The Tarp that Hides Nothing

Of all the important things happening in Washington and the world, the news is inordinately focused on two trivial matters: the mall’s Reflecting Pool and the tarp in front of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Of the two, the pool has gotten more attention in the press. Many writers have opined about how the debacle of the pool renovation is an apt metaphor for this administration. I will not jump on that bandwagon.

The “tarp that hides nothing” is a much more interesting metaphor. Why is the covering still up at the entrance of the Kennedy Center? What is its purpose? The court wants to know! Americans want to know! Clandestinely snapped photos have peeked behind the tarp and shown that the appellation of “he who must not be named” is truly gone. So what is the big deal?

My guess is that the Center’s new board is making a statement that they have not given up hope that the name of the present resident of the White House will be reinstated. In other words: “This is not over yet!” To me, this act of defiance by the JFK Center’s board feels like a childish gesture. Who cares? Do not waste the court’s time on this. Let these appointees have this little symbolic victory.

I am more interested in the human desire that put both presidents’ names on that wall. Such a desire is not unique to this present president, although he seems more obsessed with it than most presidents. The golden statue of himself on his golf course is a cringeworthy example. Usually, presidents hope for such monumental recognition after their presidency or after their death, not before their legacy has been determined.

The desire to have one’s name etched into monuments and lauded in history books is a widespread phenomenon. It is clearly an attempt to cheat death, to live on after death in the minds and hearts of those left behind. That is what the Pharaohs’ pyramids were all about. That is what presidential libraries are all about.

You do not have to be a national figure to engage in this activity. If you have enough money, you can have a wing of a hospital named after you, or a building on the campus of your alma mater. Every church I have served as pastor have had bronze plaques and stained-glass windows etched with past contributors’ names.

For some of us, it is our name placed on the cover of an original book, at the bottom of a work of art, or on a trophy, medal, or award. Most people settle for the hope that their memory will live on in photos and in the hearts and minds of their children, grandchildren, and possibly great-grandchildren. That is as far as our immortality can expect to go.

It all is a fool’s game. Sorry, folks. It is futile. As the author of Ecclesiastes (traditionally the wise King Solomon) put it, “Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.... There is no remembrance of the former generations; neither shall there be any remembrance of the latter generations that are to come, among those that shall come after.... Behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.”

I once read that another possible translation of this last phrase is “passing wind” (or the more common colloquial equivalent). This is a much more colorful interpretation than the traditional “vexation of spirit!” It also shows that even biblical authors have a sense of humor, which is often overlooked in translations.

The whole pursuit of being remembered by society after our death is based on the belief in an individual self. The name that we want etched in stone is nothing more than an idea in the human mind. It has no basis in reality. When the façade is pulled back, there is nothing there. This is a wonderful revelation when it is seen firsthand! Then we do not have to spend time striving after that wind.

The desire to have the memory of our existence last forever – or at least for a long time - is just a way for the human ego to avoid the reality of its mortality. This is true not only of our president, but for all of us. We are very similar to him, although we are loath to admit it. Our ambitions and delusions are simply more modest. Our name is no more permanent than the breath that carries it.

On the other hand, our true nature is eternal. It is beyond names. It is beyond human existence. Our true nature is more permanent than stone or gold, monuments or history books. Let King Nebuchadnezzar and President Trump have their golden statues. Reality is so much more valuable and permanent. When we uncover the truth, we know Eternal Life.

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