Lecture 12 June 2024

Lecture 12 June 2024

John Donne (1571- 1631) was an English poet, scholar, soldier and secretary later becoming a cleric in the Church of England.  In 1621 he was appointed as Dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.  My introduction to John Donne started in a high school English class.  Among his numerous works is one titled Devotions upon Emergent Occasions.  The work is a collection of writings Donne called meditations.  Meditation XVII is of particular interest. It is apparent that this work was of interest to the American author, Ernest Hemingway.  He used an excerpt from it as the title for one of his books. I admit that I have not read Hemingway’s book.

Meditation XVII speaks of illness.  Apparently, it was the custom in England during Donne’s time to announce the serious illness of someone of importance with the ringing of the local church bell.  Donne, writing 300 years before the founding of the Knights clearly expresses the basic concept of the second of our founding principle.

Donne wrote, “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.”  His meaning is clear.  No one can exist in isolation for very long but although we are individuals, we are dependent upon each other for just about everything. As our world continues to progress, we are becoming increasingly dependent on others.  It wasn’t too many years ago when a person could tune up the family car.   You could change the spark plugs, change and adjust the points and adjust the carburetor. No more.  Those parts for the most part no longer exist. Now you need a computer to analyze what is wrong with the family car.  Maintaining the family car today consists of taking it to a qualified mechanic who has the necessary equipment and knowledge to identify the problem and make the necessary repairs.

Our principle of Unity tells us that together we are stronger than we are as individuals.  Remember the demonstration during the Exemplification.  It is more difficult to demonstrate but Unity also means we are dependent on each other’s strength and knowledge. 

Donne continued, “If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were: “The loss of one member diminishes all of us.   Too often a candidate goes through the Exemplification ceremony becoming a 3^rd degree Knight and we no longer see him again.  Our third founding principle is Fraternity – brotherhood.  Imagine how you would feel if one of your brothers should cut himself off from your family.  I can only imagine the pain, the despair, and the sense of loss.  Probably followed by the questioning of ‘what did I do to cause this to happen?’ And what could I have done differently?  It is in all our interests to do what we can to encourage every brother Knight to become active in Council activities.

We do not have to rely on an English poet to express the concept of unity.  One of our founders commented on the signing of our Declaration of Independence.  The essence of his comment was that by signing the Declaration they were committing their very lives to supporting the war for independence for if they should lose the war, they would all hang together.  Not fully supporting the war could mean they would all hang separately.

Donne continues, “. . . any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.“

The loss of any member lessens the Council.  Some losses are unavoidable, members move, they become ill, and they die.  What we must concentrate on is those losses which are avoidable.

Donne began his Meditation writing about the bell tolling for a member becoming ill.  We no longer toll a bell for illness.  Today the bell tolls at our funeral mass.  The tolling bell cannot be heard by the deceased, but it is heard by the living so for whom does the bell toll?  It tolls for you.  It tolls for me.  It tolls for all of us.

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