OU WON’T KNOW my opinion of Jordan B. Peterson. Some love him; others hate him. You won’t know what I think unless I tell you—and I won’t tell you because that’s not what we discuss on this blog. Briefly stated, Jordan B. Peterson is a Canadian psychologist who has taught at Harvard University (United States) and the University of Toronto (Canada). He came to international fame when the Canadian government tried to force him to use words such as: “zie, zim, zir, zis, zieself, ve, ver, vis, vers, verself, tey, ter, tem, ters, terself, kemself,” and so forth.
A friend sent me this video, and I had to share it with you:
Crosses Abound: I do realize the Catholic Church faces many problems these days. Church musicians are often treated with great injustice, even by priests and bishops. In the Ordinary Form world, powerful people are allowed to freely promote heresy—and they face no consequences. The Extraordinary Form also has its share of problems, including a subset of vicious “ultra-traditionalists” who slander others in vile and despicable ways. We have all encountered people who claim to be “liturgical experts” yet who are so filled with bitterness and hatred we wonder whether they even believe in God.
Losing God’s Joy? Now, it certainly is true that we are called to “rejoice in our sufferings”—trying to imitate Our Savior, Who carried His Cross for our sins (Matthew 16:24). But on the other hand, have we forgotten why we became Church musicians in the first place? Have we allowed the problems in the Church to extinguish our ability to take delight in our vocation? I know choirmasters whose lives are so miserable that they refuse to teach their children music—because they don’t want their kids to choose such a difficult vocation. (It is not hard to sympathize with such sentiments.)
Conclusion: Jordan B. Peterson has incredible fame, and a massive following … yet his biggest regret is failing to take advantage of an opportunity to learn to play the organ when he was seven years old. Let’s ponder that.
