Sixty-Five
Million Years
Human
desires can result in the shift of focus and divided attention. As people grow
worn up by boredom, thoughts of igniting curiosity and desire for life takes a
toll. Sixty-Five Million Years, a Richard Bausch
It does not take long for Father Hennessey to
realize that he is almost burning out spiritually as a priest. As the days go
by, the hours he spent in the confession booth becomes unbearable and boring.
He wonders why all the individuals that come forward for confession have almost
similar stories. The monotony of going through the same thing on a daily basis
begins to wear him down (Bausch 11). His emotional feelings toned down because
as a result. In fact, ample sleep became rare as he attempted to reconcile his
thoughts with the abominations of the Catholic Church. The responsibilities as
a priest drain his personality and he yearns for a day that all his mysteries
would be kept at bay.
Notably, the unending problems of believers
inspires Father Hennessey ’s
disillusion in Christianity. The anonymous precarious young boy that comes to
confess and seek his wise advice confirms his doubts. The priest learns that he
is actually ill-equipped to tackle the boy’s troubling questions. Instead, the
priest learns that his faith is put to test. The story’s author intentionally
focuses on Father Hennessey ’s
personal lifestyle and thoughts to reveal the details of issues faced by the
modern church. A time lapse between the era of early church and religion in the
modern times is marked by evolution of human understanding of the world around
them. Today, science answers most of the questions that were deemed a mystery
in over the past two millennia. As such, the priest is caught on the crossroads
as he attempts to embrace the benefits of technological advancements and the
importance of maintaining moral standing and spirituality.
The
priest’s desire for the criminal deeds of Mr. Graham Mr. Graham Father
Hennessey ’s personal desires
tampers with his ability to serve as a pure figure that the believers can
emulate. The church entrusts the priest with a heavy responsibility of offering
spiritual guidance to the congregation. However, as the story unfolds, it is
evident that the priest neglects his duty and instead redirects those that seek
his assistance to the earthly counselors. His fascination with the earthly
advancement strongly contrasts with what is required of him as a Christian
leader. Unknowingly and gradually, he leads the mass away from the core mission
of the church.
While sexual desires are human, the Catholic
Church encourages priests to refrain from such thoughts so as to maintain a
life of purity and consciousness. However, the priest’s growing curiosity
elicits dissatisfaction in this Christian doctrine clause. He understands that
he too, as a human, has a need for physical happiness mostly out of reach.
Times and again, he realizes that he has sinned and confesses to reset his
status as a priest (Bausch 13).
The
15-year-old boy reminds Father Hernessey
of his dreams as teenager. The boy’s concerns awaken his own awareness of the
world, planets in the solar system, and the stars and how they cohesively
relate to each other. As the Bible casts a shadow on the already proven
correlation, the priest has second thoughts on the brainwashing nature of
Christian teachings. He casts doubt on the relevance of religion in the 21st
Century long after science disapproves most of the Holy Book’s core teachings.
Resultantly, he is pre-conditioned to perform his priestly chores not as a
strong Christian believer, but as formal, duty. To avoid raising eyebrows for
his changing behavior and beliefs, Father Hennessey resorts to continue his duty as
required without revealing his inner thoughts.
There
are times when Father Hennessey
feels that he is a disappointment to the young boy. In this case, the
15-year-old boy becomes a representative of the church as a while. Therefore,
the priest is convinced that by his wayward action and explicit thoughts, he is
deemed unfit to serve in his capacity as a church leader. He realizes that the
Christian church demands more that he can offer. It also dawns on him that the
urge he had to serve people in a religious capacity has since waned because of
God’s inability to provide prompt answers to his prayers. He is not alone in
this: more of his church members are growing wary of the consistent sufferings
and emotional dissatisfaction despite that they are loyal Christians. To Father Hennessey and a
section of his congregation, Christianity is failing them as it does not
provide direct answers and solutions the issues and questions they have.
As
the story nears its end, the author seeks to provide a closure and a solution
to multiple dilemmas in the early sections. He introduces the young boy’s mother
and makes her the center of the story’s plot. The 15-year-old narrates how her
mother is mentally ill and has been asking him questions beyond his ability to
answer. As such, the teenager sought answers from the priest hoping that his
mother’s condition will improve once he provides answers. While this comes as a
relief for the priest, it forces him to reflect on his recent lifestyle and how
he can mend his ways as a role model of the congregation (Bausch 15).
In
summary, it is clear that the priest’s deteriorating faith results from the
failure of religion to provide solution to the issues already solved by
science. The prevalent moral decay in the society shakes his faith. Even worse,
the boy’s questions fuel to his concerns. However, as the story winds up, he
rediscovers himself as a Christian.
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