Yesterday, reading Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mocking Bird’ I came across the Latin phrase ‘ad astra per aspera’. Literally it means ‘ad astra’ – ‘to the stars’; ‘per aspera’ – ‘through suffering’.
It’s a familiar idea. Every problem is an opportunity. Difficulties can lead to learning and personal development. Hardship and suffering aren’t obstacles but a necessary path to growth, excellence and reaching the stars.
The three lions that recently arrived from Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire to our local ‘Africa Alive’ have settled in really well and have started bonding with keepers.
This week, on local TV, we saw Bertie, Will and Mak let outside into the paddock for the first time. Frankie Bleasdale Partridge, from Africa Alive, said: ‘They’ve come out, they’ve explored and they have been really quite calm and well behaved.’
They hope the lions’ arrival will take the zoo ‘ad astra’ without any ‘per aspera’.
Last night we saw an excellent production of ‘Miss Saigon’ in Norwich. In the last days of the Vietnam War, Kim, working in a Saigon bar, meets and falls in love with Chris, an American GI. Chris returns to the US not knowing that he’s fathered a son…
The horrors of war, women exploited, forced marriage, murder, tangled impossible love, PTSD, suicide… create the Romeo and Juliet tragedy with a young child’s welfare adding to the complexity.
The characters all seek ‘ad astra’; none find it. All travel ‘per aspera’ to a tragic end.
This morning, reading Job’s words:
What if I call the grave my father,
and the maggot my mother or my sister?
Where then is my hope?
Can anyone find it?
No, my hope will go down with me to the grave.
We will rest together in the dust!” (17:14-16)
‘Per aspera’ surrounds him; there’s no escape from his suffering. ‘Ad astra’ is out of sight. And yet, as eventually all is resolved, his experience is that of many of the Biblical narratives – Joseph, Paul, Jesus… ‘Ad astra per aspera’ – ‘To the stars through suffering’.
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