An Edited Life

[Note: I regret that I have not been blogging all summer and into the fall. Fools that we are, my wife and I entered the insane mid-2013 real estate market, selling our home (or trying to) and finally purchasing a townhouse. The whole crazy process wiped six months off my writing life. This new post addresses just one of many lessons learned from the whole experience.]

Downsizing means just that. The capacity for all things material is reduced in proportion to the "down." For me, this meant tossing a lot of my treasured "stuff" overboard: clothing, books, priceless junk, 40-year-old lesson plans . . . .  The image that kept coming to me was that moving was a lot like editing one of my manuscripts.

The first draft looks like the three-car garage we had at our former house. To fit both cars and all our excess stuff into a smaller home and a two-car garage required a lot of editing. In a manuscript, there are the usual suspects quickly sentenced to extinction: 'ly' adverbs, bloated adjectives, those other dead-weight adverbs (like 'very' and 'very, very'). Then there are those nasty, unnecessary duplications (the reader already knows this, so why say it again).

One would think that a professional editor would be a natural at tossing and downsizing. I suppose there is some inbred advantage. But then there are those 'little darlings' that have been with me for half-a-century. I appeal to Caesar (actually, my wife Esther) for mercy. Her thumb goes down without a second's hesitation. But I just can't pull the trigger. They make the cut, though every bit of my brain matter admits that she is right.

And so, it never fails that, when I read my book in print, I wish I had listened to the editor in me rather than the sentimental hoarder.

Alfred J. Garrotto is the author of the novel 

The Saint of Florenville: A Love Story

saintoflorenville.com 

alfredjgarrotto.com

(c) 2013 by Alfred J. Garrotto

The Wisdom of Kazantzakis

I recently came across a quote from Nikos Kazantzakis's magnificent but controversial novel, The Last Temptation of Christ. The following dialogue takes place during a heated conversation between Jesus and John the Baptist, near the Jordan River at the outset of the former's public ministry. John advocates taking an ax to the current Jewish leadership and Israel's occupying Roman authorities. His cousin is unconvinced.

Jesus: "Isn't love enough?"
John: "No. The tree is rotten. God called to me and gave me the ax, which I then placed at the roots of the tree. I did my duty. Now do yours: take the ax and strike!
Jesus: "If I were fire, I would burn: if I were a woodcutter, I would strike. But I am a heart, and I love."

Wow! That sent me to Netflix to watch Martin Scorsese's 1988 film version again, after a lapse of many years. I don't recall noticing that Harvey Keitel's Judas delivered his lines with a heavy New York accent. Go figure! 

In the story, Jesus' last and greatest temptation as he hangs dying on the cross is one that I share--and I suppose many of you do, too. Before Jesus is able to cry out with full resignation, "It is finished!" he isn't presented with an option for power, wealth, fame and glory, or even uninhibited, eagerly shared, and mutually satisfying sex. His most powerful yearning was for "ordinariness." Kazantzakis creates for Jesus the illusion of a life lived in obscurity, without stress or anxiety. Jesus is happily married to the love of his life. He has fathered a houseful of perfect, smart, and respectful children. His career as a craftsman has supported their unpretentious lifestyle. After a full and peaceful life, he approaches death a happy man, who has tasted the sweetest nectar of human joy.

Coming to his senses, an aged Jesus recognizes that the life he longs for would betray his reason for existing. In anguish and regret for all that he is choosing to leave behind, he abandons his idyllic dream state and returns to the Self that still sags in death throes on the cross. He exhales his final breath, not as husband and father, but as the Victim lamb, faithful to his ministry of being life for the lifeless, hope for the hopeless.

I don't think I fully understood Kazantzakis's spiritual insight before watching The Last Temptation this time. It was as if the author had thrust a mirror into my hand. In it, I saw my own connection with that alluring call away from who I am meant to be. You see, I too long for a simple, peaceful existence, a happy life, with minimal conflict, no major physical or emotional suffering, just the life of a . . . lover, dad and worker, with nothing big to worry about, imagining  retirement someday (to write full time). And then to die, surrounded by my loved ones--with these final words on my lips: "I never did much of anything, but I die a happy man." 

Yes, my great--and last?--temptation is simply to do nothing much. But what a waste that would be!

Alfred J. Garrotto is the author of the novel 

The Saint of Florenville: A Love Story

saintoflorenville.com 

alfredjgarrotto.com

(c) 2013 by Alfred J. Garrotto

The Wisdom of Understanding Backwards

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

Royal Library Garden
Copenhagen, Denmark

When I happened upon this quote, I knew that another piece in the puzzle of my life had fallen into place. I don't expect this jigsaw to be completed in my lifetime, so it's always exciting when a new part fits snugly among its interlocking predecessors.

Kierkegaard, the 19th century Danish philosopher, theologian, and poet, is recognized as the first existentialist philosopher. He died at 42, quite young compared to today's life expectancy in the developed world. Yet, it's clear from the above life-defining statement that he had learned an  important truth about wisdom. The only way to live is forward, relentlessly forward, frighteningly forward. Only when connecting one's "life dots," linking them into a single, unified chain, do bits of understanding surface, those exhilarating Aha! moments of "so that's what it meant." The mystery of the future remains, but with each new level of understanding comes a deeper sense of peace and--more important--courage to keep going forward along the dimly lit road ahead.

The experience of understanding backwards has played a major role in my life. In my teens and twenties, I made a life choice that I sincerely intended to be "forever." In my thirties and forties, I experienced a call to some indefinite, but siren-like, "new." For the next decade-and-a-half, I saw my life as consisting two opposed, but equally important, halves. Then, something changed again. Another piece of the puzzle of my life fell into place, cozying up quite comfortably with my life, Parts I and II. I now see clearly that each new expression was a link in a single chain. 

In one sentence, I went from "capital 'F' father" to "lowercase 'f' father" to "spiritual father" of those whom I now serve as a lay minister. The unifying theme--and divine call of my life--is to fatherhood. I have chronicled this journey to light in my book, The Wisdom of Les Miserables: Lessons From the Heart of Jean Valjean.

I wish I could have said it the way Kierkegaard did, but that's why he's famous, I guess, and I'm . . . .

Alfred J. Garrotto is the author of the novel 

The Saint of Florenville: A Love Story

saintoflorenville.com 

alfredjgarrotto.com

(c) 2013 by Alfred J. Garrotto

The Wisdom of Francis

"The finger that points to the moon is not the moon." Also, "When the wise guru points to the moon, the idiot sees only the finger." (Oriental proverbs)

The hopeful, believing part of me was deeply moved by yesterday's pageantry of presenting a new pope to the Catholic world. Did the cardinals choose wisely? I think so, given their options. Positive signs for the future: (1) the first American and Hispanic pope, (2) his taking of the name Francis--an evocative, beloved name among Catholics everywhere, and (3) the pope's request that the People of God bless him, before he could bless them (and the humble bow, as he received that blessing). For me, the most symbolic moment of the day--one straight out of Hollywood--came, when a large white bird settled atop the pipe from which white smoke had just announced the election of a new pope. Do I hear Holy Spirit?

What spoiled the aftermath somewhat for me was the way a procession of Catholic spin doctors took over the day, attempting to lock Pope Francis in a doctrinal cage. The worst was an arch-conservative Opus Dei spokesman declaring that Catholic teaching on contraception, abortion, and gay marriage came directly from Jesus. Really? The most extreme and pessimistic comment I've seen from the other end of the spectrum described the conclave as a bunch of thugs in a room, deciding how to keep their criminal enterprise going. Ouch! But some truth there.

In last week's blog post, I said and still believe that our "ace in the hole" is the Holy Spirit. Cardinal Bergoglio (Pope Francis) adhered to the official line in opposing contraception and gay marriage in Argentina. So, do we cross these critical issues off the table and wait for Pope Francis II? Will this pope be strong and stubborn enough to enforce a zero-tolerance policy on clergy sex abuse throughout the world? Will he right the fiscal/moral ship within the walls of his spacious new Vatican home (where he'll never again cook his own meals or take public transportation to work). I'm willing to wait and see what the Holy Spirit has up her sleeve.

Meanwhile, the Catholic world goes on, with or without wise leadership at the top. The conscience of the whole People of God (affirmed by Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI in 1967) listens to God's voice and evolves toward greater inclusion and equality.

In choosing St. Francis of Assisi as his patron and now namesake, our new pope has set his bar of reform and conversion very high, indeed. I, for one, will be praying that our pope will be as bold as the little man from Assisi. Maybe one day he'll even strip to his skivvies in St. Peter's Square and declare a personal fast from abuse of power, exclusion, and inequality. And maybe he'll once again bow and beg our blessing, saying, "Don't be an idiot. I am not God, only the finger that points to God."  

Alfred J. Garrotto is the author of 

The Saint of Florenville: A Love Story

saintoflorenville.com 

alfredjgarrotto.com

(c) 2013 by Alfred J. Garrotto

The Wisdom of Resignation

"The Church is one, holy, catholic, and apostolic; and sinful." Claretian Father Paulson V. Veliyannoor, CMF, PhD, in Bible Diary 2013, reflection  for February 26, 2013

I have not been a great admirer of Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger / Pope Benedict XVI. Throughout my adult life, he has represented many negative aspects of Catholic theology and practice. My image of the man shifted a few years ago, when I came across a passionate defense of individual conscience written by Joseph Ratzinger in 1967, after the close of the Second Vatican Council. In it he said:

“Over the Pope as expression of the binding claim of ecclesiastical authority, there stands one’s own conscience which must be obeyed before all else, even if necessary against the requirement of ecclesiastical authority. This emphasis on the individual, whose conscience confronts him with a supreme and ultimate tribunal, and one which in the last resort is beyond the claim of external social groups, even the official Church, also establishes a principle in opposition to increasing totalitarianism.”

To my knowledge, Ratzinger/Pope Benedict never altered or renounced that definitive statement. I and countless other conscientious Catholics have quoted him repeatedly and held him to ownership of that theological position.

Why Benedict has decided to do on February 28, 2013, what no pope for seven centuries has done, is open to speculation (and runaway imagination). Whether it be for health and stamina reasons, as he publicly claims, or because an intransigent Vatican bureaucracy led him to throw in the towel (or both), I do admire this pope for handing over the office to a new and (somewhat) younger leader. That's not easy for power-for-lifers to do.

We Catholics who must watch from the sidelines are witnessing the beginning of the end of an  irrelevant structure of church leadership and governance. That system has allowed an all-male, celibate, and elite class of senior citizens to lay spiritual and moral burdens on their fellow religionists that they themselves have never borne. Rather than lament the passing of this archaic and,  in many ways, unjust system, Catholics who hold fast to the core beliefs of our faith find in this evolution the movement of the Holy Spirit. The truth of the Good News of Christ resides in the entire people of God. It is in that Body of Christ on earth that we find hope in the present turmoil surrounding the election of Benedict XVI's successor.

The Holy Spirit has forever been the people of God's "ace in the hole" and source of sure hope; "she" is the antithesis of the Vatican power structure that repeatedly mars the Roman Catholic "brand." 

I hope for, but do not expect, a saintly revolutionary leader in the mold of John XXIII to arise from this conclave. What I pray for is a leader who will begin the process of inner conversion in Rome, one who will take seriously his title as "servant of the servants of God." 

Our Catholic Church, like all other Christian churches and all other-than-Christian faith traditions is burdened with the millstone of fallible human nature. We Catholics will never get this "church thing" completely right. What we pray for is that we just won't keep getting it so terribly wrong. Yes, we're going to mess up the mission of Christ; but let's do it less and less, and in a spirit of humility and ongoing repentance.

Come, O Holy Spirit! 

Alfred J. Garrotto is the author of 
|The Saint of Florenville: A Love Story

saintoflorenville.com 

alfredjgarrotto.com

(c) 2013 by Alfred J. Garrotto

My Name Is Javert--Inspector Javert

Let's get one thing out of the way right off. I really like Director Tom Hooper's film version of Les Miserables. As at the live stage performance, I cried through most of the film (trying my best not to make a blubbering fool of myself). As other bloggers have pointed out, the principal weaknesses of the film are  Russell Crowe's inadequate dramatic voice and--even more devastating--his misinterpretation of Inspector Javert.

In Victor Hugo's novel, Javert serves both a dramatic and spiritually significant role as the bookend-opposite of Jean Valjean. This is the classic sacramental contrast between Light and Darkness. Both Valjean and Javert are true believers, but with widely different understandings of Truth; and it all begins with their different responses to the grace of forgiveness. 

Valjean spends 19 years in the hell of prison for an original desperate act that was indeed a crime, but not a sin--stealing a loaf of bread to feed a starving family. Offered unconditional forgiveness and hope of redemption by Bishop Myriel, the ex-convict vows to change his life and use his new freedom and subsequent wealth to serve the desperate poor (les miserables).

With a single line in the movie--detailed more fully in the novel--Javert reveals that he was born in prison. As a young man he vowed never again to find himself on that side of the justice system. He has choosen as his life compass and guardian the letter of civil law, which in his worldview is the mirror image of divine law. His vocation in life is to demand similar obedience and to punish lawbreakers. 

When the all-forgiving Jean Valjean spares Javert's life at the barricade, the Inspector's fragile universe cracks and soon shatters. Reconciliation and second chances have no place in this unfortunate man's theology. He expects to be done unto as he does to others. Offered the love of the former convict, Javert faces the same choice Valjean did at the bishop's feet. Accept grace and become a new man, or reject the gift. Unlike his nemesis, Javert sees no way forward, only confused and raging self-destruction. 

Hugo's Javert is not an evil man. Nor is he a sadist. He is a true believer, who has bet everything on the wrong horse. In biblical terms (Deuteronomy 30:19), the author of Les Miserables offered both Jean Valjean and Inspector Javert a choice between Life and Death. Valjean chose Life. Javert did not.

In Hooper's film version, Russell Crowe seems not to understand his character's soul--what makes him tick. The result weakens the story, obscuring the intended punch line: Choose life! 

Choose love, or exit this world without leaving a ripple on the water.

Alfred J. Garrotto is the author of 

The Wisdom of Les Miserables: Lessons From the Heart of Jean Valjean.

alfredjgarrotto.com

saintoflorenville.com

(c) 2013 by Alfred J. Garrotto

Biblical Peace

The biblical idea of peace

is not so much the absence of war

as it is the presence of

a right relationship with God.

We sometimes forget

that peace begins in the human soul.

A Chinese proverb explains why:

“If there is right in the soul,

there will be beauty in the person,

there will be harmony in the home.

If there is harmony in the home,

there will be order in the nation.

If there is order in the nation,

there will be peace in the world.”

from

Mission 2000

by Mark Link, S.J. 

Reflection Questions

How has my relationship with God changed over the last year?

What has been the major factor in producing this change?

Why?

Alfred J. Garrotto is the author of The Saint of Florenville: A Love Story 
and 
The Wisdom of Les Miserables: Lessons From the Heart of Jean Valjean.

alfredjgarrotto.com

saintoflorenville.com

(c) 2013 by Alfred J. Garrotto

The Real Work of Christmas

When the song of the angels is stilled;

when the star in the sky is gone;

when the wise men have gone home;

when the shepherds are back with their flocks,

then, the real work of Christmas begins.

To

find the lost,

to heal the broken,

to feed the hungry,

to release the prisoner,

to rebuild the nation,

to bring peace among peoples,

to make music in the heart!

Amen.

Adapted from the prayer,
“The Work of Christmas Begins”
by Howard Thurman

Alfred J. Garrotto is the author of The Saint of Florenville: A Love Story 

and 

The Wisdom of Les Miserables: Lessons From the Heart of Jean Valjean.

alfredjgarrotto.com

saintoflorenville.com

Les Miz and Me

Bishop Myriel's
unconditional love
changes Jean
Valjean's life.

I don't usually share anything publicly about a work in progress. Like most writers,  my computer is loaded with partially completed projects--some abandoned altogether, gathering digital dust. As a rule, it's best to keep my current projects to myself. Considering the imminent film release of the musical, Les Miserables, I'm going to risk an exception. 

First, some background. My all-time favorite novel is Victor Hugo's masterpiece. For me, it's more than a story. It ranks next to the Bible as a literary sign and sacrament of God's love for our frail, often broken humanity. No surprise, then, that my most beloved fictional characters are Bishop Charles Francois Myriel and Jean Valjean (in that order). 

Over a 25-year novel writing career, I have "fathered" dozens of fictional children. Now, this is where I risk sounding a little bit weird. I have this mystical theory, you see. Its hypothesis is this: every character of fiction created in the mind of an author or original storyteller has a real life in an alternate or parallel universe. I base this on a common phenomenon that fiction writers experience upon completion of their stories. In my case, having lived with my characters for a year--or more--and knowing them as intimately as I do, letting go and moving on sets in motion a grieving process. It's similar to the emotions generated by the loss of a loved one.

My parallel universe theory plays out in There's More (working title), my current work-in-progress. The story begins with Hugo's Bishop Myriel being called from his existence in another realm to serve as companion and guide to Afterlife. A young priest has just died in a freak accident--one that turns out to be a murder. This is not the bishop's first experience in this capacity on Earth, but he considers it the most remarkable. 

Like the bishop in my story, this is not the first time Hugo's characters have populated my own writing. In The Wisdom of Les Miserables: Lessons From the Heart of Jean Valjean, I reflected on my personal life experience in light of the spiritual/theological themes embedded in the novel. Also, one of my most-read blog posts on this site is "A Model for 21st c. Catholic Bishops," in which I urge the hierarchy of my church to become servant leaders after the manner of the Christlike Myriel.  

I can't wait to see the latest earthly incarnations of Bishop Myriel (Colm Wilkinson) and Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman). I wish Director Tom Hooper (The King's Speech) success with Les Miz's most recent rendition. And, in that faraway universe, where our fictional characters live, may the real Myriel and Valjean also delight in it.

(c) 2013 by Alfred J. Garrotto
All rights reserved

Les Miz Companion Books

I’ve found a kindred spirit in author Rev. John E. Morrison, an Episcopal priest. In his wonderful book, To Love Another Person: A Spiritual Journey Through Les Miserables, his treatment of the spirituality of Victor Hugo’s novel and the amazing Kretzmer, Boublil, Schonberg musical version helped me to deepen my own appreciation of the epic story’s psychological and spiritual themes. Morrison’s approach is more academic than my own in The Wisdom of Les Miserables: Lessons From the Heart of Jean Valjean, but it is no less stirring and inspiring. If, like me, you are a LesMis-ophile, you will both enjoy and benefit from a reverent reading this book.

(c) 2012 by Alfred J. Garrotto