Thoughts

Rain

/ esteban / 1 Comment

I’m having trouble getting used to the rain here.  It’s not that it’s particularly bothersome, it’s just that it’s different.

At home in Oklahoma, we rarely just have rain.  We most often have storms that come with rain, and wind, and lightning, and thunder.    We like those quiet rainy days that come every now and then, but it’s not the norm.  We’re trained to look at the sky, chart the path of fast moving fronts, and calculate the severity of what’s coming up the turnpike from Oklahoma City.  It’s just part of how we plan our day during the spring and early summer.

Here in Madang, we’ve have had quite a bit of rain the last 2 weeks, at least by my reckoning.  No storms and only a little bit of lightning and thunder.  With little notice, the faucet is turned on, it rains several inches, and then it just stops.  No fast moving clouds, no enormous lightning or thunder shows (it does lightning and thunder some, but not like on the great plains), just a lot of water falling straight down.

And the water just disappears.

The ground is very porous, mostly sand and coral, so the water doesn’t really puddle up anywhere.  If we had the same amount of rain in Tulsa, we’d all be using boats by now.

It never occurred to me that I would miss Oklahoma storms and their awesome exhibits of natural energy.

I’m sure that PNG has its own such displays of nature, but I’m not sure I’m going to like them as much.

All this doesn’t mean I’m not grateful for the rain.  Fresh water anywhere is vital and that goes for St. Fidelis.  Rain water is the primary source of water at the school, collected in large cisterns from the roofs of most of the buildings.   They tell me that during dry seasons a well must sometimes be used but it’s often brackish and salty tasting.

I have admit that I was a bit leery of drinking the water from the cisterns when I first arrived.  I’ve had too many bad experiences in Central America with the local water to not at least give it a thought and a prayer before imbibing.

Happily and thankfully, I’ve had no problems, it tastes pretty good, and is abundant as long as it continues to rain.

 

 

 

“What are you looking for?”

/ esteban / 6 Comments

The Gospel reading and homily from today’s Mass (Jan 4 here in PNG) has been rattling around in my head this morning and I thought I would write about it while I still have a few minutes of internet time left.

The reading is Jn 1:35-42 and in it, Jesus asks, “What are you looking for?”, when he sees some disciples following him.  It also tells how Andrew, after spending the day listening to Jesus, goes and finds his brother Simon and tells him that they’ve found the Messiah and he needs to go meet him.  Of course Simon becomes known as Peter.  Andrew always seems to be bringing people to meet Jesus.

Fr. Cyril, the priest at St. Fidelis,  spoke of this Gospel reading in terms of vocations.  St. Fidelis is in the “business” of vocations. Our job is to help the young seminarians who arrive here to give birth to, nurture, define, and learn to care for their own vocations.  An awesome responsibility.

I wouldn’t be here in PNG if I didn’t feel a vocation for working with young adults.  That’s why I was in campus ministry for so long and it’s a big part of why I’m here now.

I hope I’m up to the tasks ahead and pray that I’m where God wants me to be and not too dull a tool for his work.

Prelude to PNG

/ esteban / 5 Comments

IMG_2424

 

As I write this, it has been 13 days since I left my home in Tulsa for Papua New Guinea. So far, the internet has been a very elusive animal, creeping about, giving the briefest of glimpses but never making itself useful for any length of time.

So, I’ve decided to write blog posts as simple documents, waiting the time when I can cut and paste them into my blog.

If you’re reading this, I guess I finally managed to tame the beast for at least a short while.

The two weeks leading up to my departure were two of the roughest I’ve face in a very, very, long time. My level of anxiety was off the charts as I tried to make arrangements, pack my house into storage units, figure out what I would take with me, and most importantly, try to take leave of my family and friends, at least for a little while. I’m usually a good planner but I was not really prepared for this.

I could not have done it without the support of my friends, particularly those in Tulsa but also those from around the country and the world. Even though I told some of you very late of my plans to come to PNG, your advice and encouragement has been wonderful.

Three guys, in particular, really stepped up and went beyond what I should have asked them to do. Jim Fox, Brandon Pollet and Alex Carroll, each in their own way, assisted me by helping to move my house into storage, cleaned it to ready it for renters, helped me find solutions to unforeseen problems, assisted with repairs at my family’s lake property, and then they asked to do more. I don’t know how I’ll ever make it up to them!

Tuesday, December 18th, was my day of departure. With only 2 ½ hours of sleep, it was full of last minute things to be done before leaving for the airport. A quick breakfast at Village Inn with Alex, a haircut, a last trip to Goodwill and one more look at my luggage.

I knew there wouldn’t be much of a send off, it being a work day and all. Thankfully, Alex wasn’t working that morning so he drove out to the airport to see me off.

Nonetheless, I was grateful for a warm December day, clear skies and time to see some last views of Oklahoma as I winged south to Houston, the first leg of what was to be a remarkably tough trip to PNG.

So this is happening …

/ esteban / 15 Comments

View Full Size Travel Map at Travellerspoint

In about a week, I’ll be leaving my homeland of Oklahoma for a volunteer teaching gig at St. Fidelis College in Madang, Papua New Guinea.  At the invitation of the Capuchin Franciscan Volunteer Corps (CapCorps, part of the Capuchin Friars of the Province of St. Augustine), I will be teaching primarily English, but other subjects too, as needed.

St. Fidelis College is part of the diocesan seminary program operated by the Capuchins in PNG.  As I understand it, it’s the entry-level program for seminarians and is intended to bolster their education level, post-high school, so that they can go on to further study at the other seminaries in PNG.

Doing something like this has been on my mind for some time, essentially since December, 1999.  Some of the students at the St. Philip Neri Newman Center at the University of Tulsa, where I was volunteering at the time, were planning their own volunteer assignments after graduation when I became interested in it.  I submitted an application to the Jesuit Volunteers International and was offered a teaching position in Tanzania.   I ultimately turned down that opportunity and pursued campus ministry at TU for the next eight years.  The opportunities I had to visit those students who had volunteered in Nicaragua, Peru and other places kept the bug in the back of my mind.  As did the many student trips that we took to the Lake Atitlan region of Guatemala, Mexico City, and all over Europe.

Several years ago, before I began working for SQPN, I created a profile on the website of the Catholic Volunteer Network, a clearing house of Catholic volunteer programs.  Since most applicants are young adults finishing up their college careers, I didn’t really expect anything to come from it.

Surprisingly, about two years ago, I was contacted by CapCorps with this opportunity in PNG. Since my skills and experiences over the years seemed to be tailor-made for what they were looking for, I decided that I would enter into discussion with them, follow their application process and see where it might lead.

Every step of the way, the right doors seemed to open, the people I spoke to had nothing but good things to say about the school and the work of the Capuchins in PNG.

We finally reached the go/no go point and I made the decision to go on a 2 year commitment.

I realize that this is a very idealistic decision, especially at my age.  It was hard to ignore this opportunity as a person of faith and knowing the call to service and evangelization that we Catholics have.  Working in Catholic New Media as I have, it was also hard not to put “my money where my mouth is.”

This decision hasn’t come without cost, though.  Giving up my job with SQPN, renting out my house, and leaving my friends and family are just the tip of the iceberg.  My decision is placing burdens on my family, friends, and co-workers as they assume some of my responsibilities and support me with their friendship while I’m away.

I decided when I entered into this process that I wouldn’t make a decision based solely on fear, but to try to discern God’s call in this decision.  There’s a great deal of fear in this, to be honest.  A little voice in the back of my head, chattering away “You’re ruining everything!”  I hope not.

Here’s where I can sling more clichés about the road less traveled, nothing ventured nothing gained, no pain no gain, etc.

I think I’ll just close with the one that’s most often come to me when I need it.

Be not afraid.

I am!

/ esteban

 

I have not been a follower of Ron Paul, described by ABC News as “the iconic libertarian congressman from Texas”, but reports of his farewell address to Congress caught my attention.

Nearly an hour long, his speech enumerated many of the problems facing our country and reinforced the grave feelings that I have for our future.

“Our Constitution, which was intended to limit government power and abuse, has failed,” Paul said. “The Founders warned that a free society depends on a virtuous and moral people. The current crisis reflects that their concerns were justified.”

 The need for a “virtuous and moral people” is definitely at the core of our problems.  Anyone who reflects on the changes in our country over the past 50 years can see that our people are inexorably losing these qualities.

Quoting the ABC News article that I read (emphasis is mine),

Paul left the podium, for the last time, offering an “answer” to all of these problems: that people should choose liberty and limit government, and seek change within themselves. 

“The number one responsibility for each of us is to change ourselves with hope that others will follow,” Paul said, urging an end to two motives that have hindered U.S. society: envy and intolerance.

 

These last statements particularly caught my attention because earlier in the week I had the privilege of hearing Cardinal Timothy Dolan’s presidential speech to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops fall meeting in Baltimore.

In his speech, Cardinal Dolan recalled part of the closing message from the recent Synod of Bishops.  That message reminds everyone, beginning with the bishops themselves, that the New Evangelization must begin with personal conversion.

“The New Evangelization reminds us that the very agents of evangelization – you and me – will never achieve that abundant harvest Blessed John XXIII described unless they are willing and eager to first be evangelized themselves,” said Cardinal Dolan, “Only those themselves first evangelized can then evangelize.”

Cardinal Dolan later said,

“The premier answer to the question “What’s wrong with the world?” is not politics, the economy, secularism, sectarianism, globalization or global warming … none of these, as significant as they  are.  As Chesteron wrote, “The answer to the question ‘What’s wrong with the world?’ is just two words: ‘I am.'”

 

There is so much more to be taken from Cardinal Dolan’s speech, which you can read here, especially concerning the central importance of the Sacrament of Penance, but I was struck by how two very different men, with two very different roles in our country, and two very different perspectives and belief systems, could both hit on the same central solution to our ills.

Our hope as one sharing the New Evangelization, or our hope as a citizen of a free nation, depends on a virtuous and moral personal conversion.

So say we all.

 

 

7 Quick Takes Friday – Flights and Films

/ esteban / 2 Comments

 

I haven’t done one of these “7 Quick Takes Friday” posts in awhile.  I’m not sure I have the hang of it yet.  If you want to see the pros in action, go over to conversiondiary.com and check out the other posts there.

 

1.

It hasn’t really hit me yet that I have to get on a 7am flight tomorrow morning.  I am not prepared.  I used to do this all the time when I worked in corporate America, four years of commuting to either Boston or Houston.   I know what to expect and no amount of coffee will cure the morning fog I’m going to feel until I arrive in Baltimore tomorrow afternoon.  Oh sure, take a nap on the plane they say.  Yeah, right. That never happens for me.  And, I can’t read that early in the morning either, so I’m counting on my iPad to entertain me with some soothing music or a film that I’ve watched a dozen times already, just so I can put my brain in neutral for awhile.

2.

Baltimore, you say?  Yep! I’ll be attending the Bloggers Dialogue session that precedes the Fall meeting of the USCCB.  It’s been a long time since I hobnobbed with bishops.  I better go shine my shoes or something.

3.

It’s guy’s night tonight, which will probably be my undoing given tomorrow’s early flight.  But, how could I turn down trying out a new BBQ joint with my buddies, followed by seeing the new James Bond flick “Skyfall” at the Imax.  It’s a moral imperative.  (Does anyone but me ever get that reference from “Real Genius“?)

4.

It’s always the cables.  Anyone who spends much time working with computers or other electronics knows that if a problem crops up, the first thing you do is check the cables.  I know this from LONG experience of working on all kinds of equipment, from PCs to custom designed RTUs and PLCs.  I apparently forgot those important lessons earlier this week.  I installed one of those medial alert systems in the home of my elderly aunt.  You know, you push a button on your wristband if you’ve fallen and can’t get up.  I could not get the thing to work.  I even read the directions and looked at the diagrams, TWICE.  I know, right?  Should have worked.   It was only after calling technical support did I realize that I had the phone cable plugged into the wrong port.  I blame the diagram for inconsistent wording.  It’s not like I have a master’s degree in computer science or anything.

5.

The election is over.  Oklahoma is probably the reddest of red states.  There’s a palpable sense of anger and disappointment here.  Now would not be a good time to try and mess with us.

6.

I am not an accomplished movie reviewer, but I’m going to try.  Last Tuesday, instead of obsessing over the election returns, I went to a showing of the new film “Flight” with Denzel Washington.  I hope this isn’t a spoiler, but the film was not what I expected it to be.   First, it’s definitely not a family friendly movie.  The preponderance of drugs and alcohol and the mostly positive portrayal of it was not something I enjoyed.  The language was just as bad and gratuitous.  There’s some great acting in this film, particularly by Washington, John Goodman, Don Cheadle and Kelly Reilly.  However, having had to deal with the issue of alcohol addiction in my family, I did not enjoy this film, did not like its overall message,  and can not suggest it to others for that reason.  I know, if you’ve seen the movie, the end of it seeks to redeem the characters for their flaws.  That doesn’t mean that I enjoyed the film any more.

7.

On a happier note, for Battlestar Galactica fans, the first two episodes of BSG: Blood and Chrome are now available on Youtube, on the Machinima channel.  It’s a very light weight prequel of the previous Battlestar Galactica series.  From what I can tell from the first two episodes, it’s going to be action packed, but without all the deep philosophy and rich character development that we came to love.  But with just 12 minutes per episode, that’s fine with me.  Perhaps it will get some legs as a web series and have a chance at being extended into a real show on SyFy.

 

I had to resort to this …

/ esteban / 7 Comments

I’m incredulous that I had to resort to this.  I mean the note.

The office where I work is actually the living room of my home.  It has one of those quirks from the 60’s where instead of installing an overhead light fixture, the architect decided to wire the light switch to one of the wall outlets.  For a table lamp, I suppose.

As it works out, the best place to plug in my computer, printer, and podcasting equipment is this very same outlet.

For years, this was never a problem.  I knew not to flip that switch.  A piece of black electrical tape served as a reminder.

Six months ago, I discovered these much more attractive switch covers during a recent pilgrimage to Home Depot.  (Yay for hardware stores!)

The trouble began almost immediately after replacing the electrical tape with the switch cover. It’s like catnip apparently.

Three times in the last 6 months, visitors have determined that the cover must mean “insert your finger into the tiny slot in the side of the cover and flip the switch just to see what happens.”

Seriously?  You really came to that conclusion?

In all fairness, I do take a little pleasure when the person sheepishly confesses to the crime. There is obviously some psychology involved in this that I just don’t understand.

I added the note above the switch yesterday, after the latest incident.

Please, resist the catnip next time.

 

 

 

 

Strange and Wonderful

/ esteban / 1 Comment

This week I’ve been traveling through Indiana, making my way to South Bend for a wedding tomorrow morning.

I’ve been doing a little sightseeing along the way, visiting family grave sites and other points of interest.  I’ll write more about that later, but today’s visit to the Kosciusko County Museum and Research Library deserves special mention.

My g-g-grandparents Charles F. and Mary R. Nelson lived in Kosciusko County 150 years ago, so I made a special effort to visit Warsaw, Indiana, the county seat.

The museum is housed in the old county jail, which in itself is a fun visit, but it also contains a research library for genealogical purposes.

A portion of the Nelson related materials

I never expected to find hundreds of pages of research – charts, letters, newspaper clippings, obituaries, marriage and birth notices for the Nelsons of the area going back almost 200 years.

Over a couple of hours, I had a great time looking through the materials and talking with the museum staff.

If you follow my “Civil War Diary of Charles F. Nelson” blog, you may remember that it’s based on my g-g-grandfather’s war diaries.  At one point, we went on a hunt of the museum’s war collection for the original diaries, of which I have a copy.    A reference in one of their catalogs lead us to believe that they are there at the museum, although we could not find them.  It would have been awesome to actually have held them.

 

 

A letter from my grandfather!

Among the files, I found a handwritten letter from my own grandfather – a correspondence with the distantly-related Iva Nelson, who collected most of the research and donated it to the museum.

This letter mentions my parents, my cousins,  my siblings and me!    Who would have thought?

 

It’s a strange and wonderful feeling to visit an ancestral hometown and find yourself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7 Quick Takes Friday – Taking Out the Garbage

/ esteban

1.

I’m taking a few days next week to drive to South Bend for a friend’s wedding.  I’m going to take the opportunity to explore central Indiana and visit the graves of two Civil War veterans that I’m related to.    I’ve gone a bit blog happy and created a special one to publish the war diary of my great-great-grandfather C. F. Nelson.   If you’re into history, feel free to peruse http://cfnelson.everythingesteban.com .  His diary is not enormously compelling, at least not in the early months of his diary, but he’s a great almanac for 19th century weather reports!

 

2.

I hate to mention the upcoming presidential election, but since I live in perhaps the reddest of red states, I feel compelled to tell you how ignorant we are of the media blitz being unleashed on the rest of the country.  We have almost no political ads on TV.  We see the occasional ad on some of the national programs, but those are, so far, few and far between.  I feel for those of you in battleground states, but I can’t say that I’m disappointed in the least.

 

3.

My parish does a fantastic job with its annual parish festival.  “MaryFair” brings the whole parish together like no other social event of the year.  This week, they are conducting an online auction.  Saturday evening will be a sold-out benefit dinner with a great live auction.  Sunday will bring everyone together again for a very large parish picnic.   My job has been to make some powerpoint/keynote presentations for the auction on Saturday.  Should be a fun time as long as the weather holds.  What am I saying?  It’s Oklahoma!  We’re doomed now.

 

4.

Several months ago, I committed to an hour of Eucharistic Adoration at 1am every Tuesday morning.  I am forced to admit defeat.  This hour of the night is just never going to work for me.  The 4am hour I had before was much more manageable sleep-wise.   I’ve tried napping before the 1am slot and I’ve tried staying awake.  Either way my schedule on Tuesday gets totally out of whack and I’m a zombie the entire day.  I think I’m just going to have to trade with someone who’s more of a night owl than I am.

 

5.

I just received stickers from the City of Tulsa (where I live) for garbage collection. The city is beginning a new garbage collection system which includes two new large wheeled trash carts, one for household garbage and one for recyclables. The stickers are for bags of household trash that won’t fit into the bin. Other stickers are for yard waste. No sticker, to takee. At 50 cents a bag, this is going to be oh so annoying.

One man was apparently so upset at not having the room necessary to store the new recycling cart that he used his chain saw to chop it into little bits and sent it back to the city.

Oh, this will be a fun transition for folks.

 

6.

Oklahoma has two state fairs each fall.  The State Fair of Oklahoma is in our capital city, Oklahoma City.  Tulsa, my fair city, has the Tulsa State Fair.  No one has ever been able to tell me how we get to have our own, but I do say it’s much better than the one in OKC.

I don’t go that often, but I do have all sorts of memories from my childhood.  One particular day when I spent an inordinate amount of money trying to win a bowie knife as part of some midway game.  I eventually won the knife (I still have it actually) but probably spent at least twice what it was worth.  I also remember one year when my mom went to the livestock barns to look at horses.  She came home with a Llasa Apso puppy.  Dad was not amused, although that dog continues to live in family lore.

I think I’ll go Sunday afternoon, in search of a funnel cake, or a corn dog.

 

7.

My brother is coming to visit this weekend.  I’m off to clean the guest room, arguably the best room in the house.  I’m always a bit jealous of those who get to use that room.  I would stay there myself, but then it wouldn’t be the guest room anymore, would it?

 

Bonus!

I love to take sunset photos.  I had to pull the car over at the top of a hill to take the fiery one you see at the top of the page.  Click here to see the whole image. AMDG!

 

Find other “7 Quick Takes Friday” posts over at ConversionDiary.com

Antietam + 150 Years

/ esteban

Today I’m reflecting on the Battle of Antietam which took place 150 years ago today.  Also known as the Battle of Sharpsburg, it remains the deadliest day of combat in American history.  Approximately 23,000 Americans, North and South died that day .

The armies of Confederate general Robert E. Lee and Union general George McClellan engaged more than 38,000 troops that day in a battle that could only be regarded as a strategic victory for the Union.

Calling it a victory, President Lincoln used the occasion to issue the momentous Emancipation Proclamation.

Confederate dead at Antietam

 

Such a terrible battle, but only a part of a much more terrible war.  As a student of history it bothers me that our nation takes so little notice of these important days of our history.   Those who fought there deserve to be remembered.

As our nation seems to be fraying again, I wonder if we are headed toward creating new terrible memories amongst our own people.  What a shame if the lessons learned from those who battled at places like Antietam are lost on the current and future generations.

Here are a link to one report on the observances taking place at the Antietam Battlefield today.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/150-years-later-battle-of-antietam-prompts-reflection-on-lives-lost-and-freedom-won/2012/09/17/fac313dc-00bd-11e2-bbf0-e33b4ee2f0e8_story.html

Update:

My friend William Newton told me about this NPR piece about modern day photos of the Antietam Battlefield, using the same type of equipment that Civil War photographer Alexander Gardner used.   It’s pretty fascinating …

http://www.npr.org/2012/09/17/161167847/re-tracing-the-steps-of-a-civil-war-photographer

Unexpected Inspiration

/ esteban / 1 Comment

 

It’s been awhile since something that I just happened to read has bounced around inside my head and tickled my innate sense of idealism.

A few minutes ago I read this:  An Unexpected Ass Kicking

And then, I read this follow up:  7 Things I Learned From My Encounter With Russell Kirsch

Reading this with my left-eyed Geek monocle, and my right-eyed Catholic monocle, has really allowed it to resonate with me.

  • Nothing is withheld from us which we have conceived to do.
  • Do things that have never been done.

For me, this is an essence of how we should honor our God-given time, talent and treasure.  Be brave, be humble, be generous and be creative.

I must think more on this.

7 Quick Takes Friday – Red Stapler Edition

/ esteban / 2 Comments

— 1 —

It happens every year.  The Catholic New Media Conference is coming up in 12 short days and as the main organizer it has really captivated my time.  So much so that this is the only blogging I’ve done in weeks.  It’s going to be a great event, but I’m looking forward to the after-party!

 

 

— 2 —

I miss the Olympics!  The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat, but mostly the personal stories of people who work extremely hard, set lofty goals, take great risks, and don’t expect others to hand them a medal they didn’t earn.

I know that many of them are not particularly good role models, and some are ridiculously narcissistic, but how can you not love the unknown athlete from a country you’ve never visited, who is there just for the joy of competing and having a few minutes on the world stage.

 

— 3 —

Speaking of the Olympics, I was very pleased and surprised by the outward show of faith by many of the athletes.  In a world that increasingly shoves secularism at people, hearing so many people give credit to God for the talents, is comforting.

I hope I don’t forget the image of Ethiopian athlete Meseret Defar as she won the gold medal in the Women’s 5000 meter race.  Read about it here and see the fantastic photo as  Meseret, a devout Orthodox Christian, pulls a picture of the Blessed Mother from where she’d pinned it next to her heart.

— 4 —

Thank God for people who make me laugh!  My friend Jim always seems to pop up at the right time.  He knows I’ve been feeling stressed out lately, so he’s always around for a beer  when I’m ready to snap.  He’s got the cutest family too, which is always a fun diversion from the normal drudgery.

Let’s not forget Maria, who’s own 7 Takes Friday post, has had me thinking about red staplers all morning.

 

 

 

 

— 5 —

Monday was Left-Handers Day.  Yep, I’m a lefty, a southpaw, or “Kerr-handed” as my grandfather used to say.   Haven’t heard about the Kerr clan in Scotland?  Tradition states that so many of them were left-handed that they had a serious advantage in battle.  Some of their castles were built with spiral staircases going in the opposite-from-normal direction to make it harder for their right-handed foes.

I rather like being left-handed.  I’m the only one in my family for a couple of generations at least.  I’m actually mix-handed, doing some things with one hand and some with the other. Scissors have never been a problem for me, for example, and I can use hammers and screwdrivers in either hand, but damn those spiral notebooks!

— 6 —

For the Feast of the Assumption on Wednesday, I attended the 9am Mass at my parish.  As school has just started, it was also the first all-school Mass for the parish school.

I really enjoyed watching the various classes come into the Church.  The teachers patiently helped the younger ones find their places, but also firmly encouraged them to properly genuflect and cross themselves.

The Kindergartners were a little shell-shocked as this was their first time at a school Mass. Luckily, each was in the care of an 8th-grader who steered them from place to place and demonstrated the proper postures and gestures with the nonchalance and aplomb that only they can muster.

— 7 —

 Lastly, I recently found my old copy of “1984” by George Orwell.  I haven’t read it for decades, and given the world today it seems a whole lot scarier than I remember.  It is not a fun read.  I may go in search of something more soothing.  At least until the CNMC is over!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Fortnight for Freedom: Day 13 – DIGNITATIS HUMANAE

/ esteban

On December 7, 1965, Pope Paul VI issued the Second Vatican Council’s Declaration of Religious Freedom “Dignitatis Humanae”

If you’ve never heard of it, or never read it, you can find it on the Vatican website here.

As I read it, I pulled some statements from it that I found resonating under our current situation and see in it all the more encouragement needed for defending our religious freedom.

On their part, all men are bound to seek the truth, especially in what concerns God and His Church, and to embrace the truth they come to know, and to hold fast to it.

 

This Vatican Council declares that the human person has a right to religious freedom. This freedom means that all men are to be immune from coercion on the part of individuals or of social groups and of any human power, in such wise that no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his own beliefs, whether privately or publicly, whether alone or in association with others, within due limits.

 

On his part, man perceives and acknowledges the imperatives of the divine law through the mediation of conscience. In all his activity a man is bound to follow his conscience in order that he may come to God, the end and purpose of life. It follows that he is not to be forced to act in manner contrary to his conscience. Nor, on the other hand, is he to be restrained from acting in accordance with his conscience, especially in matters religious.

 

The social nature of man, however, itself requires that he should give external expression to his internal acts of religion: that he should share with others in matters religious; that he should profess his religion in community. Injury therefore is done to the human person and to the very order established by God for human life, if the free exercise of religion is denied in society, provided just public order is observed.

 

The freedom or immunity from coercion in matters religious which is the endowment of persons as individuals is also to be recognized as their right when they act in community. Religious communities are a requirement of the social nature both of man and of religion itself.

 

Government is also to help create conditions favorable to the fostering of religious life, in order that the people may be truly enabled to exercise their religious rights and to fulfill their religious duties, and also in order that society itself may profit by the moral qualities of justice and peace which have their origin in men’s faithfulness to God and to His holy will.

 

The fact is that men of the present day want to be able freely to profess their religion in private and in public. Indeed, religious freedom has already been declared to be a civil right in most constitutions, and it is solemnly recognized in international documents.(38) The further fact is that forms of government still exist under which, even though freedom of religious worship receives constitutional recognition, the powers of government are engaged in the effort to deter citizens from the profession of religion and to make life very difficult and dangerous for religious communities.

 

These are some of the phrases that stood out to me, but it doesn’t necessarily portray the whole thought or intent of the document.  I urge you to read it and form your own impressions, lest I be accused of trying to reframe the intention of the Council in writing this document.

 

When a house becomes a home

/ esteban

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Most of the time my house feels like just a house.  It’s where I work, sleep and eat.

Occasionally though, someone will show up and breathe a new sense of life into the old place.  Such was last weekend when my very good friends John and Nadine White came into town for our diocese’s priestly ordinations.

One of my former students and their classmate John Grant was ordained for our diocese by Bishop Edward Slattery.  If I can find some good photos of that, I’ll share my thoughts in another post.

With John and Nadine came their daughter Sophie (4yrs old and my goddaughter), and Dominic (2 1/2 yrs old).

Suddenly my house became a home, with all that comes with having small children.  Poopy diapers, pee puddles on the hardwood floor, broomsticks that became horsies, late night struggles to get the kids “down”, toast with the crust cut off, reverse psychology, and general pandemonium.

The photos above are just a small sample of the energy and excitement that now makes my house seem so quiet now that they’ve gone home.

Most of the above are photos the kids made themselves when they found out that my iPad has Photobooth on it.

Art from Chaos and Frivolity.

Thank God for children and good friends who share theirs with me.

Fortnight for Freedom: Day 10 – “We didn’t pick the time, nor did we pick the fight”

/ esteban

I had the pleasure to meet Archbishop Joseph Naumann briefly during the 2011 Catholic New Media Conference in Kansas City, KS.

This interview with him, published in the Catholic World Report, has some very interesting comments about the fight for religious liberty, social justice, the principle of subsidiarity and personal virtue.

Social justice doesn’t mean the state taking care of everybody, but empowering people so they can take care of themselves and their families. That’s the real dignity we want to help people achieve.

 

I so agree with this.  We have so many problems to address in our society, but in my belief, very very few of them must be solved by the government, the least effective means of solving any problem.

Does the state have some role to play with the poor? Absolutely, I think, in terms of a safety net. But that doesn’t mean that we keep increasing the number of people who are dependent on the state in some way. That, to me, is the direction we’ve been going for the last 50 years.

When the government purposely strives to have the majority of its people dependent on it for food, health care, etc., it is subverting the true meaning of that wonderful phrase from the Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

 

 

Guatemala in the Springtime

/ esteban / 3 Comments

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The Call of Atitlan

I’ve heard it said that if you practice a virtue long enough, it becomes a habit; and, if you practice a vice, it becomes an addition.  I think this is a bit of both.

This time each year, unbidden, I feel a longing to visit the Lake Atitlan region in the western highlands of Guatemala.  There is no doubt in my mind that this is caused by the many trips I took there during my time as campus minister at the St. Philip Neri Newman Center at the University of Tulsa.

Each March for 9 years, I spent a week there with a group of college students.  No wonder that I feel the pull to go there even now.

This tweet came across my screen this morning and it got me thinking about Guatemala all over again.  I jumped into my iPhoto library and rather willy-nilly started selecting photos for this post.

And I couldn’t stop until I reached nearly 250 shots, some from each of the trips I took with students.   (My apologies for attaching them all to this post and for the time it took to load on your screen!)

Unless you went on one of these trips, these photos won’t mean much to you.  Not knowing the context or the people in them won’t help either.  However, every time I look at them, I am struck over and over at how life changing these experiences were for me and for those I traveled with .  This was truly the best thing we did while I was campus minister.

 

Micatokla

The first six years, I think were the best.  We stayed in Santiago Atitlan, at the south end of Lake Atitlan, home of Micatokla (Mision Catholica de Oklahoma), the Oklahoma Catholic Mission that had reopened the parish there at the end of the 1950’s.  It had been abandoned for almost 150 years before that.

The dioceses of Oklahoma had strong ties to this mission and it was important for us to build on that connection.

We stayed in the guest rooms of the mission rectory, cooked our own food in the kitchens, prayed in the chapel and church, visited the schools, but most importantly, we assisted in the construction of stone homes in the Canton of Panabaj.

Panabaj is an outlying community south of Santiago Atitlan.  The parish owned land there and for several years, various parishes in Oklahoma funded the construction of homes (casa familiares) in that neighborhood.   The Newman Center was one of the few groups that actually went there, assisted in the construction of the homes,  learned about the mission and the community, and experienced a certain solidarity with the people who would live in those homes.

 

Luz Alta

Year after year, we would build homes next to, or nearby, the homes of the previous years. We made friends with the families, mostly the kids, and saw them growing up.   We were certainly not tourists and the people there didn’t see us that way either.

I enjoyed walking in that neighborhood, playing with the kids, greeting families of previously built homes and watching the interactions the students were having.

We always “sold” the trip to the students as a “house building trip.”  Serving the poor through their hard labor over spring break.

If you look at the photos, you’ll see many with the students up to their waists in trenches, pushing wheelbarrow, or hauling dirt and rocks.

And then, a few days into the trip, you would see the relationships take hold and the realization would dawn on the student that these trips were much more than just “house building trips.”    It was about learning, sharing, putting their own lives in context, and dealing with the idea that they were taking away more from the experience than they were giving.

I find it hard sometimes to keep my emotions in check when I think about these experiences and the wonderful students that went on them.  I think they were changed as much as I was.

 

Luz Differentes

The trip in 2006 was a major turning point in our program.  In October of 2005, a hurricane crossed Central America, causing terrible flooding in many parts.

Santiago Atitlan, and especially Panabaj, experienced terrible mudslides.  The areas, a tenth of a mile in any direction, around the neighborhood of our homes was devastated.  More than 750 people died in one night.

Our little neighborhood, now with about 30 houses, was miraculously spared any significant damage though I think a few of the inhabitants were killed or injured.

When we returned to Panabaj the following March, much had changed.  The visibile reminders of the mudslide were everywhere.  The neighborhood school, just up the road was battered and covered with 5 feet of dirt, rock and debris.

Our little neighborhood and all the homes that we had built was mostly abandoned, inhabited by squatters who snuck in after the government closed it.  It was deemed a high risk area of future mudslides and not suited for habitation.  It was a ghost town.

It was heart wrenching to go there, especially for any of us who had been there before and seen the life of that community.  Many of us cried when we visited the refugee camp where our friends had been forced to move and see the struggles they were once again facing without homes of their own.

From that point on, we started building homes closer to Santiago Atitlan, and eventually moved our location to the mission of San Lucas Toliman (operated by the Diocese of New Ulm in Minnesota) about 20 miles up the lake road.

Mision de San Lucas Toliman

San Lucas is a much bigger operation than the Oklahoma Mission (which had been returned to the local diocese a few years earlier). The experience for the students visiting this mission was still very good, but much different.

The students still worked on mission projects, visited its clinic, toured its coffee collective, forestry project, etc., but never really recaptured the same sense of camaraderie that we had with the people of Panabaj.

The mission in San Lucas is terrific and gave us new opportunities to share the life of the community, but I missed Santiago.

Perhaps fittingly, my last trip with students was during Holy Week of 2008.  We helped the parish prepare for Good Friday and Easter by mixing colored sawdust for their street decoration, and preparing flowers for the church.  We were very fortunate to take part in the town wide processions on Good Friday and the Living Passion liturgy in the church.

I guess if my time taking students to Guatemala had to end, that was a good time to do it.  As memorable a trip as any of them had been.

Four years have now passed since the last time I traveled there with students, and my thoughts still turn there every spring.   I hope I never forget all that we experienced.  The joy of the people, working side-by-side with them, making friends with the children, the amazing beauty of Lake Atitlan and its surrounding volcanoes.  I also want to remember the occasional food poisoning, amoebas, cold showers, harrowing highway journeys, tuk tuk rides, threats of bandits, long dusty hikes and the culture shock of returning home.

Some day I hope I can return there with another group of people, former students of one of the trips perhaps.  My pastor, Fr. Jack recently told me that I have “a heart for missions.”

I think he’s right.  I’m ready to go again.

 

Obsolete Skills

/ esteban / 4 Comments

My brother Kevin and his wife Maureen were in town last weekend for my birthday.  We had a great time.

Whenever we get together, it seems like there are always occasions when I am reminded of the vast amount of trivia that seems to be stuck in my head.  I don’t know why I remember so many seemingly useless things, but I do.

For example, we bought some bananas at the local super market.  Unfortunately, the ones for sale were all very green.  Into my head popped the method I learned from somewhere about quickly ripening bananas by sealing them in a paper bag.  I haven’t the faintest idea where I learned this trick, but it was in my head.  And it works!

Then it occurred to me that over the years, I’ve learned some pretty specific skills, many that are pretty obsolete and not likely to be used much in the future.   I don’t know how I should feel about this.  Archaic?  Well-educated? Road-weary?

Anyway, here are a few of my well-honed skills that have entered the realm of obsolescence, at least in the context of my life.  I dare say this is not an exhaustive list.

Rotary Phone Dialing

I grew up with telephones just like the one.  I image someone who’s never used one like this might have to pause for a moment the first time.  There’s a certain panache needed to dial a number and not look like a total doofus.

Did you use one of these?  Do you remember how to call for help before 911 service was started?  How to tell your loved ones that you reached your destination without actually paying for a long distance call?  What the sound of an actually ringing phone is?

Church Keys & Pull Ring Cans

I betcha that there are kids in America today, that have one of these in a kitchen drawer and don’t have the faintest idea for what it is used:

 

This is what my dad would call a “church key”, although I’m sure that anything that is made to open one of these could also be called that:

 

 

Although pull ring cans were pretty common when I was a boy, there were still plenty of cans around that used church keys.  Motor oil cans come to mind as one example.

I think these are really pretty efficient and don’t cause all that unsightly littering that other pull top and pop top cans caused.

One of my first physics lessons came from using cans like these.   Two holes on opposite sides of the can, of course, made drinking and pouring so much easier!

 

Drive-in Movie Projectionist

My first real paying job came during high school.  Yes, my social security records will show that I began my work life as a movie theater nerd.  Ever see Fast Times at Ridgemont High?  Yep, I was just like the repressed teenaged geek in that film.  I worked at all three of the movie theaters in Hobbs, New Mexico, including the Flamingo Drive-in.

I felt pretty lucky when I graduated from ticket seller and concessionist to running the awesome projectors at the Flamingo.   That baby, similar to the one above, used carbon arc welding rods to produce the light.  It was like watching a small nuclear reaction.  That was great fun and, boy, did I learn a lot at the drive-in!  Here’s a Youtube video that does a pretty good job illustrating what I used to do:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iScIfqfCGk]

 

 

 

Oilfield Roustabout

During my undergraduate college years, I spent my summer working as an oilfield roustabout.  Not to be confused with a roughneck.  Roustabouts do repair work on oilfield production equipment, such as pumpjacks, tank batteries, heater-treaters, separators, etc.  Roughnecks are the workers who work on oil drilling equipment – much harder and more dangerous work.

I learned quite a bit about the various types of oilfield equipment.  Not much call to use it now, but I still know my way around an oilfield.  I do still use some of the skills I learned with the various types of tools we used – mostly different kinds of wrenches.  Pretty handy fixing that old kitchen sink.

That summer I spent changing mufflers on a fleet of pickup trucks?  Yeah, not so handy now.

Other Stuff

There are loads of other things I could write about, but here what comes to mind:

  • how to write a computer program using punch cards
  • how to fix typewriter ribbons
  • how to clean a four-barrel carburetor
  • that awkward bamboo dance I learned in elementary school gym class
  • MS DOS commands / BASIC
  • the chemical formulas for ferrous and ferric oxides
  • how to bake an apple in a campfire

Cool, huh?  I think I’m tending toward the archaic. Time to learn some new things.

What skill do you have that are mostly useless these days?

 

previously esteban

/ esteban

Yup. I got distracted by a few things and haven’t posted anything here in awhile.  We all go through things like this.

So, I’m going to do what others have done and gather up some of what’s happened in the last 6 weeks, wrap a big bow around it and offer it up to you in a neat package.   People like lots of photos, so hopefully it won’t be too boring or self serving.

The Cabin

As the summer started winding down, I began a project to paint the outside of my family’s lake cabin.  As you can see from the photo, it’s not a particularly big cabin, only about 4 rooms.

It’s a great place, full of so many memories.  It’s been in our family for over 60 years and includes 14 acres of lake front.  I have memories of being in the lake even before I learned how to swim.  It’s the one place left in our family that ties us all together.

Anyway, the cabin is overdue for a new paint job.  The early 80’s mauve has long since faded and needs to be updated.  I chose a sea foam (ish) green color in a moment of nostalgia.  It was originally painted a really minty green color (ala 1950).  I couldn’t quite go there.  The new color is really not as green as the photo portrays it.

As it stands, I’m only about 50% done.  I’m hoping to recruit some help to finish it before it gets too cold.  Wanna help?

Kansas City

I made two trips to Kansas City in the last month.  The first was an overnight trip to check on preparations for the Catholic New Media Conference which I helped organize for SQPN, and the second was a full week for the CNMC itself.

What a great time!  I love the time that I get to spend with the SQPN folk and all those involved in Catholic new media.  It is such a passionate and lively group.

Take a minute and have a looks at these photos:

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There’s a lot in those pictures.  A trip to see the Kansas City Royals with my friend Dr. Paul Camarata, several photos of my new friend Ian Maxfield (an English podcaster, now living in Scotland) and his adventures at Waffle House, California Pizza Kitchen and Latte Land, and many shots of the CNMC and the good folks in attendance.

 Football Season

It’s college football season now and I have had a great time following both of my favorite schools, the Oklahoma State University Cowboys and the University of Tulsa Golden Hurricane.    I’ve been able to attend a game at each school, so here are some photos, which include my sister Stacey and my friend Jim, the one burying his face in a funnel cake.

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I don’t have any photos to show it, but I was also enthralled in the baseball World Series during this lapse of blogging.  If you follow baseball, you’ll understand why.  No one will ever forget Game 6 between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Texas Rangers.

There’s more to catchup, but I think I’ll save those for other posts.

Adios!