“If any specific day is to be singled out from the rest and celebrated as a festival, this can only be done as the manifestation of a perpetual though hidden festivity.”
Josef Pieper, In Tune with the World: A Theory of Festivity
Easter joy. In these powerful words is signified a reality at the heart of Christianity. Easter is a celebration. It is a matter of joy, and joy happens when we receive something beloved.
Any real festivity is a matter of receiving something: something that is marvelously good and transcends our own doing or crafting. To be festive is to receive a gift and to enter it, with open arms and heart. And to be transformed by it—in all that we do and craft. Who could have imagined? Reality is always better than we have yet realized!
Truly to feast is to strive to realize just how good things are, and to see what we have been given. If only we could see.
We celebrate the feast at a certain time, for a certain number of days. We rightly take concrete actions to mark this time as festive and to set it apart from other times. When we do this, entering into the spirit of these days, we can find ourselves loathe to ‘go back’—to the work-a-day world, and what often seems a drudgery, if not an outright crucifixion.
But perhaps then the deeper reality begins to dawn on us. To the extent that we really succeed in entering into the feast—and as Pieper points out this cannot be taken for granted, and so we pray to be able to, and we wish it upon others in wishing them a good feast—we can discover the feast behind the feast. We discover the gift behind all gifts.
What an astounding notion Pieper suggests: setting aside special time for a festival is precisely for the manifestation of a perpetual though hidden festivity. A festivity that can be ours: if we are willing to receive it, and conform ourselves to it. Then it won’t be so hidden anymore, at least not for us.
Life is so good. We are so loved. To see this, is to see things as they are. It is to begin to share in the joy that underlies the universe.
Friedrich Nietzsche once poignantly wrote: “The trick is not to arrange a festival, but to find people who can enjoy it.” Perhaps we should say the trick is that we become the kind of people who can enjoy it. More fully. And we can begin by doing our best to keep the festival well, today.
Josef Pieper (1904-1997) was a German philosopher in the tradition of Thomas Aquinas. Many of his works have been translated into English and are still in print. In addition to In Tune with the World, his books include Leisure the Basis of Culture, Happiness and Contemplation, The Silence of St. Thomas, and The Four Cardinal Virtues, to name just a few.
Join the Community.
Become a LifeCraft Member and gain access to our online courses and exclusive content. It's FREE of charge. Period.
If you join as a contributing member, you will help make this content available to an increasing audience and enable me to spend more time in this work. I thank you in advance.
Join the LifeCraft community today and get access to:
- Man of the Household (Course)
- Woman of the Household (Course)
- Concepts Made Clear (Mini-course)
- Dinner at Home (Mini-course)
Facing Discouragement: A Greek Insight
Discouragement, or at least its temptation, regularly accompanies intentional living. Even if we do not formulate it explicitly we find ourselves feeling “why do the good things I want have to be so difficult?” It is a consolation to know this is not unique to our...
Toxic Fatherhood?
There are important analogies between a father in a family and a ruler in a nation. This is perhaps especially clear in the consequences of their failure. Aquinas writes that “royal dignity is rendered hateful to many people on account of the wickedness of tyrants.”...
Master of His Time
“He had no ‘time of his own’ (except in his bed-cell), and yet he was becoming master of his time; he began to know just what he could do with it.” J.R.R. Tolkien, Leaf by Niggle Many of the greatest traps of our day appear in the guise of simple math. One of them...
Husband, father, and professor of Philosophy. LifeCraft springs from one conviction: there is an ancient wisdom about how to live the good life in our homes, with our families; and it is worth our time to hearken to it. Let’s rediscover it together. Learn more.
“O loving wisdom of our God! / When all was sin and shame, / A second Adam to the fight / And to the rescue came.”
Fifth Choir of Angelicals from Newman’s <> Ll. 353-376