Revelation

By: Gabriela Yareliz

“Everything that exists deserves to perish.” Mephistopheles, in Goethe’s Faust

The quote above was Karl Marx’s favorite quote. Stay with me. 

This may feel random. This year, I have begun the year here giving a small window into my thoughts. I think about a lot of random things all the time. I find, at times, my mind doesn’t shut off. I used to share my thoughts more when I was younger and embodied more of a challenger frequency. I don’t share as much, but the thoughts never stop. Ha. 

So, here we are. I like sharing the things I learn and ruminate about because I don’t think them to be frivolous (at least not always). I like to provoke thought because I love to think and parse out ideas that challenge me. My early thoughts on philosophy are all documented and sprinkled here over time. And that’s the thing— as you read what I write, you see my journey and also, a snapshot in time. You get an idea as to my values and what matters to me.

There is a fascinating book called The Devil and Karl Marx by Dr. Paul Kengor, which explores Marx’s poetry and body of written work often conveniently ignored by historians and biographers; work done before his economic writing that offers a pretty clear window into his thoughts, values and soul.

His favorite quote is from a character that embodies the devil. And that is just the starting point here. You can learn more about Marx in Dr. Kengor’s interview with Dr. Jordan B. Peterson here. Or read the book.

This had me thinking— 

I find that so much of suffering comes from two things— refusing to accept reality and creating a fantasy about people or ideas in our heads (and clinging to the fantasy), or we listen to what others say about someone instead of reflecting on and heeding to what a person says about themselves. 

I have observed in more shallow relationships (by shallow I mean where people lack emotional depth, maturity or connection), sometimes between spouses or between children and their parents and even among coworkers or leadership, that there is often a lot of information and clues presented and in plain sight, but no one wants to go there. No one wants to see it. No one wants to connect the dots. The problem becomes when the dots are connected for you, and it all comes to a head. 

We would be wiser to start collecting the pieces of information we so freely receive and start mapping out reality, as inconvenient as it may be. (It’s more inconvenient to be slapped in the face with it later).

We must ignore the noise and accept what is in front of us. 

Without doing this, we can make a hero out of the devil, and a villain out of a righteous one. Isn’t that the great pain point of humanity’s history?