Sunday, April 3, 2016

King Arthur: Humanist



Near the end of his life, our great King Arthur seeks answers to questions that still haunt humanity. He is alone in his pavilion on the battlefield at Kent, exhausted, old, and weak. Is he resting for his battle with Mordred, his son? No, he is wrestling with the eternal questions about why human beings have wars. Why would he waste time trying to figure out what is still unsolvable? He does it for us, for humanity.
Arthur does not believe in original sin. Therefore, he does not believe that humans are born evil. Instead, he believes that people are basically good. You see, Arthur believes that people can live successfully by reason—that we can figure out what troubles us and find solutions without fighting. Arthur is a lover of humanity, of all living things. Have we not always known this about Arthur? Did we not notice his ingenuousness when he was Merlin’s pupil? Our king is in denial about his best friend and his wife—he cannot conceive in dishonor or hatred in anyone he loves. And he loves both Lancelot and Guinevere. It also seems as if he cannot see Mordred’s obsessive hatred for Lancelot. King Arthur's justice may seem odd to us, but that is because it is pure, free of partiality.

I am incredulous that even as an old man, King Arthur is almost as innocent as he was as a youth. Why do you think I have dedicated myself to testing the worthiness of his knights? I do it for my king—to be part of something greater than I, something that will benefit humanity. King Arthur believes in his knights to the core of his being, making him vulnerable. And I will not stand by and let such a good man be taken advantage of if I can do anything about it.
Our king has become a great teacher in his own right—Merlin would be so proud of his pupil. King Arthur has already figured out that the reasons for war are complex. But he shares them with us so that we can take up where he leaves off, so that we will hopefully find a “cure” for wars. He tells us some of the possibilities for war—suspicion, fear, possessiveness, greed, resentment, and ancestral wrongs. It is up to each of us to take up our symbolic Excalibur and use our might for right.
When King Arthur tells Thomas to remember what he says, he is talking all of us. King Arthur is handing us his candle in the wind, and we must not let it go out.  
Yours in peace,
Bertilak   

1 comment:

  1. Bertilak,

    I love the way you introduce your thoughts. You're so right. Arthur thought for us - for humanity. My only questioning forms out of your address on Arthur's feelings toward Guinevere and Lancelot. You say he was in denial. Maybe he was in denial, and maybe I'm giving Arthur too much credit for wisdom, but I think it was tactic, not denial, that directed him. In addition, the poor guy was torn. Arthur did love both Guinevere and Lancelot, and he definitely knew about their relationship with each other, but he had to have known two other things as well: the people he loves are happy, but they'd be executed or banished if proof of their affair got out. Arthur takes an emotional seat in the situation, rather than a political one, and I don't think he could have done anything differently without sending an entirely unintended message!

    -Lady of the Lake

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