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| "Shelter from the Storm" by Rusty Russ is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 |
Part of turning on the news, getting on social media, or walking through a shopping mall now is being bombarded with all the ways every single thing negatively affects or is unfair to or hurts someone else and how you need to be keenly aware of it. There doesn't seem to be a single thing on this Earth sometimes that you can enjoy without having to add some caveat or agenda.
This came to the forefront in an especially evident way the other day. I just finished watching "Star Trek: The Next Generation" in its entirety. One of the final episodes featured a tribe of Native Americans who had left Earth for a planet of their own. Captain Picard was given the task of having to move them to another planet, by force if necessary, in order to conform to a treaty made with a hostile alien race and avoid a long drawn out war.
The whole thing was overtly loaded with commentary about past injustices towards Native Americans (particularly the trail of tears and massacres) and even seemed to be making an argument for reparation. It was so obviously trying to be woke and progressive...but they kept using the word "Indian."
"These Indians deserve to be left alone!"
"There's a long a problematic history of Indians being mistreated and forced from their homelands."
etc, etc.
Watching it 20-30 years after it was produced, I was struck by how offensive it now was--- because it used that now-considered-offensive word. Even the woke, "challenging", educational stuff turns out, ultimately, to be hurtful and misguided. There ain't nothing truly good under the sun.
This is true of Catholic circles too, of course. There's the old fashioned doom n' gloom that's pretty much always existed ("PRAY THE ROSARY TO AVERT THE HORRIBLE APOCALYPSE", etc), as well as the ever-popular perpetual freak out about Pope Francis, but there's also loads of testimonies and activism all about how the Church is alienating, neglecting or even out-and-out injuring this, that, or the other group of people.
Now, it's important you not misunderstand me at this point. A lot of these critiques are valid and need to be taken into account. I mean, for crying out loud, I'm a survivor of clerical abuse and have a whole page on my blog devoted to resources for others who have suffered from it. I've suffered directly from people being apathetic on one of "those" issues, and I know many, MANY people who have suffered more than I have on that account. I'm not saying we need to be apathetic to people when they point out things that are wrong, be that either in the Church or in society, and I'm not saying we shouldn't try to fix them.
What I am saying is that it's unhealthy to make this stuff all you think about, and to be utterly pre-occupied with making sure absolutely everything you do is kosher and/or sufficiently reforming to be worth doing. I'm saying it's all right to enjoy things even if you're aware of the existence of evil in the world. Not all of your waking moments have to be dedicated to fighting it.
It's ok to go to a parish festival and enjoy the food and conversation with the old vaguely crotchety church ladies behind the kolachie table without having to talk about anything overtly pious or educational.
It's all right to make things just because they're lovely and you like them, with no redeeming or value-proving narratives or goals attached to them whatsoever.
It's all right to focus on celebrating saint feast days at home because it's an excuse to make a dessert and because the kids enjoy it, and not because you're on the defensive, putting up a solitary bulwark against the ever- encroaching and ever infiltrating minions of hell. Not one single prayer or novena has to be involved to make that something worth doing.
It's a fine and good thing to put the stupid phone or computer keyboard down once in awhile and go plant some flowers or paint a picture or something. I'm convinced that one of the biggest draws of social media is the mistaken perception that arguing with someone over it will actually change their minds and effect change. That pretty much never actually happens-- you just end up raising your blood pressure.
It's an ok thing to admit that the never-ending parade of human misery on your social media feed or on this or that person's blog is overwhelming you right now and you need a break. Even if it's stuff on an issue that you feel convicted about.
The truth is that a lot of the misery, corruption, and sin that we see is not in our power to solve. We ought to effect change where we can, but we're not responsible for all the evil we see and rabbit-holing and gorging ourselves on it doesn't help anything. Educating ourselves and becoming active in one or two spheres that interest us is one thing, trying to actively keep every possible issue in mind in all of our thoughts and social interactions is another.
The best way to push back against misery and fear is to create areas in our lives, and the lives of our children, that are safe and don't have agendas attached to them. That are good and beautiful and simply for their own sake-- not trying to solve or counteract any particular social ill.
You don't need to feel guilty for forgetting the pain of the world for awhile and having a joyful life for a few moments. Even if the neo-Nazis or the socialists or the pro-choicers or the shadow government or the Illuminati have already taken everything over already and all is already lost, it's still ok to laugh at something funny and do something you enjoy without thinking about it for awhile.
It doesn't mean that you're apathetic and a horrible person. It does mean you're taking care of your mental health and trying to live a joyful life.
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