Faith and Politics

[Ohio]

Originally Posted by Peter Debelak

Just a quick note for the flow of the thread: I edited my last post since you posted this...

And, for the record, you communicate more wisdom in your posts than any university degree could possibly achieve.... And, believe it or not, the life-path I chose puts me around folks with whom I can't use scholarly argument. I have to, ineptly, meet them where they're at and more times then not, I am the learner, not the teacher... It's mind-blowing, but only if I'm not "too cool for school."

And on the "I don't know how to engage my son on the substance of his work," I am familiar. I can't tell you how many times I've invoked artists and poets and philosophers to my dad, only to get a blank stare back. But he still engages, not quite sure where I'm coming from, but giving food for thought. If I was antagonistic, I might think "you have no clue what you're talking about." Instead, I see it as his heart-felt way of engagement with me, take his comments to heart and - amazingly - often find an insight I never saw in all the "expert" writings I poured over...

Thanks for the encouragement, and yes, I am well aware of the father-son dynamics which at some point transition from "you know everything" to "don't you know anything." Perhaps I thought this only happened to me.

And I do understand the "blank stare" when I read some of your posts. It's accompanied with this overwhelming inner sense of helplessness. That's why I appreciate your patience here. Every time I think I'm heading in the right direction, you quickly point out that I'm lost again. And I took the other posters with me.