November 20, 2009
The Second Half
Searching for reality
BY DEACON JIM AND ANN CAVERA
I (Jim) have been filling in for the seventh grade CCD teacher who is on maternity leave. With years of educational experience not only as a student but as a college lecturer, I was confident I could bring some spiritual enlightenment to the 12- and 13-year-old boys in this group. After all, there were only nine of them. On the first night the lecture I had prepared was a total failure. Discussion was not a word in their vocabulary. Just to get them to sit still, listen and answer questions was a major effort.
Realizing I had taken the wrong approach, for the second class I decided to show a clip from a movie about two boys who get lost in a remote area of Northern Canada in the worst part of winter. Surely they would be interested in a story about boys struggling for survival. After the first 10 minutes of the movie, they said they were bored. They complained the movie had too much dialogue and not enough action. One suggested that we just watch regular TV because “Family Guy” was on and it is “real funny.” The other boys quickly agreed. Ann and I have never seen this show, but we have seen ads for it and I remembered that this is a cartoon. Trying to use this as a teaching moment, I confronted the class with the fact that this show is not real. Several of them were convinced that it was about the real world and besides, “it made them laugh.” I left both classes depressed. According to my seventh graders, life must be measured by the yardstick of fun. If something causes laughter (the cheaper the better) it is worthy of attention because fun is the ultimate goal. This experience gave me a clearer understanding of the challenges involved in teaching the faith to seventh grade boys and an even greater appreciation of the sacrifices made each week by our CCD volunteer teachers.
Later, Ann and I discussed ways our culture blurs the distinction between reality and fantasy. Huge profits are being reaped from movies, television series and fantasy game systems that focus on violence, the occult and all sorts of negative behavior under the guise of entertainment. Currently, the movies and books seventh graders are most interested in revolve around vampires.
Jesus came to this world to proclaim the ultimate reality. He not only spoke the truth, he lived it, even though it meant sacrificing his life so that we might have eternal life. The seventh grade boys were restless spirits. They wanted something outside of themselves to make life “fun.” I wanted to give them “real” spiritual food. In his book “Against an Infinite Horizon,” Father Ronald Rolheiser says, “The world, while not necessarily against God, invites us to forget God. “Distract yourself,” it says. “Lower your ideals. Forget about immortal longings and eternal peace and think of your immediate frustrations, your lack of self-expression, your yearning hormones . . . ”
When we serve our granddaughters vegetables and fruits, one of them will usually say something about having “real” food. The question is, by the time they are teens will our granddaughters know the difference between real food and junk food for the soul?
Deacon Jim and Ann Cavera are former residents of Evansville; their award-winning column is a regular feature of the Message. Contact them at www.catholicseniorspirit.com.