A Spiritual Exercise Concerning Cuba’s Alfredo Despaigne

In his Discourses, noted Roman Stoic Epictetus proclaims that, to live a life free from anxiety, that each of us must become like a “spiritual athlete.” To that end, NotGraphs presents this exercise, with a view towards helping to tighten and tone the spirits of the readership.

A pair of she-bears take a long loving look at the real while also devouring some children.

Notes
In his challenging text on the nature of the contemplative life, 1974’s The Human Adventure, Carmelite monk William McNamara invites the reader to take what he calls “a long loving look at the real.”

During the final game of Pool A play this morning in Fukuoka (box), Cuban left fielder Alfredo Despaigne either did or did not accept McNamara’s invitation following his eighth-inning home run off Japanese right-hander Takeru Imamura.

To wit:

Exercise
The spiritual athlete will first consider Despaigne’s conduct. Is he embracing fully McNamara’s challenge to immerse himself in the wild possibilities of life? Or, by means of his slow exit from the batter’s box, is he merely attempting to signal the dominance of his “self” over Imamura’s? Are these behaviors mutually exclusive?

Next, the spiritual athlete ought to attempt to admire the fruit of one of his own labors as deeply as Despaigne does his home run — not, perhaps as Despaigne does (i.e. as an expression of personal achievement), but rather as a sign of what any human is capable of producing.