As I begin this year of 2015, I do so with a lot of concerns, as well as a lot of hopes. It has gotten off to a busy start, as my MA studies at Franciscan University continue with two intense but very interesting classes on Catechetics. I really believe that much of what I am going to be learning in those courses though will have a great impact upon my theological writing, and some of you who follow my Sacramental Present Truths blog will start seeing that hopefully soon. I will be visiting as I am able, being my classwork will be taking up a lot of my time, but I need to continue to share things.
To start this off right, let's just chat some, as I need to get a bearing on what we can focus upon here. It is hard to imagine that it is already 2015! And, it is even harder to imagine that just over 2 months ago I turned 45 years old. I have been on a quest over the past several years to write down as much of my "story" as possible, and it is out of that endeavor that I have developed the idea of the "master book," coupled as well with some of Fr. Norris Clarke's ideas about the Book of Nature and Book of Revelation (not the biblical book, but rather this refers to Scripture and Holy Tradition in general as Clarke designates the terminology) that sort of reinforced my own thinking on that. All of us, regardless of who you are or what your station in life is, have a "master book," and it is the fiber of the Book of Nature God gave each of us individually. When those of us who know the fullness of Christianity and accept it take this into perspective, it is the Book of Revelation that perfects and clarifies our Book of Nature so that we can more fully see that God created us as individual persons with a particular and sufficient reason for existence. What we choose to do in regard to living that out is left up to us, thanks to God instilling in us free will, but nonetheless we must understand too that choices lead to consequences - some of those will be good, others will be not-so-good being we are fallible in our limited human nature and prone to sin and mistakes. But, all of it together constitutes our own "master book," and as I get older I have begun to understand the importance of documenting meticulously all aspects of my life so that I can one day, in retrospect, see a fuller picture. I probably will never see the complete full picture until I pass onto my eternal reward, but hopefully I can document enough of it to really create a legacy, thus sharing a significant part of my own "master book" with someone in the next generation to come.
Why am I rattling on about all this? It's quite simple really - I have sitting adjacent to my desk about 6 volumes of handwritten manuscript that contain about as much of my life story as I could document, and it constitutes about 3 years of meticulous note-taking. Since writing all that down, I have found out other things, stuff that fills in gaps and clarifies information I had previously written, and I have documented that in a series of about 30 small journal books I have kept up for about 19 years. As I was reading over a lot of that material the other day, I came across a series of things that I had written down which merit a book of their own. We all have a worldview, and it shapes a lot of who we are and what we perceive the world to be. I am no exception, and I had begun to write down thoughts on a variety of subjects, from religion, politics, and philosophy to personal quirks and specific theories I have about a number of subjects. I have decided to write them all into their own book, which if all goes well I will have published by the end of this year. The point of this is to provide a sort of codified ideological underpinning to the whole story of my life, as many convictions, experiences, and other things have shaped me and formed me into the person I am. Some of it has proven particularly complex to write - for instance, as of this time, I am sorta stuck in the middle of my Politics chapter, as I both need material to reference as well as a more concrete way of outlining it, as my political views have been somewhat complex over the years - I have embraced a variety of normally divergent views as a Monarchist, a Christian paleoconservative, a proponent of states' rights, a bioregionalist, and also my long-time involvement in leadership and advocacy with the Christian Falangist movement. I am drawn, for instance, to people like Pat Buchanan and reference him extensively, but I also like some of what people like Kirkwood Sale have said too. The dilemma for me is answering the question of how to make all this fit together, but an important part of my own personality and thought process is knowing how to piece the more attractive aspects of various ideas together to create something unique, and I hope that when all this chapter I am working on is written, it will be concise enough to work out a lucid worldview that is easily comprehended and not overly complicated. And, that is what takes some work!
If you sit down and consider your own approach to stuff like this, I will be the first to tell you that you won't formulate something overnight. It involves a lot of thought, as well as a lot of effort to be as well-informed on things as possible. But, I would encourage you to take the challenge and do it, because you will learn a lot about yourself through it. In the near future, I am going to give a little tutorial concerning that here, and if you are so inspired to take this task on as a personal challenge (a word of advice - do this for yourself, not to impress someone else; it can involve a brutal self-honesty that may not be comfortable to share!) then I hope to give you a pattern to work with eventually to aid your own quest. That will be something more for the future though, as right now I am still formulating a lot of things myself!
One thing about a project like this I will mention too. It will give you a source of comfort and reassurance especially when you are going through times of uncertainty. At the end of the last year, for instance, I was up against some things - we had some economic challenges in our household, and due to some limited publicity I attracted a lot of people who attacked me for a stand I made on something very important. It must be understood that there are haters out there, and not everyone will be so enthusiastic to hear what you have to say. It often takes both a thick skin and a quick wit to deal with such people when they come against you, but more important is a self-awareness of who you are as a person - attacks against what you say can easily degenerate into character assassination, and it can really take a toll on you if you are not prepared for it. Therefore, know how to choose your battles before engaging an enemy, and also make sure you are well-fortified personally with a clear sense of your own personhood before engaging enemies who attack. In religious circles, the enemy is also quick to call you "brother" and yet hate your guts - I found that out some time ago, and experienced it in a profound way recently. Yet, if you know where you stand, often your enemy will back off when they see you know what you are talking about, although they may hide it behind some fancy talk about "Well, we'll just have to sort it out at the Last Resurrection!" Although it makes them look like they are being "Christian" about things and that they somehow are using some misguided sense of reasoning, what they are really saying is something two-fold - first, the message is, "Well, you don't agree with me so you are not worth talking to," but also the more subtle message is this "I don't know how to respond to this person, so I am refusing to engage them." Count that a blessing, because a lot of times frankly both you and they have better things you both could be doing with your time. Which leads to another interesting observation - in the situation I just faced, I was basically dismissed by my detractors as being "merely a disgruntled person" and "just one lone opinion," yet for some reason my self-designated enemies still wasted a lot of time trying to refute me, argue, and justify themselves. The way I look at that is like this - if you are investing (or wasting!) that much time trying to engage me in debate, I must be somewhat important to you. Therefore, if I am not that important to them, the question is why they are investing (wasting) so much time trying to counter me? I mean, if I am just a lone opinion, does it really matter? This should be reassuring to others who have faced a similar issue, because it reveals some chinks in your opponents' armor. For one, if they are going to great lengths to justify, refute, and argue, it means that something you said touched a sensitive nerve, and their reaction is a form of damage control for something. Second, although they don't want to admit it, you should feel flattered that they take you that seriously to think you are important enough to respond to. That all being said, although it is temporarily making things unpleasant for you, obviously you are on the right track at either exposing something, or confronting something. And, one day, some of those same people who oppose you may either be thanking or apologizing to you later, because you are probably right in your assessment and perspective.
I hope my little discourse on dealing with opposition is of help to someone reading this, and if so, I am glad to be of service to you. However, the most vital thing to remember is that these little ideological skirmishes should never detract you from your vocation in life, as you have an objective of some sort you need to reach and you need to keep focus. Therefore, it is all the more important to have a thick skin, sharp wit, and also the foresight to see that often an aggressive reaction means you may have a legitimate concern that touched a nerve. And, that is the lesson I wish to impart as I wrap this up.
This is hoping that all of you reading this have a great 2015 ahead, and the blessings of God - + Father, Son, and Holy Ghost - be with you always, amen.
