THANKSGIVING 2021

Our national holiday to celebrate the birth of our nation is a treasure. I, with so many, appreciate that this is our homeland. Admittedly, I am stressed by the rising dichotomy in our nation where so many have identified with views distinctly different from our the more traditional visions. On this day, I hope that most people will take a moment to appreciate that they live in the United States of America.

As with most people, I will enjoy Thanksgiving by being mindful of the beautiful family I have. I am aware of the agony associated with disturbances in many families. It humbles me to ponder the beauty of our children, the wonderful additions generated by their marriages and gifts of our grandchildren.

Thanksgiving always generates peace and happiness in so many families. Would that all could experience such pleasure, but for the moment, I am selfishly grateful. 

A Memory from 2016

I am back in Boston, safe and sound. Started the day on a 7:40 flight in New Orleans and landed in Boston at 8:30. 

I have had many moments of laughter this weekend. In addition to the humor of my adult sons, I went to this school fair designed to raise money.  I spent the time fascinated with the band. It was great. At some point, I decided to join the younger people dancing in front of the stage. For two hours I never stopped! Various people guided me with some of moves. There were hugs and kisses with various women (couldn't help but think of Joan watching me).  It was great. 

And now I am having such humor in my first flight in first class. Recalling that after my mother died when I was 13 and my sister was 8, we were never hungry but our diet was limited. I remember how much I was impressed by the quantity and quality of food when I entered the seminary. I was like a child in a candy store! I remember the experience of Joan's saying yes to the proposition of joining me in life. I was like the child in in a candy store traveling to graduate school in California. We camped along the way and I felt ecstatic. And then we had Sara. I remember vividly having this new born say-old child in my arms with friends.  I can recall treasuring my VA work experience, recalling my letter to a priest who taught me that if priests that I knew worked as hard as my fellow VA staff, the church would be in better shape. And then, so much more, ending up in this weekend with sons, dancing with young people, and now treated to this first class flight where hot towels are brought to prepare us for supper, drinks provided, I am not aching secondary to cramped space, and attention given me as though I was special. I tell the flight attendants that I feel like the child in a candy store! 

One could say that it takes nothing to make me happy. It may be true because I have generally been happy with every aspect of my 78 years of life, including my experience as a priest. I got in much trouble promoting Vatican II ideas, crusading for civil rights and protesting our involvement in Vietnam, but I was fantastically energized. Being on a "crusade" was literally a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but I treasure the moments and its effect on me. Many events later are later experienced as a child in a candy store!

There are times when one awakens to a truth you are awareof, but now with more meaning

I have been stressed with our national dichotomy, our inability to confront the implications of global warming, the lack of concern for those without sufficient resources to live without wondering whether they can survive the lack of food and shelter. I realize that I am not alone, but this is not helpful knowing that we who are in agreement cannot remedy these issues ourselves.

I have regular video conferences with a a former colleague of the Veterans Administration. The most recent one focused on my concerns expressed above. And a new understanding left me with a sense of peace.

Knowing that my age will spare me from the ramifications of my concerns, I focused on my family, my children and grandchildren. I thought of their world impaired by global warming. I thought of the peoples throughout the world being forced to leave their nation to a place that will allow them to grow food and have shelter. I considered what it would be like living with the average temperature reaching a mark that was uncomfortable regularly. I worried about their well-being, given these morbid conditions are the soil of violence.

My conversation shifted by outlook significantly. Considering the principles of evolution, we are at a stage that we can see our world evolves toward the ultimate point of its disintegration. Surely, this point is way in the future, eons beyond the lives of my grandchildren. Yet, they will experience the changes as steps to its ultimate demise. 

While this sounds horrific, it has made the present inability to come to terms with the implications of what we are experiencing less exacerbating. I will continue to urge changes to prevent earthly disaster, but now I can at least understand that my voice and those who share my view did our best. It just was not enough!

And so, I sink into a peace of Living in the Moment. This moment happens to be one of many where I am personally loved and where I can share my love with others. In this moment, I am fortunate to look out my front windows and see the beautiful ocean, albeit with occasional severe storms. I live in a community that is peaceful and friendly. 

And while my belief system has evolved, I do believe in the Divine Spirit underlying their entire cosmos. Mother Earth may not survive, but some other planet could become home to another intellegent species. It will ultimately be good.

I am at peace!

I Weep

 It has been so painful to read the news. So much is decisive. There is no longer a national sentiment that can bridge our differences. Our national dichotomy only reflects the phenomenon through out the world, except for a few nations, e.g., New Zealand, Ireland.

What strikes me as mystifying is that religion seems no longer relevant. I realize that church attention in the United States has declined. But, I am struck that people throughout the world, whether Christian, Jewish, Islam, Hindus, were once believers in the Divine presence. You would think that such belief would allow one to view one another, regardless of nationality, color, or whatever difference, as a child of the God. We are all God’s children. Apparently, that perspective is no longer valid. How could a believer not see the other as a brother or sister? 

I weep! 

Memories

Memories are pasted with the glue of love,

At least the memories to be cherished.

None are more imprinted,

Than those that have endured longer.

Wondering about the vagaries of life,

How one meets another is forever internalized.

So many I treasure for their gifts,

The gifts of intellect and love.

From time to time, meeting for lunch,

Brushing the landscape with flowers,

Of memories that hopefully endure,

For the Moment, it is a precious gift