Blog 818 – 11.08.2017

Mistaking Guilt For A Calling

Last Friday evening I had the wonderful privilege of attending for the second year The Driftless Film Festival in Mineral Point, Wisconsin. This year’s Friday evening featured movie was the independent film set in Wisconsin called The Aquarians. It is the story of two brothers who blame themselves for the death of their other brother. One of the surviving brothers has run away to seminary pursuing what he believes is a calling to the priesthood. The other, the younger brother has stayed in their home town and become quite estranged from his apprentice priest brother and is on a different kind of mission of service – to provide pot to people in pain as we see him doing for a sick elderly woman in a nursing home.

Because the local catholic church pastor is having serious medical issues, one of the women leaders in the church arranges with the seminary to have the first brother returned to them on loan to help the ailing Father with the work of the church. He does not want to be there, to be reminded of the guilt over his dead brother, or of the brother who no longer speaks to him, but he wants to make good on his vow to serve the church.

After the church leader and the Pastor both tell him that he has a duty to try to reconcile with his brother and bring him back to church he tries to save his brother. Oddly enough the younger brother thinks the would be priest brother needs to be saved and that he has mistaken his guilt for a calling. All guilt ever calls us to is to forgive ourselves and others. Till we do that we are stuck in a place where we are of little help to ourselves or anyone else.

It is a tender story about two brother who love each other but have forgotten how to act like it, who have allowed their guilt to stymie there personal growth and love for life. I recommend that everyone watch for the wider release of The Aquarians and go see it when they get a chance. More than that, I recommend that each of us examine our true motivation for what we do or do not do. There is only one true motivation and that is love. Guilt, retribution, hate, and revenge are petty reasons to do or not do anything. We are everyone of us bigger and better than that.

Your friend and fellow traveler,

David White