Brett Favre for coming back from retirement yet again. That would be if he came back to settle the score with the Packers. (Who never did him any real wrong, by the way.) The pettiness and bitterness of sports is what makes them fun. Save the moralizing for serious things.

…Circumstances have arisen which have moved me to prepare a brief synthesis of facts regarding marriage. Hopefully this synthesis will serve to put at rest the minds of well-meaning people who do not want to be on the wrong side of the ‘struggle for civil rights.’

Barring any technical difficulties, I will publish the little vademecum in a few hours…