Smorgasbord #31

Saguaro Blossoms, Prayer & Confession, Auschwitz

Hello friends! This is Smorgasbord, a self-service buffet of ideas—the all-you-can-eat sushi of newsletters (some bits look questionable).

It’s mid-May in Arizona, and the Saguaros are blooming, and they look like this:

Photo by Diego Lozano on Unsplash

To me, a blooming saguaro epitomizes the desert’s beauty. It’s also a right place, right time spectacle. For example, you probably won't see it if you visit the Southwest between June and March—but if you want to nerd out about Saguaro blooms, check out the Saguaro Flower Power Project.

I would appreciate it if you could spare some prayers for my family. We’ve had sick babies for a couple of weeks now. The silver lining is that we’ll most likely reach our deductible by this summer—I’m trying to stay positive here.

Alright, let’s get on with it.

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Pints with Peterson

I was watching the Pints with Aquinas interview with Jordan Peterson—y’all know I’m a fan, and I have written about him previously. Matt Frad did a good job, I think, at bringing up Christianity and the burning question: why doesn’t Jordan Peterson say that he’s a Christian? He did, however, say that he acts as if God exists. So, for him, belief and action are two different things, and action may be above belief. At least that’s my read. What do you think? Does belief dictate how you act, or do your actions reflect your belief? I’m still mulling over that one.

I found it interesting that when they talked about prayer, Peterson said that thought is secularized prayer, an opening up to revelation. When you think, you usually have a problem, which involves an act of humility since you are seeking a solution; otherwise, you would execute it. You can ask yourself why you want to solve the problem, and that can be an opportunity to examine which spirit is moving you, the spirit of God or the enemy. I thought this last part was very Ignatian, but there wasn’t mention of Jesuit spirituality.

Dr. Peterson then referred to psychotherapy as a kind of secularized confession, which makes sense to me since I try to frequent the sacrament of reconciliation regularly and have spent years going to therapy. I can see how, for therapy to work, there has to be a certain level of humility to accept you have something to work on, which is why you are looking for help. With confession, we’re going to the Divine Physician to heal our souls and dive deep into the sea of His mercy. I would even dare to say that therapy and confession could work together to heal a person's psyche and soul. Some people will say that not everyone needs to go to therapy, but I think we would all benefit from going to confession.

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Lale Sokolov

I binge-watched “The Tattooist from Auschwitz” this week. It is a six-episode mini-series based on the novel of the same name, a Holocaust fiction story about Ludwig “Lale” Sokolov’s experience in Auschwitz. Heather Morris interviewed Lale for about three years and originally wrote the story as a screenplay, which turned into a book.

One thing I liked was that the main story is a love story. Lale and Gita meet in Auschwitz; they eventually escape, find each other, and start anew in Melbourne, Australia, after the war. Even though Mrs. Morris's book has been criticized as historically inaccurate, I still think the audience could appreciate the themes and motifs of hope and love—even with such a bleak backdrop.

Another thing I liked was seeing present-day Lale processing his survivor guilt, being hunted by ghosts of the past, and trying to move forward. It is not a happy ending kind of show. At times, it’s very uncomfortable to see Lale wrestling with the fact that if it weren’t for a psychopathic SS soldier, he and Gita wouldn’t have made it.

This story made me think of Viktor Frankl, St. Maximilian Kolbe, and St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), who were in Auschwitz around the same time. The ones who made it out had a purpose that motivated them to carry on; some laid down their lives for their neighbor, and most had their lives taken from them. It puts things in perspective and makes me realize how soft I am compared to other generations.

If you like WWII stories and have a subscription to Peacock, you should watch this show. In fact, if you do, let me know so I have someone to talk about it with.

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Reading/Writing

• I’m still working through “Searching for and Maintaining Peace: A Small Treatise on Peace of Heart” by Father Jacques Philippe. I’ve been savoring this book during my weekly holy hour.

• I was gifted a copy of John Eldredge’s “Wild at Heart Expanded Edition: Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul,” I enjoyed the little I read. I tend to put my guard up whenever something sounds cheesy or touchy-feely when talking about men’s hearts, but I’m trying to keep my mind open.

• Because life has happened, I haven’t been able to finish the 40B40 debrief post I wanted to get out last week, but hopefully, early next week, it’ll come out. I’m slightly fed up with it because I want to reflect on it, but I also try to be helpful to others who may be thinking about writing serial nonfiction. If you have questions you’d like me to answer about this topic (writing serialized nonfiction), by all means, drop them in the comments.

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Sobremesa

1. US: What’s your state’s flower? Rest of the world: What’s your favorite flower?

2. RE: Belief and action. Does one come before the other? What do you think?

3. No, seriously, is there something you want to know about writing serialized nonfiction?

   Have a lovely weekend!

   -W