The Judgement Seat by William Somerset Maugham, author of Makintosh – my take on this is at https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2024/07/makintosh-by-william-somerset-maugham.html and other outstanding stories - 10 out of 10

 

The Judgement Seat by William Somerset Maugham, author of Makintosh – my take on this is at https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2024/07/makintosh-by-william-somerset-maugham.html and other outstanding stories

 

10 out of 10

 

‘They awaited their turn patiently, but patience was no new thing to them; they had practiced it, all three of them, with grim determination, for thirty years…’ this is the start of the tale, and we are in front of The Judgement Seat, as in the place where He decides for eternity, it is not some court that establishes fines

 

Speaking of courts, what about that silly Supreme Court – but first, a spoiler alert is needed, because it is clear I will go off on a tangent, triggered by some of those words, I understand that AOC has just filed for impeachment, in the matter of the Justices Alito and Thomas, two corrupt, awful characters- not that the other four conservatives are respectable

I mean, they just gave immunity to the ultimate insurrectionist, Orange Jesus, the buffoon who keeps crying over a ‘stolen election’, and of course, if he loses, it must be rigged, he is ‘the very stable genius’, the best president ever, he can ‘grab women by the pussy’, and apparently, in the MAGA universe, they still vote for him…

 

What is the connection between this and The Judgement Seat, well, answer one, none really, answer two would be related to this God, who is either omniscient, and then he cannot miss what is happening, not this coming calamity anyway, and then he must interfere, he is either all good, and then it must be, or he does not have the power

We have an argument along these lines in The Judgement Seat, and I will refer to CS Lewis https://realini.blogspot.com/2023/09/surprised-by-joy-shape-of-my-early-life.html who was on the best experts on religion, he spoke about free will, and he made a rather compelling statement and argument on Jesus

 

You either accept Jesus Christ as the son of God, or else, he was the biggest fraud, or crazy, I think it is something to that effect, one of the things that make me doubt, is that some glorious people are or have been deeply religious, and that makes me pause and say, if CS Lewis, Andrei Plesu, believe, He may exist, or maybe He must be up there

Granted, other models of mine have rejected God, Kingsley Amis https://realini.blogspot.com/2023/03/lucky-jim-by-kingsley-amis-author-of.html said that ‘it is not that he does not believe, it is more that he hates Him’, the latter is referred to as ‘The Great Colorist and Sculptor…

In one of the stupendous novels, while in One Fat Englishman https://realini.blogspot.com/2022/08/one-fat-englishman-by-kingsley-amis.html the quite obnoxious protagonist has some funny speeches for God ‘look, you know how I am, so why do you keep doing this to me…’

 

If only we could take the Golden Mean of Aristotle, somehow navigate between rejecting, or hating the Great Sculptor and Colorist, and worshipping Him unconditionally, there are aspects of religion that are bizarre, if not much worse, depending on what you have chosen, which is mostly dependent on where you were born

Ricky Gervais – maybe somebody else before – pointed out that if you are born in India, then you feel Hinduism is wonderful (they have a minority of Muslims, to the tune of many millions, this being now the most populous land in the world) and it looks absurd that that is the right faith, the one dominating in the place of birth

 

‘Happiness Activity No 11: Practicing Religion and Spirituality- becoming more involved in your church, temple or mosque or reading and pondering spiritually themed books…’ you find this in the positive psychology classic The How of Happiness https://realini.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-how-of-happiness-by-sonja.html

There are genuine, evident advantages, which are detailed in the quintessential book, such as the feeling of belonging to a community, getting support from these places, groups, having this spiritual guidance, and so much more, for good reason, this is one of the activities that bring happiness, if you are inclined that way

 

At the other extreme, we have Nathaniel Branden, another acclaimed psychologist, the best expert in Self- esteem – he wrote another classic, The Six Pillars of Self Esteem – who took on the subject of faith and concluded that it has devastating impact, believers often give up on this life, waiting for the eternal one

In front of The Judgment Seat, they will present their immaculate slate, and then they will accede in paradise, for infinite bliss, only what if there is no such thing, then the only life we have will have been wasted, treated as an interlude https://realini.blogspot.com/2016/04/psychological-effects-of-religion-by.html

 Furthermore, other aspects of dogma are not just dangerous, since I mentioned the omniscient Sculptor and Colorist, he is there to watch, knowing you have masturbated as a teenager (and later) and since this is a sin, he will punish you severely, decades later, so you have to fear always, live in the shadow of this vengeful Bowing

 

Depeche Mode has a song, Blasphemous Rumors, in which they repeat ‘I think that God has a sick sense of humor, and when I die, I expect to find him laughing…’ they lament what happens to this suicidal girl, and another, converted, but still hit by tragedy

 

Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/unique-in-world.html?q=unique+in+the+world – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

 There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

 

Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works

 

‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’

 

‚Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’

 

“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”