June 2024 – Paul's Blog

Cynicism is a Choice

And it’s a bad choice.

Clear-eyed and truth-seeking, yes, but not cynical.

Cynicism accepts and reifies the worst parts of the status quo. It paralyzes us and wastes our energy by focusing on things we cannot control.

And it subtly lets us off the hook. (“Look at those people over there who are the problem. Nothing I can do about it.”) The cynic barricades themselves on the moral high ground and feels superior while contributing little.

The cynical mindset forgets that we are all capable of evil and all caught up in a system where it is often hard to do good.

The alternative is to be people with hope to bring – to see the world as it is, and, from there, to love and lead.

Opportunity and hope are everywhere, but cynical eyes cannot see them.

Unterbrechung

When Johann Baptist Metz was asked to describe the meaning of religion in one word, he replied with Unterbrechung – German for interruption.

Outstanding, right? Because when we hear this, we must then consider what, in our lives, must be interrupted.

Is it the self-satisfaction that characterizes much of religious practice? (Or the self-satisfaction that turns away from it?)

Is it the speed of our lives or any elements of egotism that hides within that speed?

Or maybe it is an interruption from anything that keeps us from the love we are meant for?

How can we cultivate the disposition to welcome this Unterbrechung?

The Suscipe’s Nouns

In the Suscipe prayer, one offers to God four things without reservation: one’s liberty, understanding, memory, and will.

People who do this consistently have always been remarkably valuable to the communities of which they are a part. They are teachers of what is ultimately valuable, lights on the path of where we are to go.

In our present world, the value of this asset is on the rise.

Consider the Suscipe’s nouns in an age of AI. Even the models available now are potentially massive aids to our understanding and memory, and they are only going to get better. Imagine having a brain prosthesis to help you recall and utilize everything you have ever written or read. With some set-up, this is more or less available now.

But also the risk of losing one’s way is significant. The digital world is going to get better and better and acting like it knows us. (It doesn’t.) This faked understanding will help the Dopamine Cartel* (social media, etc) fragment and sell our attention to the highest bidder, with obvious implications for liberty and will.

The opportunity is clear: Every day, we can offer our liberty, understanding, memory, and will to the Mystery of God. We can be rooted, or we can be uprooted.

*I borrowed this outstanding metaphor from this blog post. The dopamine talk starts about a third of the way down the page.

The Hero Chooses Mortality

In the Odyssey, the first time we meet Odysseus, he has been offered by Calypso a life of ease and pleasure without urgency or end.

He rejects this offer, choosing instead a life of mortality and reality. He chooses the trial that will lead him home to his wife and son, to his real life.

This hero’s journey starts by choosing to be mortal.

Like Odysseus, when we recognize and embrace our own mortality, the adventure of our life deepens. This recognition of our limitedness helps us to live well and urgently.

Yes, mortality has been chosen for us, as it were. Our bodies are not built to last forever and none of us will ever be offered what Calypso offered Odysseus. But we do have the choice to either embrace our mortality or uselessly resent (or ignore) it. This is an illusory path that short-circuits the hero’s journey.

Instead, we have the choice to live generously within the constraints we have been given.