Pretty Interesting and Epicurious
Where It Was Always Headed Evidently
Longtime and unfazed-by-folly readers here are likely to recognize today’s title as yet another iteration of the acronym P.I.E. As you might remember, P.I.E. here most often stands for pretty interesting exploration in our story, The Story of Stu. But other trios have been truly worthy from time to time. The marketing guy thought this one up. Yes, I mean Wally. I like it.
Those of you more sensitive to the romance-related leanings of late may feel like Wally is getting a little left out. Some of you probably realized that in Saturday’s poem, in this stanza,
I walk into the shop to find
a boat with oars for three.
It’s about a choice,
three by design—for Rhettie, someone, me.
older brother Brit is acknowledging that he doesn’t really know if it’s Wally or Nathan or someone else that his sister Rhettie will choose, but that he will support her, them, in their partnership. Well, we can say marriage here, it’s okay, and maybe the best term after all. And that’s the segue back to the title. …Epicurious…
It’s a play on the name Epicurus, an ancient Greek philosopher (of sorts) who is known for deciding that the chief aim or even purpose of a human was to avoid pain and to seek tranquility and enjoyment (basically, but not comprehensively on Epicureanism). He was not a Hedonist, although it’s possible to twist anything into anything else if the will, intelligence, and disingenuousness is sufficient.
It’s from Epicurus’ teachings and followers that we get Epicureans, which can mean philosophical followers or it can refer simply to serious followers of good/interesting food and drink. It’s the latter meaning that the clever-ish term Epicurious comes from when describing someone curious about new food/drink.
But Wally is using it in another way, referring to the question of just what provides that balance between now and later, desire and deliberation, the tensions and compressions that make a life that’s connected to the future and to other people now and also then, real life, most enjoyable. It’s not a simple question nor even a simple curiosity.
Epicureans are mentioned in the New Testament by the apostle Paul. Maybe the Epicureans and the Stoics were the closest to the “Rationalism” which basically founded the United States two hundred and fifty years ago, not that the colonies weren’t full of other beliefs and metaphysical assumptions.
Brit and Nathan are pretty much full speed ahead with a “Jesus-adjacent” aesthetic in all this now, as evidenced by the stanza right after the one shown above from last Saturday’s poem. (They’ve called it “Jesus-adjacent” because the usual aspirational term “Christ-like” struck them both as too far, considering the metaphysical distinctions and all.) Anyway, the next stanza in Brit’s poem was
And someone else will use the boat,
just two, this second vision,
but there are always three
in what my grandma calls
One great decision.
That “third person” in the boat is known as the Holy Spirit in biblical terminology, muddying the water of just how the decision is made and who makes it, and muddying the water of what Catholics and Protestants fight about regarding works. Are you familiar with this? Wally wasn’t, but it’s been interesting to him.
After being teased a little for his hesitancy to use “As for me and my house, we will serve the 7th Pie” (a nearly blasphemous twist on a famous Old Testament verse), he proposed more provocative lines like “Work Works” and “The Pie Works” knowing that he was at least lightly stepping on the toes of those ready to fight about works in this domain. Could it be a suggestion of formulaic disciple-making? Works-based salvation? Works in what way? Fascinating.
Wally held this all out at arm’s length, both for the sake of his own mental comfort and for fulfilling his responsibility for messaging. Epicuriousity, indeed, was the underlying theme, even if it involved the metaphysical.
Let’s leave this short for today. To be continued on Saturday.
Thanks for reading : ).
Tim