Talking to Young People / Being the Tabernacle, the Presence of Christ

I met 2 young men in a cafe yesterday, who I was sitting next to. It was impossible for me not to hear what they were saying. One was giving the other advice about what he might do with his future. His friend was expressing indecision and confusion about how to proceed with his goals. As a mother of a 20-something son, I felt for these young men and wanted to engage them, but did not know how. I prayed to Saint Joseph as I was eating my crepe and suddenly the words just came to me. They were very polite and receptive. I told them the world is changing in radical ways and they need to consider this when planning a future. I acknowledged it is a very hard time now to be a young person. (As we in a great interregnum, a turning, at the end of a very long cycle and the beginning of a new one, late-stage empire.) Not only were they quite interested, they even seemed to agree.

I told the confused young man, an aspiring architect, about earthships. He had never heard of them and said he would investigate. Earthships, there are many different kinds, are sustainable, off-grid homes, often using recycled materials. Many are constructed in pleasing organic shapes and rather spectacular.

This is the way we must talk to our youth. Be honest about the state of the world and don’t allow them to live with the delusions of the culture. It is doing them no service.

The song below came on my Pandora channel this morning and reminded me of those dear young men. It’s a great song, sounds a lot like Simon & Garfunkel. It’s about realizing one’s predicament of living in this inauthentic culture, where your future is planned by “men who move only in dimly-lit halls.” This is an insightful young person who sees the truth. He then dreams of an agrarian life, the “Authentic Life,” which we concern ourselves with here…and which we seek. He intuitively knows this is the better direction, but seems to conclude on a cynical note. Have a listen…

Fleet Foxes ~ “Helplessness Blues”

I was raised up believing
I was somehow unique
Like a snowflake distinct among snowflakes
Unique in each way you can see
And now after some thinking
I'd say I'd rather be
A functioning cog in some great machinery
Serving something beyond me

But I don't, I don't know what that will be
I'll get back to you someday soon, you will see

What's my name, what's my station?
Oh, just tell me what I should do
I don't need to be kind to the armies of night
That would do such injustice to you
Or bow down and be grateful
And say, "Sure, take all that you see"
To the men who move only in dimly-lit halls
And determine my future for me

And I don't, I don't know who to believe
I'll get back to you someday soon, you will see

If I know only one thing
It's that everything that I see
Of the world outside is so inconceivable
Often I barely can speak
Yeah I'm tongue tied and dizzy
And I can't keep it to myself
What good is it to sing helplessness blues?
Why should I wait for anyone else?

And I know, I know you will keep me on the shelf
I'll come back to you someday soon myself

If I had an orchard I'd work 'til I'm raw
If I had an orchard I'd work 'til I'm sore
And you would wait tables and soon run the store
Gold hair in the sunlight, my light in the dawn
If I had an orchard I'd work 'til I'm sore
If I had an orchard I'd work 'til I'm sore

Someday I'll be like the man on the screen

(Robin Pecknold)

I often reflect on the extraordinary implications of Holy Communion. In the cafe, I had literally just come from Holy Mass, just having received Our Blessed Lord. When we receive Him, we become the Tabernacle, the Holy of Holies, meant to go out into the world and bring Christ to others. It was in this disposition, that I was given the inclination to speak to these boys, and the words. In Holy Communion, we merge our hearts with that Heart so burning and overflowing with love! And believe me, others can sense this. Some will react with fear and abuse, while others will react positively, not even knowing Who they are encountering, but knowing, somewhere deep inside themselves, this person is different. As the martyr Father Alred Delp said,

“...the person who has seen God, is so totally different, so totally other-because our God is totally Other, with a fullness and order different from what the world sees at first glance. Further, someone who observes the otherness of the believer will be changed by it...

...he is master of the situation and of all things, because of being truly in contact with the center of reality..."

Thought for the Day: How we navigate in darkness....

Did you ever witness something and 10 minutes later your friend relates it to someone else and you think to yourself, "That's not exactly what happened"???

Many years ago, I attended a pro-life event in NYC, where a number of pro-aborts were arrested for disorderly conduct.  The front page of the newspaper the following day said it was the pro-lifers who were arrested.  Anyone reading this blog probably already knows how "accurate" the mainstream media tends to be.

So I wonder....how much of what we hear about the present is false?  Should I take a stab at it?  25%???  I have no idea.  Now let's apply that to the past....even less percentage of truth.  We must assume history is largely fiction.  Orson Welles said the same thing once in an interview, after relating how a journalist quoted him inaccurately.  Now let's think about speculations on the future-completely off the wall!  I recently watched a film about the first "human cloning" experiment, in which someone said they believe cloning will ultimately eliminate all birth defects.  I also watched a film featuring a billionaire from Russia who wants to become a hologram....and is actually working on it.  We hear a lot about the coming "sentience" of computers as well....which some dramatically call "The Singularity."  I contend the future will be nothing at all like the above.  That's because I walk by Faith.  There's got to be some point when God steps in and says, "Okay, My patience ends HERE!"  I am actually amazed that He hasn't stepped in yet.

How much of our own perception of reality is nothing more than a reflection of other people's lies and fantasies?  I wonder.