Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Casual Friday is Bad

As we've mentioned, things signify.  Clothes tell us something bout what we think, how we think, ya know - philosophy.  Most of our philosophy is formulated by the snippets of pseudo-thinking that we're surrounded by.

One philosophy is that Fridays are casual...

First of all, our Lord died on a Friday and anyone who has ever seen traditional breviaries or missals know that it pulses through the heart of the monk, which is the heart of the Church.  Friday is serious.  So what made it a "casual day?"  Certainly its because it is the last day of work before the weekend - ya know, the time when you get to be you and pamper you and focus on you.  You.

Modern men see their work as a build up to play.  That would necessarily indicate that man was made for play.  Play would then be the higher activity of man.  Dogs, however, know how to play.  Man's higher faculties include his will and intellect, most in their form when they are kickin it in the liturgy, not kickin it watching TV.

Now, I'm not saying don't rest and don't play, I'm saying don't see those things as ends, but means.  Also, balanced work is good, not bad.  Be virtuous at work.  Work because its good, not because you want to go to recess. 

Ol' Joe Pieper said that leisure is the basis of culture, because how we spend our "free" time indicates how we understand or misunderstand life, its meanings and fulfillment.  So take your weekend seriously.  Spend time with your family, cultivate friendships, read and study, see good films (not available at your local theater), cook real food, visit your local farmer, go to a play, and worship of course.  These are all serious things geared towards (or with) others, not simply you.  Its not just recess from hard big-people meany work; its culture.

And those things are the higher things, not the lower.  So if you want to gear up for the weekend, dress up on Friday, if for anything its because your comfy jeans wont help you think of the cross.