12Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance; 13bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, if any man has a complaint against any; even as Christ forgave you, so you also do. 14Above all these things, walk in love, which is the bond of perfection. 15And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. 16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord. 17Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father, through him.
This passage treats character like a wardrobe chosen each morning: patience, humility, forgiveness, and kindness put on deliberately rather than waiting for a mood to arrive. It names love as the thing that holds the rest together, which is a useful reminder that virtues work best in company. Gratitude runs through it too, as a steady habit more than a feeling. On a Sunday, it invites us to carry that ordinary, practiced goodness into the week ahead, in what we say and in how we do our work.
When you get an external impression of some pleasure, guard yourself, as with impressions in general, against being carried away by it; nay, let the matter wait upon your leisure, and give yourself a little delay. Next think of the two periods of time, first, that in which you will enjoy your pleasure, and second, that in which, after the enjoyment is over, you will later repent and revile your own self; and set over against these two periods of time how much joy and self-satisfaction you will get if you refrain. However, if you feel that a suitable occasion has arisen to do the deed, be careful not to allow its enticement, and sweetness, and attractiveness to overcome you; but set over against all this the thought, how much better is the consciousness of having won a victory over it.
W. A. Oldfather, 1928
Epictetus was born a slave, gained his freedom, and taught philosophy in Nicopolis in Greece, where his student Arrian wrote down his lectures. Arrian also drew the short Enchiridion, or 'handbook', from those teachings, and it survived through centuries of copying in the Greek-speaking world.
Most of us don't lose our footing to big temptations. We lose it to small ones that arrive looking harmless: a second helping, a late-night scroll, a sharp reply we're eager to send. Epictetus doesn't tell us to despise pleasure. He asks us to stall it a little and picture the version of ourselves who comes afterward. That later self is usually the one who pays for the bargain. The pause is rarely a loss. It gives you room to choose, and there is a quiet satisfaction in having chosen.
PracticeThe next time you feel a strong pull toward something you may regret, such as a snack, a purchase, a message or a bit of gossip, wait ten minutes before acting. During that time, picture how you will feel an hour later if you give in, and how you will feel if you hold off. Then decide.
When the US took over Alaska on October 18, 1867, the town's calendar was reset. Residents got two Fridays in a row.
The treaty was signed in a hurry. On the evening of March 29, 1867, Russia's minister, Eduard de Stoeckl, brought Secretary of State William Seward word that St. Petersburg had approved the sale. Stoeckl offered to start work the next day. Seward said they should do it that night. The two men signed at about 4 a.m. on March 30. The price was $7.2 million in gold, about two cents an acre.
The handover came on Friday, October 18, at Sitka, on a gray afternoon at the governor's residence on Castle Hill. Russian and American troops lined up, and cannon fired from ships in the harbor. Then the Russian flag jammed on its pole. According to one eyewitness account, two soldiers climbed up and failed before a third brought it down. Captain Aleksei Peshchurov then told General Lovell Rousseau that he transferred the territory to the United States.
The calendar changed too. Russia still used the Julian calendar, which ran 12 days behind the Gregorian one. Alaska had also counted its days on the Asian side of the International Date Line, because its settlers had come from Siberia. Under American rule it moved to the other side. The net effect was that Friday, October 6 (Julian) was followed by another Friday, October 18. Alaskans lost 11 days, not 12.
Payment was slower. Congress did not appropriate the money until July 1868, and the Treasury issued the draft on August 1. A House inquiry that winter looked into where some of the money had gone, since Stoeckl had paid lobbyists. It reached no firm conclusion.
RememberAlaska changed hands on a Friday that followed another Friday, because the territory switched calendars and crossed the International Date Line on the same afternoon.
Read nextMilton O. Gustafson, "Seward's Bargain: The Alaska Purchase from Russia" (Prologue, Winter 1994)
Source: U.S. National Archives, Prologue: "Seward's Bargain: The Alaska Purchase from Russia"