nemesis catches up with us
So much of our worldviews today find their roots in the Hellenistic period.
The Hellenistic period was a significant time in Greek history that gave rise to stories, theories, and inventions that informed how humans understood the world. This period gave us Socrates, Pythagorean Theory, a deeper understanding of the nervous system, screws, steam engines, alarm clocks, etc.
Heck, the industrial revolution might never have happened if the Hellenistic period didn’t.
And although the Hellenistic period came to an end as Christian and other religious missionaries made their way to various parts of the world, there are some similarities between the Hellenistic philosophies and the way religion encourages us to approach life. But amongst many similarities, one that stands out to me is the concept of divine retribution.
Divine Retribution is the idea that every good deed deserves a supernatural blessing and every transgression (e.g., sin) deserves a supernatural punishment. Hellenists believed this, and all Abrahamic religions support this idea.
But even before Hellenists, or the disciples who received the Great Commission, pushed this idea, Greek poets, like Hesiod and Stasinus, found ways to weave it into their works. They even gave it a name: Nemesis.
Nemesis is a term that describes the consequences of our negative actions. Although it is also the name given to a Greek god, it could be an event or a person. Whatever the case may be, it could be one’s ultimate, somewhat-inevitable downfall. And I think it’s real.
We all have that one thing that we know could take us down at any given moment if we are careless enough. The longer we continue to walk a specific path or fail to do away with certain vices, the more likely it is for nemesis to catch up with us.
I believe my true nemesis is time.
I don’t understand the concept of time. Of course, at a high level, I know what time means in the context of a clock, the Gregorian calendar, or the rotation of the earth and its revolution around the sun. But, as a concept, I have no clue what time means.
Is time a dimension? Is it a regulator of change? Is it a physical identity? Is it an experience? Is it relative? Or is it simply part of human consciousness?
Maybe I’ve seen too many seasons of Westworld, and that’s done a number of me. Maybe, I don’t know. But the concept of time eludes me, and at several moments in my life, I think my lack of understanding has made me act carelessly; sometimes rushing to get things done and sometimes acting without a sense of urgency, and both times, never knowing which is right.
And regardless of the season of life that I’m in, this is something that I’ve struggled with. Even now, as a father, I’m either making the most or misusing the time that I have with my family, but I never know which is which. The same thing applies to my career, business, and relationships. And at some point, whether I like it or not, time will definitely catch up with me.
So for all that Hellenistic philosophies, religious tenets, or Greek mythologies may be worth, they all got one thing right. We all have a nemesis, and at some point, it will catch up with us.
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