Quoting James

This is a ‘letter’. This past Sunday was a great family day at Craigicello. Our boys came down to  celebrate younger son’s 26th birthday and Mother’s Day. To me, it was more; I called it Neo-Passover, but I’m not sure that will catch on with others. We were having our first meal together as a family inside the house since Christmas of 2019, before the plague began. I think this is a day, different for us all, that we should celebrate as a Passover. We also celebrated by doing some yard work that was a bit too strenuous for the old man.  

Waiting for lunch, the delicious poppy-seed chicken dish that is younger son’s favorite, we got to talking about their exam schedule for finals week (both at MTSU). That inspired me to want to read them James’s quote on tests, and flinging the books away. I went to my study and retrieved the (correct) Library of America volume. Before I read from it, they both admired the quality of the book. I showed them the two volumes, and told them they were what you and I referred to when talking James, and used shorthand, like saying ‘p836’.  

I said to them, “you know, like the old joke – number 4!” They didn’t know it, so my explanation was that a new prisoner was confused by other prisoners shouting out “number 4” or some other number, and then everybody laughing. It was explained to him that they’d all been in together so long, and knew all the jokes, that they had just numbered them to make it easier.  

I told them the p836 story, and how there was an entire concept in a passage on that page that I had related to Egoman. I then read the passage, and we talked about Egoman and the problems he causes us.  I went over to page 837, and read the passage about tests, and we had a good discussion about that too.

I realized later that we were having a philosophical discussion without talking ‘Philosophy’. We were talking about experience. That thought took me to James’s quote about defending experience against philosophy. 

Me sitting at the table with my sons, reading James from a nice book, reminded me of a deep memory of my grandmother Craig, wife of the more famous and influential Grandfather Craig. She would sit me down before her in that big black rocker chair, now in my living room, and read to me from the bible that was ever-present in her lap, and lecture me. I don’t remember enjoying it. If you recall, my GP2 began with me talking about the interminable lectures I received from this grandfather. It appears that I was getting it from both sides. 

And now, here am I, reading from the gospel of Wm. James to my sons before me, his lectures being the foundation of my lectures to my sons. It looks like Craigs are born lecturers. Thank goodness I have found such an abundant source of material.