"Gus Busbi" Book Study Recap: Chapters 20 - 26

On April 12th, our Weary Travelers men's small group continued our book study on "Gus Busbi," a novel by Catholic author Jim Sano. It is the second book in the Fr. Tom Fritzpatrick series. We had evocative discussions about the various themes that are covered in Chapters 20-26.

One of the questions that we explored in our discussion is one that Jamiel pondered himself, in chapter 20, saying: "Am I my real self in any of them?" In essence, Jamiel is wondering to himself which version of himself is the most authentic - the Jamiel at home with his mom, the Jamiel who hangs around with this friends from his old neighborhood, the Jamiel at Saint Francis School around Fr. Tom & Angelo, or the Jamiel who is helping Gus Busbi. Will the real Jamiel please stand up. . . please stand up! (think Eminem). What about us? When are we our true, authentic self? When we are with our families? Our friends" Around co-workers? At church? Or do we wear different masks depending on the people or situation? More importantly, are we our true, authentic self in our relationship with God? The interesting thing is, God knows us better than we know ourselves and, yet, we try to hide our true, authentic self from our Father in heaven.

We then explore Jamiel's own biases and prejudices in his interaction with Gus Busbi, as well as the "victim" mentality that Jamiel has, which causes him to react in a hyper-defensive way. We talked about the differences between Jamiel and his mom, Celia, who - rather than be a "victim" - gets along fine with Gus Busbi. Moreover, we talked about the difference between Gus Busbi and his brother-in-law, Mike, and how they respond to loss in their lives. Of course, we all grieve the loss of loved ones in different ways but how do we not allow grief to paralyze us and prevent us from being the best version of ourselves. However, we also talked about the importance of not making assumptions but being will to ask someone, "What happened to you?", to have a better understanding of where they are coming from. This can be difficult but it allows us to understand one another better. ("What happened to you?" - is also the title of a book by Oprah Winfrey.)

Finally, we discussed how Gus Busbi is starting to lower his defenses and opening himself up to others, particularly to Jamiel and his mom, Celia. He even apologizes to Jamiel. And while Jamiel is not ready to talk with him about what's going on in his life, Gus Busbi asked Jamiel if everything was alright. This is a huge milestone for him in his relationship with Jamiel. In the end, I think the both of them realize that, as children of God, they have the same DNA. We closed our book study with discussions about institutional and systemic racism in our society, which we all agree that Jamiel is having to overcome in his life.

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Invitation to "Gus Busbi" Book Study - https://dcnphuc2019.blogspot.com/2023/01/invitation-to-gus-busbi-book-study.html

"Gus Busbi" Book Study Recap: Chapters 1 - 5 https://dcnphuc2019.blogspot.com/2023/03/gus-busbi-book-study-recap-chapters-1-5.html

"Gus Busbi" Book Study Recap: Chapters 6 - 19 https://dcnphuc2019.blogspot.com/2023/03/gus-busbi-book-study-recap-chapters-6-19.html