Sisyphus

Most of us are familiar with the story of Sisyphus, the tragic figure of Greek mythology sentenced by Zeus to roll a rock to the top of a hill in Hades only to have it roll down just before reaching the summit. We use the word Sisyphean to describe any burdensome and seemingly endless task but that is a distortion. Now I must admit during leaf season when the winds scatter their daily sprinkling of dead leaves over my freshly re-seeded lawn I am reminded of the curse but of course, unlike Sisyphus the only one sentencing me to the task of cleaning up is me.

Albert Camus viewed the story in a different way. He saw Sisyphus’ rebellion and subsequent punishment as a metaphor for the human desire for reason and meaning amidst the chaos and irrationality with which we are endlessly confronted. We desire tranquility, order, and reason, but we are faced with constant disappointment; a world in which anger, hatred, and self-destruction among other human emotions run rampant.

But there is another lesson to be found in this story, a redemptive arc that has meaning in our current divisive world. Let me start with a question: what gives our lives meaning? Most scholars would suggest that we find meaning in doing things which have purpose. The futility of the Sisyphean task is that it appears to be neither noble, beautiful, nor lasting. Its goal—to reach the top, is seemingly never ending, but is it without meaning?

I would submit that it is not without meaning, any more than the ordered repetition of a monastic life. Superficially, the contemplative simple life within the cloistered walls, the daily devotions and tasks serve no higher purpose—we might even regard them as selfish. But then how do we account for the peace, order, and enlightenment that is the objective? Can we say this life lacks nobility, or beauty?

While hardly of the same order, I might argue that my task working in the yard, has its satisfactions—healthy physical labor in the outdoors, awareness of nature’s ingenuity—the life cycle of the plants and animals that inhabit this space and its restorative nurture; birth, death and rejuvenation each Spring and Fall. From this perspective the work is less burdensome and more instructive. Meaning, it turns out, is where we find it—even in Sisyphean tasks.

I am not of the opinion that the world is destined to become more rational, peaceful and noble. No experience in my lifetime or in human history suggests this will be the case--however much we may desire it. If we are to survive in it, if we are to find meaning in its chaotic irrationality it must be from within.

Once before I recounted a story about a young acolyte studying to enter a contemplative order. Unexpectedly encountering the wisest elder in a hallway one day, the young man blurts out an impassioned question: Master, how does one learn to master the will; to become as you are? The elder leans close to the young man and says: Tonight, and every night thereafter place your shoes under your bed. Line them up so they are perfectly straight and so positioned that your feet will find them in the morning when you are still hazy with sleep.

It seems a simple and mindless task, this thing. It is the devotion to even this mundane task, each and every day without fail that trains the will. The lesson from Sisyphus and the story above is this: purpose begins within us no matter how modest the goal. Its careful tending leads us to enlightenment, and our daily devotion, while unceasing, is how we make sense of a chaotic world.