In a post
three years ago, I acknowledged the fifty-year anniversary of Dag Hammarskjöld’s
death, who was the current UN Secretary General. This year is the fiftieth anniversary of his
posthumously published book, Markings.
It was
actually brought to my attention by the comments of Sister Anne Wambach,
prioress of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie, PA. This was at a service marking the fifty-year
anniversary of monastic profession of some of their own. She noted that Markings “was a kind of spiritual diary, a collection of
reflections over a lifetime.”
When
reading the book, one can’t help but notice his introverted, and introspective,
nature. He grapples with his unusual position
as a deeply spiritual and deeply committed public official. (It’s too bad that that would be considered “unusual”!)
Hammarskjöld
comments on a number of things, but I especially appreciate his quirky entries:
“The ride
on the Witches’ Sabbath to the Dark Tower where we meet only ourselves,
ourselves, ourselves.” (51)
“Is your
disgust at your emptiness to be the only life with which you fill it?” (70)
Let’s find life on that road to the Dark Tower.
