EPISODE 1005: I AM MY OWN EXORCISM
Pope Francis in the Hospital! White Lotus Returns! The Economic Blackout Begins! And is it possible to stay positive right now?
POP CULTURE SPIRIT WOW
Hi and welcome to Pop Culture Spirit Wow, the newsletter that puts the “msical” in “whimsical.” (The ‘u’ is absent but not silent.)
(I regret to inform you that the world is broken and this is what is funny now.)
There’s a lot going on in the world right now (See: My Existential Dread). Let’s get into it!
FOLLOWING FRANCIS
If you’ve been following the Catholic news, you know that Pope Francis is in critical condition after a bad case of bronchitis put him in the hospital on Valentine’s Day. He had a very serious breathing attack on Friday as a result of pneumonia in both lungs that left him needing oxygen and also a blood transfusion.
As of the time I’m writing this, the Vatican has reported that he’s still in critical condition, but he has not had another attack. Chris Lamb, the Vatican reporter for National Catholic Reporter, writes that there’s some signs of “mild” kidney failure, but for now it remains under control. It seems like we’re dealing with a kind of biological Jenga, where each new treatment has the possibility of creating other complications. This is what happens when you get really sick, right? All anyone can do is hope he gets better before other things get worse.
Amidst all this, the detail that really wrecked me is the fact that while he’s been so sick, he has continued to text and call people like the pastor of Holy Family Parish in Gaza. He’s also been kidding around with hospital staff. Dr. Sergio Alfieri, medical director at Gemelli hospital in Rome, reported that he went in on Friday morning to see the Pope and said, “Good morning, Holy Father.” And the Pope responded, “Good morning, Holy Son.”
It’s hard to summarize any papacy, and Francis has definitely packed a lot in his. But I feel like these stories capture something very much at the heart of the man, a drive to reach out to people, especially those in need.
A number of years ago the people of St. Anthony parish in Sacramento kindly invited me to come give a talk about Francis in anticipation for his visit to the United States. While I was researching the talk, I came upon this photograph. To me it says everything.
WELCOME TO THE COUNTER PROGRAMMING
In these first couple months of the current administration’s attempted overthrow of our democracy, I’ve done my best not to say too much about what’s going on in public fora. In some ways, that instinct comes from a very funny former Jesuit, Pat Lynch. Pat and I spent three years together teaching high school at Red Cloud Indian School. Pat came to the school with long hair and a beard. The kids called him “Yahweh”—because Native kids are way too clever to settle for the obvious. One small child, though, after being dropped off from school on a bus driven by Pat, did tell his parents that Jesus was on his school bus. They immediately called the school, furious that what they assumed to be a vagrant had been allowed on the bus.
Pat had a great sense of humor and also fantastic instincts when it came to anything spiritual. And one day he and I and some other teachers were kvetching about I don’t even know what, and he suddenly started sweeping the air around us, as though trying to push something bad away. “We have to get rid of all this,” he told us. He knew from vibes before vibes were a thing.
I have plenty of outrage about what’s going on. But I have to say, when I see other people raging online, it doesn’t help me. Even though it’s coming from a very different place than the nastiness we’re getting from the government, a place of grief and outrage, a desire for justice, it can often land like just more toxicity. Just seeing certain names is very upsetting.
For the moment my strategy is to instead try to use the socials—which we know are trying to drag us into the worst possible emotional states, because that tends to increase our engagement on their platforms—to do the opposite of what they and the government want, to put out positive, supportive, even funny vibes, most of which are not even obliquely referring to things going on. (There have been many photos of my family members’ pets.)
I don’t know if this helps anyone other than me, but it definitely has been helping me. Not only do I feel better, in my real life I seem to be more aware of the people around me (and also more aware of when I’m being a complete tool).
Your mileage may vary. But if the universe is grinding you down, you might try doing the exact opposite of what it seems to be telling you to do.
Having said that…
THE THING ST. IGNATIUS TAUGHT ME THAT I THOUGHT WAS DUMB MAYBE WASN’T?
Last week I was at a gay bar with a bunch of friends, and a guy came up to us and started talking. Almost immediately he said, in this kind of giggly voice, “Just so you know, I did not vote for the Democrats in this election.” We ignored this, both because it seemed weird and also what was he even saying?
But of course he could not let it go. He kept saying how he didn’t vote for the Dems, giggle giggle.
Let’s be clear, this is a really fucked up thing to be saying in a bar that serves queer clientele. And at the same time, this is not the first gay man I’ve met in the last few months who voted against his own community and for fascism. On election night I sat with an older gay couple, one of whom voted Republican, the other voted who for someone-else-who-was-not-Kamala-Harris. At the time, I just rolled with it, because I was sure Kamala was going to win. Since the election, as I just said, I’ve steered clear.
But for some reason and to my total shock, instead of doing that on this night, as my friends did, I said, “Get the #!%!% out of here. Seriously, #!%!% off, you absolute piece of #!%!” And when he started to talk back, I continued to say that until he walked away.
I immediately apologized to my friends. This is not how I generally behave or treat people. And they said, “Don’t worry about it. You were actually really nice in the way you said it.”
If you’re wondering, What does that mean, join the club. I have no idea.
Later I was noticing the kind of good I felt afterward: Not good as in I have just turned one person into a totem for all of the wrath I feel toward 51% of US voters, and let him have it. But good as in having suddenly become my friend Pat Lynch and cast something out.
It reminded me of this thing that St. Ignatius used to talk about. A former soldier, he had this whole worldview built around God and the devil at war both in the world and inside us. And when we find ourselves contending with an evil spirit inside, some sort of voice of temptation or hatred or whatnot, he said we should get in that evil spirit’s face and tell it to fuck off. Evil spirits are fundamentally cowards—he actually uses some really misogynistic language here, which sucks—and when you call them out, they run away.
In my life, this approach to internal doubts or temptations has been almost entirely bad for me. I find the more energy you give to fighting some of the nastier voices in your head, the stronger they get. Like a certain someone, they feed on that energy, whether you mean it to attack them or not.
Also, a lot of the time I’ve found if I step back and humor some of those nasty or scary voices, let them have a moment to say whatever they need to say, it turns out they have an intention that is not at all evil. They’re old defense mechanisms that I created at some other time but no longer need, or parts of me that actually are just trying to get my attention in the wrong way, like a kid tugging on your shirt when you’re trying to cut the turkey.
But suddenly last week I’m in this situation and doing exactly what Ignatius told me to, and it actually made sense (and also worked).
I’m not recommending going around telling people off! But it was eye opening to see that there are moments in real life where the right thing to do might be to step forward and say “I cast you out” (in a manner of speaking) (with love) (apparently).
THE REAL AMERICAN HORROR STORY
White Lotus, the show about Americans being awful in foreign resorts and getting their due, is back, and generally just as uncomfortable and tense as ever. It’s basically a long form horror show in which everyone is the monster.
Without spoiling anything, last night’s episode reminded me of this very funny sketch from SNL’s 50th.
Also, I demand that season 4 include Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen as a nasty gay couple.
LET’S GO PARTY NOW, EVERYBODY’S LEARNING HOW, COME AND ECONOMIC BLACKOUT WITH ME
On Friday, people around the country are withholding spending any money at major retailers as a way of protesting how those organizations have caved to the government. The title is a little deceptive. The idea isn’t to stay home and spend no money, but to withhold your money from big businesses like Walmart, Target, Whole Foods, Amazon, McDonalds, Meta, Google, X, Max/Warner Brothers, Disney, Microsoft, and Apple.
I think it’s a great idea, both for the message we can send and also for the opportunity it provides to support other businesses, and maybe discover new favorites of our own.
TOP TEN THINGS YOU COULD DO WITH YOUR ECONOMIC BLACKOUT
1) Donate money or time to charities that support trans people or migrants.
Trans people and migrants have been brutally targeted by the current administration. In New York, the website for the national museum which commemorates the Stonewall riots, riots which were led in large part by trans people, have had to remove the letters T and Q from “LGBTQ”.
2) Use your local grocery or bookstore.
Yes, it may be a little more expensive to buy a book at the local bookshop. But on the other hand, it’s a great way to support the local people, i.e. our neighbors, who run them.
3) Don’t use Google.
If you have Gmail, it may be unavoidable to spend the day off email (although you might try it; it’s kind of great). But not using Google for our searches could make a pretty profound statement, as well as a chance to see what other search engines (like Startpage, Ecosia, or DuckDuckGo) have to offer.
4) Visit minority-owned businesses.
Friday is a fantastic day to use local businesses and restaurants run by people of color, women, queer people. which can be found through a simple online search.
5) Go to a gay bar.
If you’ve never been to a gay bar, why not check one out? The bartenders are great, you’ll meet lots of nice people, and many have great happy hours!
Also acceptable: Find a drag show!
6) Read alternate news sources.
As much as many of us rely on the New York Times, Washington Post, and other major news sources right now, a lot of their coverage has been skewed by fear and the desire to get our attention. Friday is a chance to go elsewhere—news sources from other countries, for instance, or independent groups, like Sojourners, Religion News Service, the New Yorker, America Magazine, National Catholic Reporter.
7) Visit your local library.
Libraries are such an important part of our society, and librarians have been through so much in the last 10 years. Why not see what’s going on at yours, and maybe say or do something nice for a librarian.
8) Go to a live performance.
With everything the administration is doing to attack and control the arts, Friday would be a great day to go see live theater, a local band or other kinds of performance.
9) Volunteer.
There’s always a million places that need volunteers.
10) Grab a free trial at Criterion.
If we’re really taking the blackout seriously and we don’t want to go out, what are we supposed to do on Friday night? Big business owns all the networks. Even Turner Classic Movies is now owned by Warner Brothers (which has basically cut it to pieces).
May I recommend checking out Criterion? They do a 7-day free trial. They have lots of great recent and old movies, as well as foreign films and lots of art house stuff and shorter things, too.
The economic blackout is like Lent: You can think of it as just a hardship, just things you have to take away. Or you can think of it as an opportunity to try new things, to live your life a little differently. Who knows, maybe you’ll find it’s for the better.
Thanks for reading! Have a great week.
Your passion brings so much light and goodness to the world, Jim……mom
You consistently do this for me - comfort me with your “thanks I needed that” posts.
I took part in my first protest march in over 50 years - to call for firing Erik Adams with his scary quid pro quo submission to that hideous orange guy’s war on immigrants.
Some a-hole walked by our crowd muttering “he [I presume he meant 47] was elected - you are disgusting!” All I could muster up in the moment - as I held my “immigrants are New Yorkers” sign - was a rather high school response - no YOU are disgusting. Maybe I should have said “no - you poopie head - YOU are disgusting!”