Napoleon Bonaparte: "If you want to understand a man, look at what was happening in his world in his 20s." I was 20 in 1967, exactly as the Cultural Revolution exploded in the West. That remains, for me, the defining Event of my world/time. EVERYTHING ELSE...fall of the Soviets and rise of China, immigration, global warming, internet/AI, wars in Vietnam/Iraq/Afghanistan/Ukraine/Gaza, Islamic terrorism, Civil Rights, gun violence...EVERYTHING ELSE is a sideshow, a subplot. What matters most is the dignity and value of the human person (especially the small, vulnerable and incompetent), of marriage, family, sexuality, gender, chastity, fidelity, tradition, the sacramental life, revelation, the Eternal. It took me a little time: I graduated college 1969 and married 1971 as a moderate liberal. But by 1975, under the influence of some holy, brilliant Jesuit theologians and Cursillo/Charismatic Renewals, I recognized the new structure of the world. I have been a culture warrior for the last 50 years. This war is only intensifying.
I am not retiring from the conflict. But I am drawn to dial down the heat: to be serene, confident, gracious, open-minded,
Perhaps I am old, tired, mellow? A "made man" who has nothing to prove? Who is less anxious, threatened, indignant, angry?
Perhaps I am returning to the more innocent, positive world of my youth, the early 1960s, the robust American Catholicism at the time of the Council, serene, confident and ecstatic in urgency to engage and embrace everything, in the world beyond the Church, that is Good, True and Beautiful.
It has to do with the amygdala! We know this is the primary cerebral location of the emotions: fear, anger, anxiety, hatred, indignation. If the passions here are raging furiously it is difficult for the intellect, largely located in the prefrontal cortex, to function well: soberly, perceptively, intuitively, empathetically, wisely. Rather, disordered emotions of anxiety, rage and indignation distort the intellectual apprehension.
In this age of Trump, everyone's amygdala seems to be aflame. The underclass and we moral conservatives are enraged at the progressive, overclass hegemony and have rallied around Trump as our champion. Our feelings of vulnerability, threat, rage and indignation can be so overwhelming that we lack sobriety and clarity. Progressives, on the other extreme, are apoplectic. And so, Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS), as inflamed amygdala, is epidemic on both sides of the political divide.
Similarly, in the Church, the theological civil war rages on undiminished. John Paul and Benedict gave the definitive, lucid response to theological progressivism. But the more recent dual-pontificate has taken a different direction. They have not directly contradicted the Catholic legacy on the nature of the human person, but have downplayed it, diverted attention to political issues (environment, immigration) and sought to appease the progressives.
Our Catholic civil war of over half a century continues under Leo. He leans to appease the left. But, in contrast to Francis, he embodies a sincere intent to listen to both sides, to maintain harmony, to steady the bark of Peter. He intends to minimize conflict. To do this he will, in my opinion, compromise on fundamentals of our heritage. But the underlying pastoral intent has value.
And so, in American politics and the Church we do well to lower the temperature, to diminish the anxiety and rage, to relax a little.
This is also good for the soul. My own sense is that God is drawing me into his peace, to a relaxation, to cessation of anger and anxiety, to "abide, thrive and bear fruit in Him." With regard to Trump and MAGA we all do well to lighten up. With regard to Pope Leo, we do well to emulate his tranquility, his pastoral compassion, his stability, his desire for unity and harmony.
This does not mean we compromise on the truth. Rather, with charity, patience, serenity and graciousness emergent, our witness to the truth will become more gentle, confident, and appealing.
Above all: we invoke the Holy Spirit...to inflame...not our amygdala...but our souls ...with simple praise and thanks, with liberation from resentment and fear, with supernatural charity, with quiet zeal,
Be Still My Soul!
Come Holy Spirit!
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