The Human and the Holy

So, the rest of the Spiritual Exercises struck me as being about this issue of the role of the human in the holy. I have to say nothing could have been of greater help to me right now. I'm not going to try to summarize the talks or even try to respond to them as a whole, because it is a task far too big to think I could do it in one bitty post. We in the CL Fraternity generally take a year to go through the text of the Exercises together, and I think this year's text is one that will welcome me back again and again.

Let me tell a story to explain the sort of thing I'm speaking about here.

Those who know me well (and many who don't) realize that I had this huge love for The Monkees in my younger days, especially from about age 10 to about age 19. Had all the albums, memorized all the songs, learned to research by wanting to know about them, formed my vocal range around singing their songs, took on Mike Nesmith as my alter ego, etc. etc. It was pretty definitive in my life.

Then when I was about 20 I started attending a Christian fellowship where the message was subtly and not-so-subtly given that there was this dichotomy between "worldly things" and "godly things." Things of this world (which our pastor held to include things such as secular newspapers, ice cream, and anything that caused pleasure) were to be "set aside," which I took to mean violently rejected. I wanted God and God's way more than anything, and I had pretty much already believed that "human things" meant tainted, sinful things. So I was open to the influence of these Christian friends to convince me to get rid of all of my non-Christian music, including my Monkees records. I gave some to my college library (I had spent good money on them, and more than anything I could not bare to waste money!) but others I put in the dumpster. It was deeply painful to do this, but I convinced myself that this was a pain that pleased God.

For years I had dreams about getting all of my albums back.

When I became a Catholic, I realized that THE theme of my conversion was the Incarnation: this amazing, mind-blowing reality that God became human to save us. Somehow, being human was good enough for the Son of God. I started to see that there was more to the word "human" than the connotation "sinful".

In stages, this is a lesson I am still learning, and sometimes it is difficult.

I've been listening again to some of these songs I rejected back then, and I realize they actually speak exactly to my need, and the need Fr. Carron pointed out to us in the Exercises. Here's an example.

Take A Giant Step

by Carole King & Gerry Goffin

Though you've played at love and lost
And sorrow's turned your heart to frost,
I will melt your heart again.

Remember the feeling as a child
When you woke up and morning smiled?

It's time you felt like you did then.
There's just no percentage in remembering the past
It's time you learned to live again at last.
Come with me, leave yesterday behind
And take a giant step outside your mind.
You stare at me in disbelief
And say for you there's no relief,
But I swear I'll prove you wrong.
Don't sit in your lonely room
Just staring back in silent gloom,
That's not where you belong.
Come with me, I'll take you where the taste of life is green,
Each and every day holds wonders to be seen.
Come with me, leave yesterday behind
And take a giant step outside your mind.
Come with me, I'll take you where the taste of life is green
and every day holds wonders to be seen.
Come with me, leave yesterday behind,
And take a giant step outside your mind.

For sure, there's more to come on this topic...