Muchacho Polaco

I recently bought this book in hopes that it was a continuation of Crabb’s The Silence of Adam. Sadly, that was not the case. But instead, it was an updated version of the same book. But even so, I thought it worth reading again. Rarely do I read books multiple times. This is one I think I should read at least once a year.

Here are some memorable quotes and thoughts:

“Men are easily threatened. And whenever a man is threatened, when he becomes uncomfortable in places within himself that he does not understand, he naturally retreats into an arena of comfort or competence, or he dominates someone or something in order to feel powerful.”

Well that’s uncomfortably accurate. I can often identify with being easily threatened. But I generally don’t think about it when it happens. So all sort of mess generally follows.

When I think about what entails a threat, I tend to think it mostly has to do with my identity. I’m not threatened when someone demonstrates superior knowledge of sports (or even superior performance in a sport for that matter), because I don’t consider myself to have any value in that area. I don’t see it as something that defines me.

But if it’s an area where I perceive I find my value, then watch out. I might retreat to something else, but most definitely I’ll move toward domination.

The problem of this response seems to stem from where I perceive my value. It’s one thing to give intellectual assent to what I am told makes me valuable, but it’s entirely a different thing to actually believe it. Faith seems really hard sometimes.