Who is Portia and what's a piazza?

About five years ago, I ventured into the blogosphere. "Portia" has always been my pseudonym as she is my favorite Shakespearean character, even one I'd venture to say I'd like to emulate (minus the silly deception of her husband). I thought I'd take a second to explain to those unfamiliar with Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice who Portia is. Also, a piazza is a square, in Italian.

Here's my explanation, written approximately three years ago:

Who is Portia? Portia is quite possibly one of the most brilliant of the Shakespearean heroines. In Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, Portia is a beautiful young woman in search of a husband. Her father has just passed away and had certain stipulations about the process by which a suitor would become her husband. Being a woman with a deep sense of duty and honor, she abides by her father's rules, but with a certain flair that only she could possess.

In the play, Antonio, a friend of Portia's finds himself in debt to a Jewish money lender named Shylock (you probably know him from his famous "If you prick us, do we not bleed" speech). Shylock is technically entitled to a pound of Antonio's flesh if Antonio cannot come up with the money, which, of course he cannot due to some unforeseen nautical issues. Portia masquerades as an attorney and begins with an argument full of pathos, appealing to the court and Shylock to show mercy. However, when that doesn't go over too well, she bends the law to such an extent that the court has no choice but to forgive the man's debt. Mercy didn't work, so she gave them the law.

In case you hadn't read it, her famed beckon for mercy:

The quality of mercy is not strain'd,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway;
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God's
When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew,
Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
That, in the course of justice, none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy. I have spoke thus much
To mitigate the justice of thy plea;
Which if thou follow, this strict court of Venice
Must needs give sentence 'gainst the merchant there.

This all begs the question, is this site named Portia's Piazza because the site owner fancies herself her modern day archetype? Not one bit. But it's a noble pursuit. I love great writing, brilliant arguments and beautiful things. Portia seemed like a good fit. But you can be the judge of that.

Celebrating Manners

Today is Emily Post's birthday. She has certainly been a social hero of mine, not just because we have the same name, but because she is largely responsible for the popularity of manners in American society. William Wilberforce was responsible for revitalizing British society, and I think it's safe to say that Post had a hand in cultivating it on our soil.

But we've come a long way from those days. I'm continually horrified at the lack of manners in our society. The area I now call home is full of very nice people, so I'm blessed in that regard. But as a whole, and the more I travel, the more I realize how uncivilized much of our society can appear. Just go to any sporting event if you doubt me.

In part, this can be attributed to a positive change in society. Once strict classes were somewhat dissolved, and there was no marked difference between upper middle class and upper class, things became less formal and people behaved by fewer rules. The positive here is that there aren't caste-like social strata in the U.S. like there used to be. Of course there's the rich and the rest of us, but nothing like it was even 60 years ago. We no longer need heavy guide books like Ms. Post's to even communicate with those well above our station. In fact, most wealthy and prominent figures today act about as low class as one could imagine (see: nearly every celebrity).

While the shift in America's social economy is nice, it is too bad we threw the baby out with the bathwater and rid ourselves of most formal rules of etiquette. Rather than viewing manners as posh and only for the fabulously wealthy, it should have been taught to the masses to promote a more civil and classy society, regardless of economic standing. But that's just my humble opinion.

Read more about Ms. Post and how truly classy she was here. And for an entertaining read on manners, its history and present status, I highly recommend Lynne Truss' Talk to the Hand: The Utter Bloody Rudeness of the World Today, or Six Good Reasons to Stay Home and Bolt the Door. It's a marvelous book, and probably funnier in audio book format. I've "heard" both her books and found them all the more engaging with her snobby English accent.

Spiritual ADD

Authors throughout antiquity have wrote of their pension for wandering from the fold. I am certainly less articulate and not the last writer to put pen to paper on the subject...

"I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ" Galatians 1:6a

Paul was astonished, and so am I. Countless times, God has explicitly given me direction and often has physically moved me to limit distractions from that direction. And I am still able to find ways to veer from the path He's set before me. My friends and I call this "The Shiny Syndrome." If you've ever put something shiny in front of a fishbowl, it's amusing to watch certain fish stop what they are doing to chase the shimmer. The same with laser pointers and dogs, or cats. Not only are they fascinated by this light, they must catch it. And the same can be said of my nature. I can be hot pursuit of God and His will for my life, and then this little devil on the side of the road flashes some shiny, cheap object in my peripheral vision, and bam! I'm caught in wonder of this elusive object and must chase it.

I do not anticipate this ever letting up. Sometimes, I am impressed with my focus. I simply bat away the shiny distractor and keep moving. Other times, and more recently, I can't resist it. And I wander, leaving my Savior behind me while I chase low grade, temporary experiences.

Again, to defer to an author far superior to myself, C.S. Lewis (my favorite Christian thinker) said in The Weight of Glory,

Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

All I can do once I realize the pathetic nature of the distraction is simply run back to the path I was on, plead for my Savior to forgive me and set my gaze upon Him. If only He'd give me permanent spiritual blinders. Life would be all the easier for that, yet probably not nearly as rewarding that He was receiving the love of followers who loved Him in a passively forced manner. What a God we serve--He trusts us enough to walk along the path with all manner of billboard distractions and lies vying desperately for our attention. And He trusts the Word He's implanted in our hearts. That, in the end, we will not depart from it. And when we don't, how much sweeter is our love for Him. It is a choice made, knowing the counterfeits offered to us by the spiritual con men at the side of the road.

I'm back on the road, determined to keep my eyes affixed on the One who sacrificed far more than my little mind could ever imagine, so that I may have a life more abundant than the one presented by the shrill, unceasing voices off the road less traveled.

Though I fall, I know He's there to catch me. Though I wander, He's faithful to pursue me and woo me back to the life He's intended. And I am in utter awe of His faithfulness and patience with His attention deficit riddled little girl. What a God we serve.