Wisdom from St. Bernard

Happy New Year

This new years day, I am eating a simple lucky bean stew with labne and lemon (my fiance is a masterful chef) and listening to Colin Newman, lighting my favorite scented candle, and re-reading Four Times Through the Labyrinth.

This book is, in essence, an existential picture book for adults. You could zone out and look at the pictures, or really start delving deep into the context of each image.

Upon this new years day, this particular page struck me anew.

I don’t know which St. Bernard made up this little word puzzle. There are two main St. Bernards- one from Clairvaux and one from Montjoux. The former looked over beekeepers and candlemakers, the latter over mountaineers and hikers (hence the name of the rescue dog).

No matter which guy this was, I am a lover of both St. Bernards and candles, and so I felt inclined to try to take his wisdom seriously. I took on the project of translating this word “labyrinth.”

I am no classics scholar and any corrections are welcome

To Translate that Translation- these are the five pearls of wisdom from St. Bernard:

1. Never say all you know, for those who say all they know often hear what they don’t want (to)

2. Never do all you can, for those who do all they can often encounter what they can’t trust

3. Never believe all you hear, for those who believe all they hear often believe was isn’t there

4. Never give all you have, for those who give all they have often beg for what they lack

5. Never judge all you see, for those who judge all they see hate what they shouldn’t

Although I’m feeling very proud of myself for translating this (lol) - I disagree with much of this wisdom.

After spending the morning watching the historic inaugurations of Zohran Mamdani, Jumaane Williams, and Mark Levine, I am feeling so full of hope…and something that feels like delight?

I recognize that this is almost certainly naive (they are, after all, politicians. See Marilynne Robinson’s open-eyed anaylsis). But I’m tired of tampering my expectations. I had started to give up all hope of change. I had succumbed to indifference. I’m taking this feeling of joy and optimism for what it is: a feeling right now in the moment. I feel like a plant who is just being watered for the first time in weeks.

And today, I feel like ignoring most of St. Bernard’s advice.

I want to say all I know and do all I can and give all I have.

(But ok, you were right about numbers 3 and 5, St. Bernard).

From my desk in 2025, where I spent the majority of my time

Today, for now, I feel like things can change. You can change. We can change.

Or at least, once a year, I get to believe we can. And that’s enough.

Thank you for reading, thank you for listening, and a very happy 2026 to you. May it be full of the change you want.