No Unfinished Business

Filip de Sagher

One of the first acts of ancient peoples was to build a system to keep track of time.

That was crucial for the survival of their societies . . . they needed to know when to plant. No plant, no food, no life. They found the fundamentals high up in the firmament and employed the moon and the sun for their earthly endeavours.

As a result they invented the calendar. Our Monday (the moon) and our Sunday (the sun) still refer to the anchor points in the system. That Roman genius Julius Caesar most famously reformed the calendar in a form still known to us. One month (yes, there is the “moon” again) was even named after him: July.

He became the first Roman Emperor. In some countries, they used his last name for the top position—the German Kaiser and the Russian Tsar.

The calendar allowed us to plant and to plan. From the Latin agere, to act, we created the agenda, a list of action-items. Both words, agenda and calendar, are used interchangeably these days.

A tool that expanded the system became known through an Arabic word—almanac. Many words starting with al appear to have an Arabic origin, such as alcohol and algebra. The almanac became a useful manual because it added key information to our calendars—tide tables, planting dates, names of Saints (important for scheduling festivals), and so on . . .

From listing action-items and recording relevant facts to attempting to predict future events was only a small step. But it took a leap of faith.

Astronomy, the study of the stars, led to the pseudo-science of astrology, the interpretation of the locations and movements of the stars. Some believed the constellations (stella, Latin for star) had an influence on human conduct.

Those who portrayed themselves as able to forecast events and provide guidance for future conduct became known as prophets, from the Greek prophesy, to predict. The word predict is Latin. Both words mean to foretell or to forecast.

Arguably, the most famous or infamous was the 16th century seer Nostradamus. The French philosopher wrote during the years of the plague known as the Black Death. Survivors back then desperately needed to hear what else the future held in store and he obliged.

His predictions took him far into the future. They are formulated in such vague terms that still today many credit him with accurately predicting major events.

That was, however, many moons ago. One valuable lesson we can take away from this brief etymological history is: Make hay while the sun shines.

Because it is written in the stars that life does come to an end, as certain as the rising and setting of the sun and the rotations of the moon.

As such, planning for our demise, as well as our diminishing health, should be a priority actionitem on anyone’s agenda. Who wants to leave unfinished business behind?

The British Columbia lawmaker has provided the tools—think Will, Power of Attorney, and Representation Agreement; any BC Notary Public is well-versed in advising you how to use them.

I am not promising you the moon but once your planning documents are in place, you can ride off into the sunset. With no agenda, hidden or otherwise s Notary Public Filip de Sagher is the Manager of Complaints at The Society of Notaries Public of British Columbia.