Posted by:
mindog
(
)
Date: August 25, 2014 04:36AM
So, my dad sent me a letter recently detailing recent family events that I already knew about, since I regularly call home. It's all very passive aggressive and bland, in the sense that you can read the nostalgic sigh into every period and comma. In a lot of ways he sounds like his life is all behind him, when he probably has another 15 to 20 years of good health, maybe more, all ahead of him. He's retired with significant employment potential, but despite superficial efforts, does not seem to be able to find new employment, though he does devote full time efforts to his Church calling (literally 40-50 hours a week). Financially my parents are scraping by on his retirement income, despite superficial appearances.
The interesting part comes into the postscript, where he acknowledges that he's come across "issues" in the past, that they have caused doubts, but that the BoA critique is a new one for him. That these issues have come and then gone eventually in their significance for him. Then he puts in this loaded statement about deciding on the reasons why he's made the commitments (to the church...I think?) that he has. That there are always challenges and that remaining consistent clears up these issues, even if not everything is answered now in "this life".
All I can read into this is that he's subconsciously subsumed by invisible social pressures and that staying the course must be the best option, because that's what he's done so far. I wonder what he's using to prop up his "shelf" and shield off the ringing cognitive dissonance. I can't even count how many times this attitude has taken our whole large family into poverty as he made one bad employment and investment decision after another all while taking on the consequences and debt of those that deceived and manipulated him.
I don't even know what to do with this. Is this some attempt to discuss the actual issues? Is this just some warm fuzzy broadcast attempt? Is it best just to ignore it?