tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33424426.post9205465648763912698..comments2023-09-01T07:04:13.381-07:00Comments on Reflections on Faith and Culture: The Decline of the WestGil Bailiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04481878663941134090noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33424426.post-90154540089570063092010-03-04T18:54:41.245-08:002010-03-04T18:54:41.245-08:00Gil,
Last night, as my dog and I were taking our ...Gil,<br /> Last night, as my dog and I were taking our nightly walk together, your reflection on “The Spirit of the Age” was playing on my iPod. In particular, your discussion of Bernard in Virginia Woolf’s novel, “The Waves”, struck me even though I had heard you talk about this character before. As you know, Bernard’s life is a collection of “many stories, none of which are true”; episodic fragments without a meta-narrative. Because there is no sequence to the events of his life, Bernard’s attempt to string together a coherent story distills into disappointment and spiritual malaise. As you noted, because “nothing follows from what went before”, Bernard has lost his way and is left to peer into the nihilistic abyss. But the capper was Bernard sitting in Rome (“Rome, mind you”, you said) watching a group of Catholic priests walk by. As he mused about his own life, he reflected that “in these dilemmas the devout consult those violet-sashed and sensual looking gentry trooping past me; but for ourselves, we resent teachers...” This not only captures the spirit of our age very powerfully, it seems to me that it is exactly where the “therapeutic education” bemoaned by Rieff leads us.<br /> And this morning as I attempted to give driving directions to my 18-year-old daughter for a class she was attending tonight, she dismissively told me that she “knew the way” and made it clear to me that she considered my proposed route one that only an imbecile would follow. Never mind that she has been driving all of one year or so and I have been driving in these parts for a good bit longer, to say the least. (And, never mind that the route I was proposing was far superior to hers.) Needless to say I thought of Bernard and his disdain for “teachers”and was moved to remark to my wife that I thought children were supposed to honor their fathers and mothers!<br /> And then I read your post. With Bernard on my brain and my daughter on my heart, I realized that what Rieff is talking about is all around us. It infects all of us and the only antidote, the only thing that can keep us from eventually peering into the abyss in despair, is prayerful contact with the Biblical God who so loved us that He sent Christ to save us . Without the Great Hope that flows from this, we have no choice but to continue our deperate attempt to wring meaning out of the episodic fragments of our lives. God help us!!Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02733764944112724366noreply@blogger.com