I’m curious to know Percy’s thoughts on the monastic life. His literature is filled with souls looking to find purpose in the everydayness of things, but what if someone checked out of everyday modernity in favor of the monastic?  Father Smith did this in The Thanatos Syndrome, and I wonder if Percy considered the life of a stylite the answer for those ready to commit to more than a Binx-like search.

When Tom Moore asks Father Smith why he became a priest, his response is simply “What else?” When pushed to elaborates he says that given the chance, one must choose life or death.

For centuries monastics have committed themselves to service, but once he was no longer able to serve the dying, Father Smith simply climbed to the top of a fire tower and wouldn’t come down. However, even in his seclusion he had a mission. He scanned the horizon looking for signs of trouble. When he found it, he triangulated the source and sounded an alarm. We all know that you can’t see the forest for the trees, but from Father Smith’s lofty heights he clearly saw the forest reach from hilltop to hilltop.

What I’m wondering if what happens after the search? What happens when we realize that we are pilgrims in a strange land? Should we do the best we can walking through the woods, or should we take to a tower ready to sound the alarm?

Tags: Father Smith, monastic, The Thanatos Syndrome

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Why is it some people cannot live without constant affirmation and others appear oblivious? I am in the former camp. As much as I would prefer otherwise, I need a steady drip of affirmation to survive. Not a gushing stream of patronizing backslapping, but a consistent trickle of pleasing words from others saying I’m an okay guy doing good things.

I soak up these gentle affirmations from strangers and loved ones alike. In a way, I like an affirming word from a stranger most of all. I suppose this is because I am superficial enough to believe that if I seem okay to the casual observer, I can probably fake my way through many of life’s hurdles. Unfortunately, I’ve found that I often require about as much outside affirmation as does a high school drama queen. I don’t need people to fall in love with me, but I do need them to respect and admire me. I wish it wasn’t so, but then again this weakness probably fueled the creation of this website and much of my success in life.

I know this all stems from self-esteem issues. Can anything be more boring that talking about poor self-esteem? The phrase itself just drips with weakness. Those seriously afflicted with this condition are the personification of the pathetic. I’m not so naive as to believe that only the nerdy and lonely bear this burden. I’m sure the college quarterback and lead cheerleader also have self-esteem issues. Perhaps that was the very thing that pushed them to achieve tangible success. I have no idea whether we should blame nature or nurture for this affliction, but for some it is as strong as the bottle to an addict.

Achievement itself rarely helps, all it does is raise the stakes and the disease gets stronger. Some treatments that do help are the love of a dedicated spouse and the unconditional love of a child. Few things are better than the latter because not only is the love itself affirming, but the inner-strength that rises up once you know you must care for your child is incredible. However, this is no magic pill. Many parents’ self-esteem problems create a living hell of drama and even abuse for their children.

I think the disease points to its own cure. The constant need for affirmation and the root problem of poor self-esteem must be resolved outside of ourselves. Being human we attempt to seek solace in the affirmation of other humans. We hope that like an intricate jigsaw puzzle, our strengths and weaknesses will fit perfectly with converse strengths and weaknesses in others. Sometimes this helps, but a better solution is to move beyond the patchwork of human frailties and instead seek affirmation in the ultimate mystery of divine love.

Now, I will quickly say more than I know about how to seek affirmation in the love of God, but I know this is the key. I know that the complex story of creation and redemption lead us to this conclusion. I need to spend more time in thought and prayer on this, but I’m sure the only way I will feel ultimately affirmed is when I stop seeking a human solution to a spiritual problem.

Tags: affirmation, love, self-esteem

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I recently found a blog with an intriguing post on the likes and dislikes of Christian Hipsters. The author has identified the unique qualities of a new breed of Christian who is proud of his faith, but also actively engaged with modern culture. When writing about authors favored by Christian Hipsters, he provides the following list:

They tend to be fans of any number of the following authors: Flannery O’Connor, Walker Percy, Wendell Berry, Thomas Merton, John Howard Yoder, Walter Brueggemann, N.T. Wright, Brennan Manning, Eugene Peterson, Anne Lamott, C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton, Henri Nouwen, Soren Kierkegaard, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Annie Dillard, Marilynne Robison, Chuck Klosterman, David Sedaris, or anything ancient and/or philosophically important.

It is hard to argue with this list. By this criteria alone, I suppose I should attend the next hipster meeting…. Who am I kidding, hipsters are too cool for meetings.

Tags: hipsters

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I agree with you about St. Thomas More.  He is, for us, the Road Back. For our countrymen, I mean, for Southerners…. He is the man to pray to for the conversion of the South. One of the stumbling blocks to the Southerner (or American) who is drawn to the Church is that he sees not the Church of More, not the English church which is his spiritual home, but the Church of St. Alphonsus by way of Irish Jesuits. If he does go in, he must go in with face averted and his nose held against the odor of Italian-Irish pietism and all the bad statues and architecture.

Cited in an essay by Marion Montgomery entitled, “With Walker Percy at the Tupperware Party.”

Tags: The South, Thomas More

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I will do my best to resist the urge to simply pass along links to stories that I stumble upon from time to time.  I could do this all day long — pass along stories.  I suppose it is something of an occupational hazard.  That being said, I strongly recommend you take a moment and read John Zmirak’s recent article.  Zmirak is one of the best writers out there today and virtually everything I’ve read of his is fantastic.

A sample of his writing:

As we scramble up from the fallenness we’re born in, weighed down by all the neuroses, habits, and rationalizations we’ve picked up through the years, blown hither and thither by the windbags who dominate our culture, the ground we walk is strewn with booby-traps. As we try to ascend from ordinary worldliness, our efforts do not go unnoticed. The cold Spirit who threw away Beatitude watches us like a scientist goading rats toward electric shocks. He’s driven to persecute us by a galling, eternal Envy of the happiness we were promised, which he perfectly remembers, craves, and hates. While we were still wallowing down in the mires of sensuality or resentment, he could snicker and turn his back. But as we clamber to the middle heights on the way to true friendship with Christ, we begin to attract his attention. Our cases cease to be cold, and our files are sucked through the vast, pneumatic ducts of hell to the desks of more talented tempters. That’s when the real “fun” begins.

Most of the articles I’ve read can be found at InsideCatholic.com

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On occasion, I try to pray the Liturgy of the Hours. I’m not good at it. In fact, I have great difficulty figuring out the sequence of things, and most days I either only make it through one part (or even one Psalm) and call it a day. I don’t think it’s an exceptionally difficult practice, but for whatever reason it hasn’t quite sunk in with me. At any rate, back in November I happened to looking at the Office of Readings for that day and was struck by a passage from St. Augustine that has followed me for the last few months:

“But how can we rejoice in the Lord if he is far from us? Pray God he may not be far. If he is, that is your doing. Love, and he will draw near; love, and he will dwell within you. The Lord is at hand; have no anxiety. Are you puzzled to know how it is that he will be with you if you love? God is love.”

(Taken from the readings on November 18, 2009 — The Heart of the Just Man Will Rejoice in the Lord)

I’m not in a position to explain in detail why this particular passage resonated with me. Perhaps that will come in a later posting. Suffice it to say that I need to remind myself of this simple truth on a daily basis.

Tags: Augustine, Liturgy of the Hours

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