I have sought since my conversion to use the gifts that God has given me to glorify Him and to bring souls to Him, in contrast to the way that I had previously used those same gifts to glorify hatred and to lead souls astray.
I’m in receipt of correspondence from a young woman, received into the Catholic Church this past Easter, who had some questions arising from her reading of my book, Race with the Devil: My Journey from Racial Hatred to Rational Love (Saint Benedict Press), the autobiographical account of my life up to my own reception into the Church in 1989. She referred to the conclusion of the book in which I state that I consider my life since my conversion to be “an ongoing act of atonement” for all the harm I did during my days as a white supremacist. She then asked two questions: “Do you feel that you have, or ever will, come to a point where your atonement is complete? To what extent does this feeling of penance continue to permeate your writing today?”
One the one hand, to reiterate what I wrote in the book, I have sought since my conversion to use the gifts that God has given me to glorify Him and to bring souls to Him, in contrast to the way that I had previously used those same gifts to glorify hatred and to lead souls astray. This remains the rationale behind my vocation as a Catholic writer. On the other hand, I echo the words of G. K. Chesterton who said that he had been received into the Catholic Church in order to have his sins forgiven. He was referring to the Sacrament of Penance, popularly known as confession, in which the priest, acting in persona Christi, has the power to absolve the truly penitential sinner of the sins he has committed. In this sense, I am not riddled with guilt for sins that I have committed and have confessed because I know that God has now forgiven me for them. Since God has absolved me of my sins, it would be remiss of me to try to hold on to the weight of guilt that He has removed! Nonetheless, the truly sobering reality is that my past actions have had negative consequences. Those negative consequences remain. I cannot undo the damage that I’ve done, but I can endeavour to make amends, by the grace of God, by witnessing to the love of God and neighbour as a means of mitigating the harm I’ve done in the past. Although I am not weighed down with the weight of forgiven sins, which have no weight, I am nonetheless carrying the weight of responsibility to atone for the harm done. I accept and embrace such atonement as a cross which I carry with joy, knowing that Christ is making the burden not only bearable but light!
On an altogether lighter note (pun intended!), my correspondent mentioned my love of music and the role it has played in my life’s journey. She was curious to know whether there are any other forms of art, “other than literature of course”, that have played significant parts in either my conversion story or in my daily life.
In response, we need to distinguish radically between the two ultimate forms of art. First is the primal art of God’s own Creation, the grandeur of His Presence in His creatures, the beauty of Nature itself; second is the secondary art of human creativity, the grandeur of God’s creative presence in the creature called Man who, as the imago Dei, is the only physical creature who is also a creator. Human imagination is the image-ination which shines forth the divine image. I can say that both these forms of art, primary and secondary, nature and art, have been beacons of light in my life before and since my conversion. Every new sunrise is a unique work of art which is called to lift us into the presence of the Primal Artist who creates it. Every tree is a unique work of art. Every flower. Every bird. Every one of our neighbours is a unique work of art, a human person made in God’s image. Each of these unique works of art are meant to lead us to the Presence of the Artist and to praise Him.
As for human creativity, secondary art, it should also be an act of praise. It should be giving back to the Giver of the gifts the fruits of the gifts given. All such art should lead us to God, whether in the towering spires of a Gothic cathedral, a sculpture, a painting, music, poetry or poetic prose.
My correspondent continues. “You also talk about living out the trinity in one’s life through physical, spiritual, and mental exercises,” she wrote. “How does this idea manifest itself in your daily life?”
From the time of my conversion, I have sought to practice what I call a “healthy trinity” in my daily life. Each day, I try to find adequate time for spiritual, intellectual and physical fitness. I imagine it as a sort of equilateral triangle in which all three forms of fitness are kept in a healthy balance. My work takes care of the intellectual side of life so it’s a question of finding time each day for spiritual exercise (prayer, praise, worship) and physical exercise.
Finally, my correspondent wrote that “some of the most impactful writers that you talk about were significant voices during the Industrial Revolution and focused on issues like Capitalism vs. Communism, Distributism, labor, and the recognition of dignity in the human person”. She added that it was “such a treat to read this given the context of the election of our new Pontiff”. She then asks several questions: “What parallels are you seeing between that period and the current technological revolution we are experiencing? Do you feel that there are any contemporary writers who are ‘stepping up to the plate’ in the same way that folks like Chesterton did? How adequately do you feel that the Church is addressing issues related to the rapid technological changes and significant impacts of said technology on society and culture?”
What great questions!
There are obvious parallels between the industrial revolution and the current technological revolution, both of which have done violence to the dignity of the human person. There are writers and thinkers who are ‘stepping up to the plate’ as Chesterton did, and many of these writers and thinkers have been inspired by Chesterton himself to do so. More needs to be done, not least of which is the courageous advocacy of the Church’s social teaching on issues such as subsidiarity and solidarity. The radical insistence on the sacrosanct dignity of the human person and the sacrosanct dignity of the human family (subsidiarity) is essential to the common good (solidarity). If the leaders of the Church have the vision and the courage to ‘step up to the plate’, we will see countless converts across the globe as Christianity is seen to be the only solution to the techno-tyranny of globalism.
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The featured image is “The Devil and Tom Walker” (1843) by Charles Deas, and is in the public domain, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.