Erasmian Christmas wishes

“Why do you cycle such distances, even through cold and rain, only to address people at schools where the name ‘Erasmus’ is on the door?” Well, the idea behind cycling was mainly to keep the body limber, but gradually it taught me to appreciate not only the destination, but also the journey itself. And the conversations about Erasmus were originally meant to keep the mind limber, but in the meantime it also taught me to appreciate Erasmus more.

So my whole Erasmus pilgrimage is primarily for my pleasure and in that sense I am not at all like Erasmus, who rarely did anything for his pleasure. As a young man he discovered in the classical texts and the Bible the handles for a happy life and then he devoted himself entirely to convincing people, high and low in society, men and women all over Europe, that they would become better people and happier if they were less concerned with their possessions and more concerned with each other’s happiness.

While he was certainly successful in his mission, Erasmus also experienced during his lifetime that, despite good intentions, people are prone to plunging each other and themselves into misery. Yet every year at Christmas we keep alive the hope for peace on earth and people who feel well with it. So wish each other a world Erasmus already dreamed of.