The Saturday Morning Post: This Land is God’s Land

 October 3, 2020

 

Good Morning, God and All! Most High and glorious God, enlighten the darkness of our hearts and give us a true faith, a certain hope and a perfect love. Give us a sense of the divine and knowledge of yourself, so that we may do everything in fulfillment of your holy will; through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Prayer of Francis of Assisi, 1182-1226)

 

By The Numbers:

It’s the 277^th day of the year, with 89 days remaining.

Days 'til voting in the 2020 election ends: 31

Drop in GDP during the 2nd quarter of 2020: -31.4%

Number of nurses in the world: 28 million

Percent chance that a new UCSF study suggests "intermittent fasting," in which eating is restricted to a specific window of time, doesn’t help you lose weight: 100%

 

Start Your Day With A Song:

This Land Is Your Land (1940) Woody Guthrie; 1975 cover performance by Bruce Springsteen

 

Holy Guardian Angels, Guide, Guard, and Pray For Us!

One of the most consoling truths of the Christian faith is that God’s providence does not only govern the universe from afar; He shows an intimate concern for the welfare of each person. A touching sign of this is that God gave us angels to serve as protectors and guides throughout our life. Our guardian angels’ mission is to conduct us safely through the perils of our earthly life, so we can be assured of their powerful help in all things when we seek to win the joys of heaven. “Specially love and revere the Guardian Angel of the diocese in which you live, those of the friends who surround you, and your own. Commune with them frequently, join in their songs of praise, and seek their protection and help in all you do, spiritual or temporal” (Quote from St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622), as found in the current issue of Magnificat)

The memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels is celebrated on October 2.

 

But It’s A Protest Song (the Message):

I hope you’ve taken the opportunity each week to “Start Your Day With A Song”. It’s a weekly feature of the Post; during December I’ve done this daily to feature some seasonal music you may not hear so much. (At least I wait a bit. The holiday hype starts ‘way too soon on the Hallmark Channel. If anyone finds anything they’re showing to actually have a meaningful reference to the birth of Jesus Christ, let me know.)

But before I protest too much myself, I must point out that many things in sparkling packages lose their luster once they’re opened.

"This Land Is Your Land" is one of the United States' most famous folk songs. Its lyrics were written by American folk singer Woody Guthrie in 1940. (Guthrie died on this date in 1967.) The first time I heard it in my childhood, I was captivated by the lyrics I heard. The first verse paints a majestic panorama of the landscape. As I was walking that ribbon of highway/I saw above me that endless skyway/I saw below me that golden valley… It ranked right up there with Katherine Bates’ spacious skies, amber waves of grain, and purple mountain majesties above the fruited plain. “America the Beautiful” appears in nearly every hymnal I have. For some reason it’s not in my 1978 Lutheran Book of Worship but one should not construe this to mean Lutherans are not patriotic. Irving Berlin wrote another very patriotic song, “God Bless America”, in 1918 and it’s not in any of the hymnals I have, though it’s performed in churches and sporting venues across the nation regularly to this day.

Guthrie’s lyrics have been covered by many musicians over the years. Glen Campbell; Peter, Paul and Mary; Tennessee Ernie Ford; Connie Francis; Bing Crosby; Raffi; and Bruce Springsteen (featured today) are among the performances. Still, there’s more to all of this than meets the eye and ear. Sometimes our acceptance of something at surface value poses a potential problem or two.

Guthrie wrote “This Land Is Your Land” as a critical response to Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America” which had become Kate Smith’s signature song in the 1930s and with the newly found success of broadcast radio, got lots and lots of airplay. When Guthrie got tired of hearing it, he originally called his song “God Blessed America For Me” before renaming it. In fact, by the time he had finished penning the lyrics, God had been effectively scratched out of the song. Not only that, two verses were written that obscured the picturesque landscape of the first verse.

Yes, what many of us see as part of our patriotic repertoire actually started as a protest song. Guthrie grew up in Oklahoma and Texas during the Dust Bowl era, and in his late teens joined the thousands of Okies and others who migrated to California to look for work, leaving his wife and children in Texas. Many of his songs are concerned with the conditions faced by working-class people. Two very little known verses of “This Land is Your Land” referred to protesting against the vast income inequalities that exist in the United States, and against the sufferings of millions during the Great Depression. America, Guthrie insists, was made—and could still be made—for you and me. This interpretation is consistent with Guthrie's lifelong struggle for social justice.

Changing a word or two here and there (and dropping a verse or two when necessary) put the song in a list of patriotic favorites. For me, it’s one reason to be careful about grand displays of patriotism. Maybe we’re too quick with the chest-thumping in being proud of our country…rather, proud of our humanity, and how quickly that pride becomes nothing more than self- (as in the nation as a whole) serving. Our faith points us in a different direction. In the New Testament letter of James, we are reminded to humble ourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you (James 4:10). That verse alone was set to music in the late 1970s.

This land is God’s land, blessed for you and me.

Now if I can just get the old beer commercial out of my head…the one claiming that western Wisconsin is “God’s Country”…and that older polka song, “In Heaven There is No Beer.”

 

Memorable Moments:

1789 – George Washington proclaims a Thanksgiving Day for that year.

1863 – The last Thursday in November is declared as Thanksgiving Day by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln.

1919 – Cincinnati Reds pitcher Adolfo Luque becomes the first Latin player to appear in a World Series.

1949 – WERD, the first black-owned radio station in the United States, opens in Atlanta.

1952 – The United Kingdom successfully tests a nuclear weapon to become the world's third nuclear power.

1957 – The California State Superior Court rules that the book Howl and Other Poems is not obscene.

1962 – Project Mercury: Wally Schirra in Sigma 7 launched from Cape Canaveral for a six-orbit flight.

1985 – The Space Shuttle Atlantis makes its maiden flight.

1990 – The German Democratic Republic (East Germany) is abolished and becomes part of the Federal Republic of Germany.

1993 – An American attack against a warlord in Mogadishu fails; eighteen US soldiers and over 350 Somalis die.

1995 – The O. J. Simpson murder case ended with a verdict of not guilty.

2008 – The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 for the U.S. financial system is signed by President George W. Bush.

2013 – At least 360 migrants are killed when their boat sinks near the Italian island of Lampedusa.

 

Happy Birthday!!!

1925 – Gore Vidal, American novelist, screenwriter, and critic (d. 2012)

1940 – Alan O'Day, American singer-songwriter (d. 2013)

1941 – Chubby Checker, American singer-songwriter

1947 – Fred DeLuca, American businessman (d. 2015)

1949 – Lindsey Buckingham, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

1954 – Dennis Eckersley, American baseball player and sportscaster

1954 – Al Sharpton, American minister, talk show host, and political activist

1954 – Stevie Ray Vaughan, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 1990)

1955 – Allen Woody, American bass player and songwriter (d. 2000)

1959 – Greg Proops, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter

1969 – Gwen Stefani, American singer-songwriter, actress, and fashion designer

1973 – Neve Campbell, Canadian actress and producer

1979 – John Morrison, American wrestler and actor

1984 – Ashlee Simpson, American singer-songwriter and actress

1988 – ASAP Rocky, American rapper and songwriter

1995 – Lil Tracy, American rapper

 

We Remember:

1838 – Black Hawk, American tribal leader (b. 1767)

1867 – Elias Howe, American engineer, invented the sewing machine (b. 1819)

1967 – Woody Guthrie, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1912)

1998 – Roddy McDowall, English-American actor (b. 1928)

1999 – Akio Morita, Japanese businessman, co-founded Sony (b. 1921)

2000 – Benjamin Orr, American singer-songwriter and bass player (b. 1947)

2004 – Janet Leigh, American actress (b. 1927)

2014 – Benedict Groeschel, American priest, psychologist, and talk show host (b. 1933)

…and 1970s pop singers Helen Reddy and Mac Davis, who both died Wednesday and both at age 78;

…and Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Bob (“Gibby”) Gibson, who passed away Friday at age 84.

 

Parting Words:

Now that the President and First Lady have tested positive for the coronavirus, I hope all of us will take this a bit more seriously than we might have taken it before. This does not mean we have to panic, but do what we can how best we can to mitigate its spread, while continuing to pray that God will guide scientists and researchers to an effective remedy.

“Someday we’ll look back on 2020 and laugh.” --A Guy I Just Punched (per Conan O’Brien)

 Until we meet again, may God be with you; and may God have mercy on us all…

+the Phoenix

The Saturday Morning Post: “The Only Thing We Have To Fear”

 September 26, 2020

 Good Morning, God and All! How did that quote end, anyway? The only thing we have to fear is who gets elected in five weeks? No, that’s not it…

 By The Numbers:

It’s the 270^th day of the year, with 96 days remaining.

Days 'til voting in the 2020 election ends: 38

Percent of the U.S. population that "remains susceptible" to the coronavirus, according to the giant throbbing head in a glass jar at the CDC: 90%

Minimum number of Americans who say they used marijuana in the past year: 37 million

 

Start Your Day With A Song:

God Is In Control (1993) Twila Paris (the GMA Dove Award winning “Song of the Year” in ‘95) In 2012, Paris released a patriotic-themed project that includes two new cuts ("God of Our Fathers" and "America the Beautiful") and ten cuts that Paris hand-picked from other projects. The purpose of the project is to inspire patriots with themes of God's protection and love, even in difficult times.

 

Saints Cosmas & Damian, Pray For Us!

Cosmas and Damian, said to have been brothers and physicians, were martyred during the persecutions of the Roman emperor Diocletian in the late 3^rd and early 4^th centuries. Since ancient times they have been widely venerated in both the Eastern and Western Churches. The magnificent murals of the church that Pope Felix VI dedicated to them are still to be seen in Rome. In Venice, the great early Renaissance artist Fra Angelico painted a series of murals featuring the saints in their traditional roles as doctors who provided for their patients free of charge, and as stalwart martyrs who withstood all manner of tortures for the love of Christ. (Source: Magnificat)

 

Breaking News: The Numbers Are In, And God Is Still In Control (the Message):

You’d think that, after the sobering reflections of the last few weeks, that the world is following Sir Elton John and lyricist Bernie Taupin off the edge of the proverbial cliff. Or at least, they’ve got a finger on our collective pulse in pronouncing that some of us are “falling apart at the seams” (Social Disease, 1972). Yeah, a rewrite has popped in and out of my thoughts. So I was surprised to see this headline across my screen on Monday: Latest Numbers On Coronavirus: 100% Of World Still Under God's Control.

The headline and article linked from it is from The Babylon Bee, a parody site. It’s about as real as Thomas Dewey defeating Harry Truman in 1948 (as the Chicago Tribune erroneously reported) or Hillary Clinton defeating Donald Trump four years ago (modern reporting and publishing technology managed to stop a printing error, while what really happened shocked the nation and the world).

One could easily believe that we’ve reached the prophetic ‘end times’. From the beginning it has been a year unlike most, and there are still just under one hundred days to go. Yet, believe it or not, God remains in control.

Saint Paul reminds us that when all seemed lost, and Jesus died on that cross, he fulfilled what was prophesied long before. God greatly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bend…and every tongue (proclaim) that JESUS CHRIST IS LORD, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:9-11). It’s a passage central to the Christian faith. The Catholic Church proclaims this passage on Palm Sunday, again on this 26^th Sunday in Cycle A of Ordinary Time, and in the weekday cycle of daily readings when the letter to the Philippians is read. It also appears every week in the Divine Office, at first vespers of the coming Sunday (a vigil, if you will, on Saturday evening). It was certainly one of the darkest times of souls everywhere. God was in control then. Why wouldn’t God be now? The evidence is undeniable at this point.

From the Bee’s article: Remarkably, this data is very similar to researchers' findings during the Fall of Rome, Black Plague, Holocaust, Spanish flu, swine flu, bird flu, and every other time of turmoil humanity has faced. No matter what the specific plague or time of suffering, research has always pointed to the fact that God is sovereign and bends the thread of history to His will for His glory. No natural disaster, not even war or the threat thereof, can change this. Change only comes if we allow it to take a place in our hearts which should be reserved for God alone.

A connection was also found between placing your faith in Christ and not having to worry about death by coronavirus or any other kind of death, as we are destined for another world. Maybe we’ve thought too much - or too little in the proper context - about what the politicians, the pundits, and the ‘experts’ say, or who the next justice of the SCOTUS will be or how quickly the appointment is announced and confirmed. After all, we know none of them are God. This does not mean throwing all caution aside. Rather, it means we should not panic. We’re now in the seventh month of coping with the pandemic. Some feel it will miraculously end in about 40 days. Some feel it will get worse, depending on the outcome in about 40 days or so. Jesus says, do not be afraid. We believe that God’s children will not be forsaken; let us choose to remember and never be shaken. There is no power above or beside Him; we know, oh we know, God is in control!

And seriously, stop over-buying the disinfectants, hand sanitizer, and toilet paper.

 

Memorable Moments:

1212 – The Golden Bull of Sicily is issued to confirm the hereditary royal title in Bohemia for the Přemyslid dynasty.

1493 – Pope Alexander VI (Rodrigo Borgia) issues the papal bull Dudum siquidem to the Spanish, extending the grant of new lands he made them in Inter caetera.

1688 – The city council of Amsterdam (“Amster! Amster!…) votes to support William of Orange's invasion of England, which became the Glorious Revolution.

1777 – American Revolution: British troops occupy Philadelphia.

1789 – George Washington appoints Thomas Jefferson the first United States Secretary of State.

1933 – As gangster (not the rapper) Machine Gun Kelly surrenders to the FBI, he shouts out, "Don't shoot, G-Men!", which becomes a nickname for FBI agents.

1934 – The ocean liner RMS Queen Mary is launched.

1953 – Rationing of sugar in the United Kingdom ends.

1960 – In Chicago, the first televised debate takes place between presidential candidates Richard M. Nixon and John F. Kennedy.

1969 – Abbey Road, the last recorded album by The Beatles, is released.

1973 – Concorde makes its first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic in record-breaking time.

1980 – At the Oktoberfest terror attack in Munich 13 people die and 211 are injured.

1981 – Nolan Ryan sets a Major League record by throwing his fifth no-hitter.

1997 – An earthquake strikes the Italian regions of Umbria and the Marche, causing part of the Basilica of St. Francis at Assisi to collapse.

2005 – The PBS Kids Channel is shut down and replaced by a joint network with Comcast called Sprout.

 

Happy Birthday!!!

1774 – Johnny Appleseed, American gardener and environmentalist (d. 1845)

1888 – T. S. Eliot, English poet, playwright, critic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1965)

1897 – Pope (Saint) Paul VI (d. 1978)

1898 – George Gershwin, American pianist and composer (d. 1937)

1914 – Jack LaLanne, American fitness expert (d. 2011)

1922 – Nicholas Romanov, Prince of Russia (d. 2014)

1932 – Donna Douglas, American actress (d. 2015)

1944 – Anne Robinson, English journalist and game show host (Weakest Link; a coming reboot will feature Jane Lynch as host)

1972 – Beto O'Rourke, American politician

1981 – Serena Williams, American tennis player

 

We Remember:

1820 – Daniel Boone, American hunter and explorer (b. 1734)

1902 – Levi Strauss, German-American businessman, founded Levi Strauss & Co. (b. 1829)

2000 – Richard Mulligan, American actor (b. 1932)

2007 – Bill Wirtz, American businessman (b. 1929)

2008 – Paul Newman, American actor, director, producer, and businessman (b. 1925)

 

Parting Words:

Oh, yeah… “The only thing we have to fear…is fear itself” (Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1^st Inaugural Address, March 4, 1933).

Until we meet again, may God be with you - and may God have mercy on us all…

+the Phoenix

I Am A Friend of God

Who am I that You are mindful of me
That You hear me
When I call
Is it true that You are thinking of me
How You love me
It's amazing

I am a friend of God
I am a friend of God
I am a friend of God
He calls me friend...
-Israel Houghton

In my last episode - er, post, dear reader, I reminisced a little bit about friendships that were in my life 40 years ago, how they happened then and how the electronic media has rekindled them (some for the first time). I was definitely not the most popular person in high school, yet a lot of classmates knew me at least by name. In my naiveté I desperately looked to cultivate friendships, and admittedly longed to fit in. In the end, though, I realized that I had been blessed with just enough. God did not leave me friendless. He gave me enough discernment at the time to know who I could count on as companions. More importantly, though, God revealed His own friendship; and it's truly amazing.

This isn't some personal privilege I have; God desires everyone to befriend Him. I believe that God goes out of His creative way to reach out gently to each and every person. Some flatly refuse, which is really sad. Still others will claim that God is a part of their life, yet continue to place trust in tangible, worldly people and institutions. That too is sad; but because a relationship exists - because God gave you life through the love your parents shared - there is always the hope that divine friendship will be fully realized and cultivated.

One of the signs of true friendship is that a true friend will stand up for you. Such a friend will defend what you say and what you stand for; and if some incredible change of position happens, a true friend wants to know why, as a gesture of support. A true friend trusts you. A true friend will sit down with you, act as a good listener and talk you through difficulties. God has been all of that and more to me.

What's more, God rises above all challenges, all hurt. It can take time and require a great deal of patience and perseverance. Institutions, even the Church, are managed by men and women - and men and women will fail you. It happened to me. I even tried to run away for a time, to reinvent or repackage my concept of God; but He never left me. He stood up for me. He took the bullet. He drank the poison. He died on the cross, so that I could believe that there's someplace and someone bigger than this world. He gently called me back, and I came.

Jesus is my friend. God is my friend. (Yes, it's redundant because Jesus is God, I just like saying it!)

Jesus, and those who faithfully follow him, are under attack. This is familiar territory for us, for this friendship instills a sense of peace that others don't understand. They want this peace of mind but can't for some reason put Jesus in the center of their life. This leaves them longing, questioning, and open to jealousy and temptation. I reflected a couple of days ago on Matthew 22:37-40:


“You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law (aka the Ten Commandments) and the prophets depend on these two commandments.” 

And I wrote:
"A lot to ponder there. At the tip of the iceberg: whether all our present foibles come from a lack of loving God, neighbor, and/or self."

Yes, our present troubles. How to cope with our brokenness. How to experience the love of a friend when it would seem nobody would befriend us. How to truly play the cards life deals you; the loss of a child, the death of parents and loved ones. The incessant struggles and hype and background noise that constantly distract us and draw us away from the ability to even enter true friendship, let alone maintain it.

I am a friend of God. I am not ashamed to declare it. I, too, get distracted; of that I am ashamed.

I am a friend of God. I will take a stand and defend that which God defines and defends as good. I place my trust in Him; I therefore trust those to whom He has entrusted the mantle of leadership; the good 'shepherds of his flock'. I stand behind those who unashamedly declare their beliefs in the marketplace. I will show my support for them in such ways as I am capable.

I am a friend of God. Jesus said that being his friend won't spare us from trouble, but that He would always be there with us, and He is indeed; transcending, permeating, imparting that sense of peace that others want but don't understand and can't have because they don't want to stand up for the things He does. 

I am a friend of God. I will lose some friendships in life because it is perceived that I am old-fashioned, or perhaps even bigoted. I assure you I am not. I give you leave to pursue happiness, and I pray that God ultimately finds you receptive to the true peace and happiness only He can give - and does to all he calls His friends.

Walking Down The Halls, Staring At The Walls...and Reminiscing

It was the best of times...it was the worst of times. (No, wait a minute - that overused line belongs to some movie and book somewhere.)

On June 9, 1972, some five-hundred plus students of Larkin High School donned robes and those funny looking flat hats with the tassels and celebrated their freedom from required formal education, and the accomplishments, joys, sadness, and other hash marks in the emotional spectrum that came with the territory.  Now, forty years later, I am called upon to remember all of that, and put it in perspective. That is not easy to do. I am not one to seize initiative. Nor have I gone far out of my way to keep in touch with the handful of people with whom I was closest in those days. I thank the true geniuses of later generations for creating the means to do what couldn't be done then. Facebook has done more to jog that portion of my memory than anything else. I'll have to send Mark Zuckerberg a thank you card someday. In the meantime, I have to thank Bill Peterson as he suggested I should get in on the fun there. Thanks, Bill. My wife Diane was very skeptical of using it at first, but she gave in not too long after I joined - and she uses it a whole lot more than I do.

Now, where do I start?

I guess I should admit after all these years that I came to LHS with a degree of baggage; all of us did likewise, as unaware as we were in our teens. I was geeky, far from athletic, and lived in South Elgin, which was for a long time the edge of civilization. I was born in Chicago, and even though I lived in South Elgin for twenty years I guess I have always been a city boy at heart. It was also the farthest point from anyplace else. There was no way to get anywhere, because there was basically nowhere to go in South Elgin . By and large that is still true today. They finally have their own high school but it's in the middle of nowhere compared with possible places to hang out, unless you have your own car or a chauffeur; or a parent or friend who plays the role. (Thanks, Mom and Bill Backer for carrying out that vital responsibility.)

I was also rather naive. That may have been part of my Catholic upbringing, and if so I am happy for it, for having that sense of faith helped me learn some valuable lessons, ones not taught in public education. I'll come back to that.

Through Facebook I have become reacquainted with many classmates, some for the first time. (Please feel free to laugh at the jokes. I mean no harm, really.) To those of you who reached out to add me to your list of online friends, thanks very much. I genuinely appreciate that you did. It's an indication that we share a common bond; if nothing else, that we spent three years in the same building, attempting to get ready for adult life to unfold. Tell me, please - did anybody imagine then that we'd be where we are today? I doubt it; I know I didn't. Nothing about getting facts and figures stuck to your brain for the rest of this life can necessarily prepare you for the decisions that some have already faced, and that the rest of us are either preparing to face, hoping we won't have to face, or denying that the questions even exist.

I think it would be appropriate to note that over 700 young men and women began this educational journey after the summer of '69. (The Bryan Adams song keeps coming to mind here, and it's a favorite of mine even though it has nothing to do with anything at the moment.) When the final tallies were made in June 1972, just over 530 were still standing and waiting for diplomas. (Something about the number 535 keeps pinging the recesses of my brain). I wonder what happened to the nearly 200 that got lost somewhere. Okay, some moved; some dropped out - still, 200 of anything is a lot to lose, even over three years. In my profession as an inventory manager, if I lost 200 units of something I might likely be looking for a new job. At home, I'd be in pretty hot soup if I lost $200 - unless in my turn I was not allowed to pass "Go." In my vocation as a Catholic deacon, losing 200 s...well, I'd be answerable to God for eternity on that one. I am naturally curious, but I must entrust their fates in prayer to the One higher than us all.

There are stories I recall. Simplicity, the shortest distance between two points being a straight line as Coach Hofstedter pointed out in geometry class, usually produced the best outcome. Such was the case during one homecoming parade (junior year, I believe) that Bill Backer and I got in by merely attaching a wind-up key (a toilet plunger with cardboard turning pads taped at the top) to the roof of his Ford Cortina. I contrast that with the senior homecoming game in which we planned to shower our star players, most notably Rich Mulhearn with punched card confetti (those infamous 'chads'). I actually had my dad's car that evening. Never got to the game, though. Somehow the chads managed to spill and I spent most of the time trying to get them cleaned out of every nook and cranny in which they found a home.

Other forms of more deviant behavior met with similarly deviant ends. One day a stray dog managed to wander into my first period American history class. When the trusting attendance page arrived to collect the cards of the absentees, Mr. Worth instructed her to advise Mrs. Vaughn that there was no attendance card for "Joe Rover". That afternoon, we wrote our own chapter in geek history and created an attendance card for the wandering canine. For the next three days "Joe Rover" was on the reports that were reviewed. Bill figured we'd better stop before Mrs. Vaughn attempted to call the dog's parents. I'm not sure we were ever found out.

Then there was the infamous election for class president: Rush Kim Darigan vs. William Edward Backer. I don't know if Bill ever had a chance of winning, senior class elections being the popularity contests that they tend to be (and oh, how that mirrors our civic elections today!). However, any chance of Mr. Backer being elected fell quickly when an overzealous campaign worker decided in a budgetary move to write "Back Backer" over several of Mr. Darigan's campaign posters. However, realizing now that being elected class president, as well as the other 'offices',  give the victors a lifetime commitment to manage all the future reunions...well, I'll sum it up with the term "bittersweet."

Some statistics among those in the Class of 1972 I knew and with whom I had day-to-day connections: One married his high school sweetheart (Ben Schmidtke, to Mary McLean) and the happy couple seem to be doing exactly what they want to be doing. I have kept up relative contact with two classmates - Bill Backer and Bill Peterson. Mr. Backer, after a long and winding career, is presently teaching in China. Mr. Peterson is the closest person I have in the category of 'war hero' having served in Kuwait during Operation Desert Storm in 1992, only months after my son Nicholas was born. I'm slowly learning more about others. It brings back many memories. Most of all, it points out how adult life took shape. It looks reasonably good as I write today; still, there's the knowledge that life constantly fluctuates. No portly lady has showed up at my door as yet, looking to sing. Each day is a gift, and I try to make the best use out of every one.

Okay, I think it's good that anyone who's gone this far in the narration/tribute should reap the reward of what I took away at graduation. I learned that a person can have many acquaintances and casual friends, and some, a huge following; but true friends are the ones with whom you have deep, life-meaning (and sometimes life-changing) conversations. At the time the more meaningful conversations came over playing Mille Bornes and pinochle in the commons before classes and during lunch period. There were creative binges as well; Marvin Ferguson, Ben Schmidtke and I once dubbed ourselves "Fursoke Unincorporated." A boy band we were not. However, we had taken a lyrical stand on alcoholism (at the virtual bar); and had borrowed a traditional Christmas carol to bemoan our polluted environment that actually got printed as a letter to the editor in the Elgin newspaper. A musical about our school situation was in the planning stages but a bit ahead of its time. (High School Musical...what a concept!) Seriously, thanks to sites like Facebook, I have reconnected with many good people. True friendships can be counted on fingers and occasionally toes, and that's okay. All of this flows from the truest Friend of all - Jesus Christ. It is his ultimate friendship that affords me a perspective on life many don't get to see and others don't understand. I side with him on all those decisions that must be faced. There have been rough patches - nobody is completely immune from them - but they would have been much rougher without him.

My faith leads me in certain directions regarding issues of the day: religious freedom, the definition of marriage, and still striving to treat those with different opinions and orientations with dignity and respect. It's hard. It's very hard. Our Declaration of Independence states that we are endowed by God with three inalienable rights: those of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I emphasize the word pursuit - you may have the right to search for peace and happiness, but there's no guarantee you will find it. Thomas Jefferson and the others who framed this important document understood that happiness is a subjective thing. There will always be people who are satisfied with the status quo and others who are not. Happiness cannot be legislated. Attempts to do so end up tipping the balance in the opposite direction, with those once satisfied now unhappy and vice-versa. I rely on someone larger than this life to guide me through the encroaching madness. I don't want to call it life's challenges anymore, because many of these 'challenges' lack a degree of common sense. We have to fight fairly for what is ours and cannot assume that what anything granted or promised to us long ago will be there when we need it. Enough said.

Sadly, there is the growing list of people whose lives on this earth have passed. At least thirteen of the names on the list (tenth revision as of 7/26/12) shared classes with me. Mike Lancaster and Don Lockert lived in my South Elgin neighborhood. Gayle Parisek was a fellow classmate at St. Laurence (Catholic) Elementary School. I remember the day Rich Mulhearn invited Mr. Peterson, Mr. Backer, and me to his house, many years after graduation, and told us he had been diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease). During school, Rich was always calling it as he saw it, and with a cockiness not untypical of many teenaged boys, myself included. But on that day, I knew Rich was a friend needing as many friends as he could reach. All the people on the list of the departed get my attention this weekend. I pray that they got everything they needed out of the life they had and that God in his love and mercy has given them more than they could have possibly dreamed of in the afterlife.

To those gathering to celebrate this milestone, still standing 40 years later, you have my best wishes. I will be with you in spirit, and I'll hear the loud racket you'll no doubt be making as I'm only a few miles downwind of you. Here's to the last forty years - let's all try to make it through the next ten! Only now, since more of us are connected online, let's not forget to keep in touch with each other since we have a simple way to do so. I love hearing good news and pray for you when I hear not so good news. Most importantly, keep the faith! It can move mountains...even while battling windmills.

-Bob Balsamo
LHS Class of 1972

"Because of the Wonderful Things He Does"

The Ascension of the Lord

On Sunday, May 20, a vast majority of Christian Churches celebrated - three days late, no less - the ascension of  Jesus into heaven. (And I'm well over a week late; I was reminded of it yesterday when I discovered that the Catholic diocese for the armed forces - yes, Virginia, it exists - celebrates its Memorial Mass the Sunday before Memorial Day Weekend; this year, that was the Sunday on which the Ascension was observed.)

There's a strange sense of confusion about Jesus' ascension to heaven that many theologians and preachers have gone to lengths to justify, but nonetheless remains. The eleven remaining apostles were certainly shocked and turned to panic again. They had not quite wrapped themselves around Jesus' resurrection from the dead, and now this?

It has been taught that Jesus had to leave this world after his resurrection in order that the Holy Spirit could come and generally make sense to the apostles all that concerned the life of Jesus, and of their own future as proponents of the Gospel. Since this still has the potential for open questions, to what can we turn that is closer to our own time that speaks in similar themes?

I may have found such an item.

The 1939 film version of Lyman Frank Baum's story The Wonderful Wizard of Oz contains several parallels, even if imperfect, that might provide food for thought. It might do nothing. Since it struck me enough to suggest I should blog about it, I'm taking a shot at it.

First, there's the very nature about how the 'wizard' gets to Oz in the first place. Our title character is working as a hot-air balloon pilot at a county fair in Kansas when one day, a sudden change in the weather took the pilot into the clouds and out of the people's sight. He lands near the fabled Emerald City, and because he has basically fallen from the sky - a feat only the four 'witches' can accomplish - he is named the Wizard of Oz. It's a bit different for Jesus - the Gospels of Matthew and Luke attempt to tell the story of his birth through genealogies and applied legends - yet, according to Mark and John, Jesus basically shows up as if he has descended from the heavens as an adult.

At the end of the film, the Wizard attempts to take Dorothy back to Kansas via the balloon that got him to Oz. However, Dorothy has to manage her dog Toto, which makes her just a tad too late. As the balloon drifts up and away from its moorings, Dorothy shouts, "Come back!!" But the Wizard replies, "I can't come back! I don't know how it works!" Jesus really can't come back, either. Even in his divinity he is subservient to his Father's will. Though Jesus knows how it works - he has promised his disciples that another Advocate would come and fill in the gaps - he must go in order that the Holy Spirit could come upon them with divine fire, zeal, and enlightenment that could then propel Peter and the others to overcome their fear and preach boldly about their beloved Lord, Master, Savior and Friend.

Finally, all the main characters are looking for something real that they felt missing. To the Scarecrow, it was Knowledge; the Tin Man, a Compassionate Heart; the Lion, Courage; and Dorothy, a sense of Community. These could only be found from within themselves; and all along they had the capabilities and capacity, even to the point of unwittingly tipping their hand to the watching audience. In reading the Gospel accounts, the Apostles and disciples were frequently given many clues (now obvious to us) of what lay ahead for them. Just as frequently they would witness an 'a-ha' moment and in the next be quite clueless as to what it meant. Only with the coming of the Holy Spirit did they realize that they indeed had the ability to do just as Jesus had commanded them.

I'm not about to attempt to rewrite the lyrics to "We're Off To See The Wizard" (it would probably contain more theological errors through metrical and lyrical liberty). Having said that, though, it's clear that if ever, O ever a wiz there was, Our Lord the Christ is the one because...because of the wonderful things he (still) does...through the legacy of the Gospels, the letters of the Apostles, and the inter-workings of the Holy Spirit, which continues in the Church and the world up to and including today, tomorrow, and as long as God wills watching this present creation.

He has given us the capacity, ability, and grace to fulfill the one great commandment: Love one another. 

After All These Years

If I stumble or ramble a bit with this entry, I hope the reader will forgive me. There is reason for it.

Eighteen years ago I embarked on a leg of my life's journey that has been and continues to be profound. I professed vows as a permanent deacon in the Catholic Church.

Like marriage, and the raising of children, this path - this road I now travel on - is one from which I cannot turn back, even if I desired it. The knowledge that this road only goes one way does not detract from my being a traveler on it, nor my desire to be there.

Despite the many mistakes and missteps I have made, I'm still standing. Some of these errors have been large and profound. One or two were even compounded by my efforts to try turning back, to start over. Innocent as I thought this might be, it became obvious that even this could not stop the divine momentum that was put in motion on that day, and the others like it: the day I married my dear wife, and the dates of birth of our children.

Three years ago, I entered among the posts of this blog that I had finally recognized that I was past the 'estranged' relationship I had with the Catholic Church as a result of the way I had chosen to do things. It is true that at in that moment I had reconciled myself to the past. Looking back, though, the goal to change my life may not quite have reached the expectations I had put behind those words. There is still some baggage to unload.

A year ago, I was challenged by the concept that I had 'fallen off my horse' making those errors, but the horse had found me and was attempting to get me back in his saddle, as only a faithful horse can do.

Today, the horse is still patiently waiting.

He waits because I still have much to understand at a deeper level. I have sensed that some truths I hold are not Universal Truths. I am at odds about the disconnect between Jesus' command to "love one another" and the debate over issues that never seem to go away: the role of women in the Church, the issues related to sexual orientation, and whether or not the US Health & Human Services' "mandate" really threatens First Amendment rights to freedom of religious practice and expression. He waits, ever so faithful and patient, because I have the garden of my family to tend. We're really starting to feel our age all of a sudden. He waits, like a dear friend, because while change has come slow and life keeps turning pages, I am moving forward and not backward. I have been reminded what is meant by the psalmist in Ps. 139, and was put so simply in Baltimore Catechism #1: God is everywhere.

That's right. There is no separation. You can't run away from your Creator. He knows you; he knows you better than you know yourself and he knows where you are. You may attempt to put up walls and barricades, but he will knock every one of them down. You may deny his existence, but he will put up reminders at every turn, and only in the last moment of this life would any denial stick.

You can think all you want that our great nation separates religion and faith from governance; but it can't. The people who elect our representatives in government do not en masse leave their faith at the door to the polling place. The best that can come of this is that we have the freedom to live our faith while accepting that we cannot force everyone else to believe and practice as we do, even if it seems that it is our mission is to convert others. (By the way, nowhere does the biblical mandate to evangelize say force it down people. That goes against several other practices.)

God is everywhere. This Truth is probably one of the hardest lessons I have had to remember as an adult. In adult life we tend to compartmentalize everything, including God's place in the world and in personal day-to-day living. But even in our periods of recreation (and maybe especially then), God is there. I am continually surprised in the ways God uses to remind me of his presence and his love. Had Paul of Tarsus added this to his list (In Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor freeman, male or female; all are alive in him), it might have been easier to remember. But no sooner do I write this that I am prompted by memory of where he wrote, Who can separate us from the love of Christ?

I wrote as a status update to announce my anniversary that I continue to serve diaconal ministry in prayer. This I do. It, too, is not as simple as it sounds. Focus on prayer can often be elusive, its fervor muddied by multitasking in an effort to keep moving and get things done. Still, this is perhaps the most meaningful personal accomplishment of the last three years. I liken it to a toddler making his first unsupported steps to walk.

As long as I continue to show signs of progress, my faithful friend will continue to be patient and at my side, waiting for me to allow him to take me to places I would never otherwise see.