In today’s episode I share an important quote from Jordan Peterson’s new book. It’s a useful insight that helps us to remember that our efforts to share our faith with students are never in vain and can have far-reaching impact.
Transcript
Well, Hey everybody, Jonathan Doyle with you.
Speaker:Once again, welcome back to the Catholic teacher daily podcast.
Speaker:Hope you're doing well.
Speaker:Hope we can bring you something.
Speaker:That's a bit of a blessing for you today in this crucial, precious vocation that
Speaker:you have in the lives of young people.
Speaker:It's a bit sad here.
Speaker:In the, uh, in the Doyle household at the moment.
Speaker:Um, uh, my son has gone on.
Speaker:He's gone on year six camp for three days, four days.
Speaker:So were all the rest of the family and the other kids were.
Speaker:Noticing last night that, uh, We just don't miss him.
Speaker:And I was thinking what an incredible thing it is as a parent really.
Speaker:And I think we can forget this as educators.
Speaker:It's an incredible thing to hand over your child to interest your child.
Speaker:Into the care of other people.
Speaker:So never forget that, uh, what a precious and a special vocation it
Speaker:is that you have where these adults.
Speaker:Uh, in trusting you with their child.
Speaker:And let's never forget that what that really means that we are.
Speaker:Discharging this very special ministry in the lives of families and parents.
Speaker:It's a really precious thing today.
Speaker:I want to talk to you about.
Speaker:A quote that I came across, uh, this morning I, uh, was
Speaker:here early in the studio and.
Speaker:I've been reading Jordan Peterson's new book.
Speaker:Uh, called beyond order.
Speaker:Many of you be familiar with him.
Speaker:I like his work for many reasons.
Speaker:I think he's a, not only is he a prodigious intellect.
Speaker:But he's somebody who especially recently has endured an enormous
Speaker:amount of suffering, both physically in his own health and, uh, in
Speaker:that of his family as well.
Speaker:And.
Speaker:So often, like to say that you can trust people who've suffered, you can
Speaker:usually trust people who've suffered.
Speaker:And why is that?
Speaker:Because.
Speaker:Usually, if people have been through suffering, one of
Speaker:two things tends to happen.
Speaker:They either get cynical, nihilistic and potentially vicious in
Speaker:terms of they become deeply disillusioned and angry at life.
Speaker:And that channels out in, on their relationships and a
Speaker:whole bunch of other things.
Speaker:I don't say that judge mentally.
Speaker:I just say that as an observation of life.
Speaker:But there are other people who enjoy suffering and it changes them.
Speaker:Let's never forget the central motif of suffering in our Catholic faith that we
Speaker:have a God who enters into human reality.
Speaker:And doesn't just wander around like sort of magically granting wishes and
Speaker:blasting Roman legions into oblivion.
Speaker:He's a God who enters into the reality of human suffering.
Speaker:And he weeps over the pain of other people's lives, you know, and when
Speaker:Lazarus dies, you know, that famous two line sentence, Jesus wept,
Speaker:you know, that he felt our pain.
Speaker:And he takes the pain of creation and, uh, upon himself and suffers.
Speaker:And so the, his, his, his suffering is ultimately.
Speaker:Trends formed into the great victory of Easter.
Speaker:So let's never forget that, uh, that suffering in all our own lives has such a.
Speaker:An incredibly important role, if it is.
Speaker:Surrendered to God.
Speaker:And.
Speaker:That we learned to trust him in the midst of deep suffering.
Speaker:Very hard to do.
Speaker:Isn't it.
Speaker:It's a definitely.
Speaker:Easy to talk about, harder to live.
Speaker:We've been, uh,
Speaker:In our own community.
Speaker:We, we recently had the tragic loss of a, of a young student.
Speaker:And, um, just seeing how that suffering has impacted so many people,
Speaker:obviously the parents and family, but.
Speaker:So many other people who've journeyed along.
Speaker:That, um, that suffering is something we would never choose, but, uh,
Speaker:well, the, the things that God can do through the tragedies of life,
Speaker:So on that today's quote comes from Jordan Peterson's new book and it struck me
Speaker:this morning when I came into the studio.
Speaker:And it's just this, he says, unless you make a connection.
Speaker:To the transcendent.
Speaker:You will not have the strength to prevail.
Speaker:When the challenges of life become daunting.
Speaker:One more time, unless you make a connection to the transcendent.
Speaker:You will not have the strength to prevail.
Speaker:When the challenges of life become daunting.
Speaker:So I like this.
Speaker:He's, he's making the point for us that.
Speaker:That in the absence of a transcendent reality in the
Speaker:absence of a relationship with God.
Speaker:Then the difficulties and suffering of life can seem very, very arbitrary.
Speaker:They can seem very unknowable and unsearchable.
Speaker:And I think we're left very much on our own as kind of cosmic orphans.
Speaker:And as I said before, I think that leads to nihilism, to despair, to rage.
Speaker:To avoidance.
Speaker:I don't know if this is drawing a long bow, but it's interesting
Speaker:to know that, um, you know, one of the biggest challenges.
Speaker:Uh, facing Russia.
Speaker:Is alcoholism.
Speaker:It's one of the biggest causes of death.
Speaker:I think it's like right up there now.
Speaker:It's like, although, you know,
Speaker:In the top two to three causes of death in, uh, in Russia.
Speaker:And it's interesting, cause it's a nation that had a very, very deep
Speaker:Christian past that, which was course, which was of course overwhelmed.
Speaker:By the, um, the communist revolution in 1917, and then it's enjoyed.
Speaker:Do you know, decades.
Speaker:Oh, really?
Speaker:Uh, you know, a century now of, uh, Of Marxist scientific materialism.
Speaker:And I often wondered when I sort of came across the stats on alcoholism there.
Speaker:If.
Speaker:If you remove the transcendent, if you remove the people's connection
Speaker:to the divine, to their history, to their heritage, to their faith.
Speaker:And then life is hard because life, especially in, you
Speaker:know, in Stalinist, Russia,
Speaker:Was was difficult and unpleasant and, you know, lacked beauty and
Speaker:synthesis and joy and community.
Speaker:And I wonder if that's why so many people turn to the avoidance.
Speaker:Of alcoholism's just a thought, just interesting in our own cultures
Speaker:that, uh, what do we do with the difficulties of reality when we
Speaker:don't have a transcendent, God.
Speaker:To fall back upon.
Speaker:To pray to, to talk with.
Speaker:To seek that he'd carry us.
Speaker:So what's this got to do with Catholic teachers?
Speaker:Well, I think that the fragility, the emotional, psychological fragility of
Speaker:many young people, not all, cause I know some of you will hear this and say, but
Speaker:you know, you know, tons of young people that are really resilient and I agree.
Speaker:But I think statistically, at least if we look at the mental
Speaker:health measures, this is a cohort.
Speaker:Historical moment for young people where anxiety and depression.
Speaker:Uh, a very significant forces.
Speaker:So here's the link I want to make.
Speaker:And I've really covered a few topics in this short podcast today.
Speaker:But I want to say this to you that.
Speaker:Every way in which you help them to know.
Speaker:God to know his son.
Speaker:To learn about the provision of the holy spirit, every way in which you do that.
Speaker:You can never know the buffer that that may give them against the
Speaker:vicissitudes of life, the difficulties and hardships that will come in
Speaker:their life because they will come.
Speaker:So helping young people to have a deep spirituality, a deep
Speaker:awareness of, you know, God and his action in scripture and people's
Speaker:relationship with him and hardship.
Speaker:And even just the central motif of Christ himself and his trust in God.
Speaker:On the cross.
Speaker:Can give them a buffer, psychological, spiritual buffer that, you
Speaker:know, you're never going to see probably the full results of that.
Speaker:But I just want to be a voice today reminding you and encouraging you
Speaker:that it's a unique and precious and special thing that you do.
Speaker:Particularly in this cultural moment where, you know, we're living in
Speaker:this highly technocratic culture.
Speaker:Where, you know, rates of narcissism and self-absorption and distraction
Speaker:through technology and social media.
Speaker:Can be highly problematic for young people.
Speaker:So you may, we'll be giving them tools and grace.
Speaker:That is going to be extremely important in their lives.
Speaker:So do not be afraid to preach Christ and him crucified do not be afraid to
Speaker:speak to them of the love of a perfect father, even though for many of them and
Speaker:for a significant number of us, we may not have experienced perfect fathering.
Speaker:We can still find the courage as educators to speak that truth,
Speaker:to reality in their lives, and to create the experiences of prayer and
Speaker:liturgy and silence and sacrament.
Speaker:That will buffer and strengthen that.
Speaker:Internal transcendent compass.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:There's a lot in that.
Speaker:That's it from me today.
Speaker:Unless we make a connection to the transcendent.
Speaker:We will not have the strength to prevail when the challenges
Speaker:of life become daunting.
Speaker:So God bless you, everybody.
Speaker:Thank you for listening.
Speaker:I'd love.
Speaker:If you could make sure you've subscribed to the podcast.
Speaker:If you could share this with a few other teachers and of course say everything else
Speaker:is on the website@onecatholicteacher.com.
Speaker:My name is Jonathan Doyle.
Speaker:Thank you so much for what you do every day.
Speaker:God is outrageously proud of you.
Speaker:He sees everything you do.
Speaker:And he thinks you're doing a pretty fine job.
Speaker:So you can take that to the bank.
Speaker:I bless everybody.
Speaker:This has been the Catholic teacher daily podcast.
Speaker:And I'll have another message for you.
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