Do you have the intellectual vocation? part 2 of 2

Discerning this vocation requires a period of “long self-examination” that aims to figure out what gives us pleasure. That’s right.  Pleasure.  Your vocation should give you pleasure and boatloads of it.

What I’ve said about pleasure may strike you as odd or even dangerous if you, like me, have been breathing the air of Kantian, “duty for duty’s sake,” ethics in this great country.  St. Thomas and Sertillanges have my back, though.  “If St. Thomas could say that pleasure characterizes functions and may serve to classify men, he must be led to conclude that pleasure can also reveal our vocation.”  Sertillanges is making explicit something we all know intuitively: our vocation must give us pleasure.  Now, I don’t mean pleasure every second of the time or a complete absence of difficulties.  I mean that the intellectual vocation is probably not for you if (1) writing is always a chore, (2) you never find yourself drawn to a quiet place with a book, (3) you never get lost in thought.

Understanding our own sources of pleasure is trickier than it sounds because our perspective is skewed by how close we are to the “subject of inquiry.”  So, asking for help from others is essential, but not straightforward because we can tend to rely too heavily on their opinions of others, and, unless our friends are professional career counselors, they rarely have a well developed criterion for analysis.

A few years ago, when I was in one of my many career funks, a couple mentors of mine told me essentially, “I think you’re great at interacting with people.  Make sure that your vocation involves a lot of interaction with others.”  A compliment, a true assessment from the perspective of the advice givers. And, since I was more “outward focused” during that part of my life, the advice confirmed my belief that I would suffocate under the research requirements of the intellectual vocation.  Things changed, though, thanks to the grace of God acting through Sertillanges, and an aptitude test that I took at Johnson O’Connor.  Now, I “see” my intellectual vocation very clearly.

Determining whether or not the intellectual vocation gives you pleasure requires knowing what the first few years look like according to Sertillanges.  The intellectual in the beginning of his career must, “consolidate from the foundations upwards a sum of knowledge recognized as merely provisional, seen to be simply and solely a starting-point."  Later, Sertillanges will say that this period of consolidation lasts around five years.  This period entails that the young intellectual, “recognize and adopt the causes of knowledge,” so that he has the tools to acquire and then develop knowledge.  Does that sound good?  Does it fulfill a yearning in your heart for greater intellectual foundations?  Does it resolve a frustration in your mind with the superficial level of your formation?

After discerning that you have the intellectual vocation, you may ask, “what’s the next step?  Who do I meet? What do I read?  Where do I find the time”  To those important, yet secondary questions, Sertillanges would respond, “First, strengthen your will.”  “The most valuable thing of all is will, a deeply-rooted will; to will to be somebody, to achieve something; to be even now in desire that somebody, recognizable by his ideal.”  In this he echoes, St. Theresa of Avila’s call for determination in achieving sanctity.  Strengthening our will to become an intellectual sounds easier than it is.  Changing externals appears more difficult to us than strengthening our will, but the effort required to really maintain a determined will to live out the intellectual vocation is intense.  It requires saying no to many good things so that we can say a full and complete yes to the intellectual vocation.

*quotes from "The Intellectual Vocation," section I.

Effects of prayer

Prayer has a soporific effect, A result most easy to detect. We cannot feel the graces they leave delicate traces -- a more determined will, flight from a particular ill; insight into our defects, a more tender reflex. True effects to be sure, enough to help us endure, the battle against drowsy that leaves prayer feeling lousy.

Do you have the intellectual vocation? part 1 of 2

Before beginning this post, which is a commentary on "The Intellectual has a Sacred Call" from chapter 1, I want to strongly recommend reading this section. Read it slowly and, perhaps, many times.

When Sertillanges talks about the intellectual vocation, he is speaking about vocation as a call from God that involves our entire life, but doesn't exclude other vocational aspects of our life - marriage, apostolic celibacy, priesthood, etc. The intellectual vocation could be synonymous with our professional vocation as would probably be the case with the prototypical intellectual vocation - Academic. On the other hand, from the perspective of time, it could occupy much less time than our professional vocation, but, in the order of love, it should be higher. And, like other vocations, this one requires discernment, a topic we will discuss in the second part of this post.

The all encompassing nature of the intellectual vocation is dear to Sertillanges, who undoubtedly titled his book The Intellectual Life to emphasize this point. Of course, we are not always reading, researching or writing. But, taking best advantage of the hours available for this beautiful task requires, among other things, recollection and solitude. Treasures that cannot be summoned after tooling around Linkedin for an hour. This excludes false ideas of the intellectual vocation, namely, all intellectual workers should try to live it, or that all can. Or, that the intellectual life can be lived without production. Those who aim at these goals can benefit from parts of this book, but the whole is directed to those with a more substantial call.

This call requires that the mission of the intellectual be more elevated than most of us consider it to be. In the body of Christ, each member is necessary, and the intellectual is especially important because he brings understanding to the rest of the body. And, this understanding "directs" the body as our mind directs the rest of our limbs. How does the intellectual bring light to others? In broad terms, he explains fundamental truths in contemporary language and/or explains contemporary events in light of fundamental truths.

The intellectual has the vocation to respond to the cry for meaning that rises up from all peoples. "If you are designated as a light bearer, do not go and hide under the bushel the gleam, or the flame, that is expected from you in the house of the Father of all."** The mind provides the justification for action: the ratio for any behavior, but modern man's reasons need to be explained in ways that he understands not in archaic formulas - true though they may be. An intellectual will provide these reasons, suited to the times, but not perverted by them.

This mission may be difficult to see for us who value practical knowledge above its speculative superior. Give me what works, what pays! But, the foundations of the most speculative science, metaphysics, are imminently practical. What could be done in the world of engineering and technology without the ubiquitous, yet quiet principle of non-contradiction? Each field has their analogous principles that need to be elucidated and explained. Better explaining these foundations, "impractical" as they may appear, is necessary for practical purposes and is a participation in the Truth.


*quotes from "The Intellectual Vocation," section I

**This quote from Sertillanges makes reference to today's Gospel, by the way.

Manhattan Woman

a poetic attempt

Purification of memory

I was in some hot water with a close friend the other day, and I was mentally reviewing all the historical evidence why I was right and he was wrong.  I saw that my perspective on the situation was very influenced by my view of the "historical evidence," or the series of events that I believe supports my case that I'm right and he's wrong.  This led me to see that my belief in divine providence is influenced by my memory of the events in my life.  If, for example, I see my history as a litany of disappointments, then I'll will be tempted to see God either as not provident or not good.  The complaint we can all relate to goes something like this, "If God let this happen to me, then he either doesn't care about me or doesn't know what He's doing!"  I don't think this situation is unique to me so I thought I'd unpack it for a post.

Let's break this down a little bit using the example of work, which happens to be top of mind for me. Turning the complaint above into "logical" syllogisms might look something like this:

A provident God would want me to enjoy my work.
I have never enjoyed my work.
Therefore, God is not provident.

A good God would want me to enjoy my work.
I have never enjoyed my work
Therefore, God is not good.

Let's leave aside the many ways we could improve these syllogisms and focus on the truth of the statement, "I have never enjoyed my work."  In some form or another, we may really believe this statement.  Of course, we would admit that our work hasn't been all bad -- we've met good people, we've grown in virtue.  On balance, though, let's assume we would say that we haven't enjoyed it.  This is based on what we believe happened in our work, our memory of that experience.  If these memories are an obstacle to us believing that God is provident, then it would be good for us to take another look at these memories to see if we may be misinterpreting something or exaggerating the importance of another thing.  Of course, the syllogisms need some reworking, too, but let's focus on the historical evidence.

Our memories are powerful, so, to the extent possible, we want them at the service of God through our intellect.  To do this, it would be good to prayerfully consider our most vivid memories in light of the truths of the faith and with the perspective of time.  We can start with those memories that may be the source of grudges with other people.  "I can't tell him how I feel about work because he has never understood my perspective on it!"

Ok, gotcha.  That belief is certainly rooted in memories we have of particular conversations or actions of this hypothetical friend.  When we are not otherwise agitated about work or this friend, let us bring this memory up with Jesus during prayer in order to try to see it from His perspective and from our friend's perspective.  We may see that our limited perspective caused us to be oversensitive or judgmental and we may see that our friend could have been more encouraging and available.  It is also important to look for the good that God drew out of the event, why He let it happen and how we and our friend have grown through it.

While we don't need to confess the sins that we have committed before our last confession, to the extent that we harbor a negative bias against our friend, no matter how slight, on account of that event, it would be good to mention that in confession because the measure of our love for others is the love for the Trinity not "getting along."  This way our Lord's grace and the Holy Spirit can work directly on our heart to free us from that chain holding us down.

The study plan - theology

My ability to advocate for a deep knowledge of theology is limited by the fact that I have not studied the subject in any serious way.  So, I will leave the Intellectual to do most of the talking:

"Theology, said Pere Gratry, has inserted a divine graft into the tree of knowledge, thanks to which this tree can bear fruits that are not its own.  It loses nothing of its sap thereby, on the contrary the sap circulates gloriously.  As a result of this new and soaring impulse given to knowledge, of this appeal of the findings of human effort to the collaboration of heaven, all branches of knowledge are vivified and all disciplines broadened.  The unity of faith gives to intellectual work the stamp of a vast co-operation.  It is the collective operation of men united in God."

Wow.  Very, very strong words.  It's difficult to conceive how theology vivifies and broadens all branches of knowledge, but I look forward to acquiring the theological formation necessary to begin to perceive some of these results.  I can, on the other hand, grasp more clearly how "the unity of faith gives to intellectual work the stamp of a vast co-operation."  Theology reminds us that God is the author of all that is, so we will frequently see the interconnectedness of the various parts of knowledge.  A Jane Austen novel, for instance, will confirm the importance of ethics while reminding us how much perceptions change throughout history.

"The sciences and philosophy without theology discrown themselves more lamentably, since the crown they repudiate is a heavenly one; and they go more irremediably astray, for earth without heaven cannot find the path of its orbit, nor the influences that give it fruitfulness."

This quote reminds us that understanding how to live on earth requires that we know about God, who created the earth.  Our deepest questions about why we are here and what we are supposed to do are only answerable with reference to heaven in the same way that we would only attempt a long journey with someone who could tell us how to navigate the path.

Like most of you, my quest for theological knowledge will need to be started mostly on the basis of faith because I am by no means a theologian.  We can have great confidence, though, that learning about God will bear abundant fruit.


*quotes are from "The Field of Work," section I.

The study plan - philosophy

"Just as no particular branch of knowledge is self sufficing so all branches together are not self-sufficing without the queen of knowledge, philosophy."  High praise for a discipline that many of us have encountered as confused and obscure rather than deep and clear.  The Intellectual has in mind the philosophy adopted by St. Thomas and not the type of vain philosophy most of us studied in college.

We may need to do a lot of unlearning and relearning in our study of philosophy because the "philosophies" of our time have seeped into our way of thinking through our experiences and language.**  For instance, we may find it very difficult to conceive of totally immaterial "principles," such as form and matter, which are the backbone of philosophy of nature in the Aristotelian-Thomistic tradition.  Most of us have subconsciously inherited the materialistic idea that all things, even ideas, can be reduced to little balls or atoms.  This idea is then reinforced by our conscious thought which rarely sees a need for a new paradigm because we rarely need to consider philosophical questions like, "what is change" or "what does it mean to exist."

In determining how to study philosophy and from whom, exercise great caution because there are many good people teaching deceptive philosophy.  Also, philosophy forms the foundation of your entire intellectual edifice, so it is worth heading St. Thomas's echo of Aristotle's warning that "a small mistake in the beginning, is a big one in the end."***

Now that the alarm has been sounded loud enough, why is philosophy so important?  Simply put, philosophy provides knowledge of the first principles or causes of everything, meaning all the other disciplines.  Before we can study what the causes of a particular historical event were, we need to understand what a cause is!  In order to relate economic principles to first principles, we need to know what a principle is and what the first principles are!  Only in this way can we know our field of specialty from its roots.  This helps us avoid serious errors in our specialized study that we will be unconscious of because we don't have the philosophical framework to recognize the error.  For instance, many financiers applaud the firing of employees in a healthy company because profits will quickly increase making the company "healthier."  The reality of how job cuts affect a company and its current and past employees, however, is much richer than this "profit calculus."  This hypothetical financier has, perhaps, given more importance to profit than persons in his "intellectual framework" despite the fact that he understands that people are more important than money in a general way.

Without a grounding in true philosophy, there will be disorder in thought.  A problem, which the catholic intellectual must remedy not exacerbate.  "If the intellectual Catholic belongs to his time, he can do nothing better than work, for his part, at restoring the order that we lack."

*quotes are from "The Field of Work," section I.
**For a more thorough description of this phenomenon, please see the chapter called "The Greatest Resource -- Education" in E.F. Schumacher's Small is Beautiful.
***De Ente et Essentia