For the holiday season

Time, Place

At this time of year in 1957, Dag Hammarskjöld made two concluding entries—one could say, side by side—in his private journal. The first, written during a rare few days in his native Sweden, reflects with dry wit the absurdities of political life. The second was written just two days later though far from Sweden, in the Gaza Strip where he flew to spend Christmas with the UN peacekeeping force on duty there. Always sensitive to the natural setting, he must have discovered in the beauty of the desert a religious reminder. And so we meet this man again, unafraid of action, unafraid of contemplation.

The next edition of this online exploration will publish just after the New Year. As he wrote to a friend earlier in 1957: ‘You cannot both fight at the front line and see the battle in perspective. But a week in Paris could correct that.’

Warm holiday wishes to Dag Hammarskjöld’s readers.

Hammarskjöld wrote:

The madman shouted in the market place. No one stopped to answer him. Thus it was confirmed that his thesis was incontrovertible.
(Markings, 161)

In Thy wind—in Thy light—
How insignificant is everything else, how small are we—
And how happy in that which alone is great.
(Markings, 161)

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