Leisure and Truth
One
The Delight of Truth
St. Thomas Aquinas believed that the greatest pleasures are those of the intellect contemplating truth. He reasoned that the higher the human faculty, the greater the human pleasure. That’s why rational pleasures are greater than animal pleasures. It’s more delightful to be a human being talking with friends than to be a pig feeding at a trough.
Therefore, since the intellect is the highest, noblest faculty, the one that sets humans apart from beasts, the pleasure of discovering and contemplating truth must be the highest pleasure there is. And, in fact, this is the pleasure most people seek in their free time.
Blogs, news, TED talks, social media, sports stats, this is all people taking enjoyment from finding stuff out. Most people say they think it’s important to stay “up-to-date,” but actually the truth is they find it entertaining to know what’s going on in matters that affect them very little and matters that they can affect very little.
The point then, is twofold: Thinking about truth is very delightful and we should probably be very intentional about the truth we enjoy in our leisure time.
So what truth do you consume and contemplate in your leisure time?
Two
Truth you don’t want
Leisure time is time to build up your soul.
It’s time you use to make yourself happier, wiser, better able to appreciate and celebrate reality. If that’s the case, then here are some kinds of truth that probably shouldn’t be your main diet during your free time:
Superficial truth, like truth about celebrities’ personal lives, or the latest social trends. This probably doesn’t help you go down into the depths of reality. It’s superficial. It’s about stuff that doesn’t matter. Truth that satisfies makes you wise and wisdom is about being able to understand the profound truths underlying the world and human life – it’s not about being shallow.
Transient truth, that is, truth about things that are passing. This political scandal, that shift in the stock market, this professional sports trade. This is, at the end of the day, all trivia. Very soon, none of this stuff will mean anything. It’s passing. It will be forgotten in a few years. So what’s the point of giving your mind to what won’t have any long-term relevance? That’s the funny thing about news, by the time you read about it, it’s old.
Depressing, enraging, or fear-mongering truth. Don’t, please don’t, give your leisure hours over to facts in the news or on social media that will make you angry or scared or sad. Leisure is the time to cultivate joy. It’s the time to contemplate the truth that the world is good and governed by a God who is your Father and designed the entire cosmos with you in mind. Truth that takes you away from that most fundamental truth might as well be flat-out lies.
Three
True and profound stories: scripture and the lives of the saints
One of the best ways to keep the capital-T truth up front and center in your mind is to find the stories that embody that truth.
To learn the story of the Scriptures, for instance, is to learn the greatest story there is, God’s story of salvation, and to see in that story the fundamental truths about God and creation.
Obviously, people like Scott Hahn, Tim Gray, Fr. Mike Schmitz, and others are great for introducing you to this story.
But you should also try reading the stories of the saints. It’s amazing what they did! It’s amazing the truth their lives embodied. Some of the greatest writers have written biographies about the greatest saints.
Read, for instance, The Life of St. Edmund Campion or Helena (about St. Helen), both written by the brilliant novelist Evylegne Waugh. Or read The Life of St. Francis or The Life of St. Thomas Aquinas, both written by that literary genius G.K. Chesterton. Read The Life of St. Joan of Arc by Mark Twain, who said it was his greatest literary achievement. Read The Man for All Seasons about St. Thomas More, by Robert Bolt, or Murder in the Cathedral about St. Thomas Beckett, by T.S. Eliot. Louis De Wohl has written a number of novelizations about the lives of the saints.
Do you remember how St. Ignatius of Loyola became one of the greatest saints in history? He was looking for something to read in his free time and he decided to read the lives of the saints. So you might consider trying it.
Four
True and profound principles
You can also get great delight from learning the true principles at the core of reality and learning them directly. You can understand the basic philosophy of life from writers like Peter Kreeft and C.S. Lewis. You can understand how science and faith relate from Fr. Robert Spitzer. You can understand how Mary ties into every aspect of God’s plan for humanity through Mark Miravalle. You can understand the Church’s moral vision through Fr. John Hardon. You can get a sense of the Church’s overall history from William Carroll.
It’s all out there. And it’s not just good to know, it’s delightful to know!
If you’re looking for something to do, why not get the greatest enjoyment from the greatest truth?
Five
Truth and Friendship
The fact of the matter is, the search for truth seems to be inseparable from friendship. People who loved the truth loved to talk about it with others.
The great font of Western Philosophy is Socrates, who simply wanted to talk about truth with his friends. Aristotle and his school were called the Peripatetics, which just means “The Walkers,” because what they liked doing most of all was walking around with their friends discussing important truths.
Even Christ Himself didn’t transmit His saving truth by writing books, but primarily by talking and walking with His friends.
So who is the friend you have with whom you can pursue the truth?
Probably the reason everyone goes online for their truth is because all their friends are online. But social media is really not where your main source of friendship or you main source of truth should be.
So start a book club, or at least get your spouse, your kid, or a good friend to read a book with you and arrange to talk about it every week. Because the only pleasure that compares to the pleasure of contemplation is the pleasure of friendship. And when you combine those two, you get about the greatest pleasure it’s possible to have in this life. And, best of all, it’s a pleasure that will bring you closer to Heaven.