Several years ago I saw this movie called "Hero" which was about the Chinese empire in its embryonic stages as an empire. For many centuries, China had existed as a loosely allied collection of city-states and the emperor did not actually have that much power outside of his immediate area. But about 2000 or 2500 years ago, that began to change. Unification was beginning to take place and the Han ethnic group was beginning to become the dominant force in that part of the world.
In this movie, there were some opponents of the emperor who did not like the idea of someone having absolute power over what seemed like the entire civilized world. Those people on the fringes of the Chinese territory were not considered civilized and most Chinese were not aware of any people living further beyond their barbarian neighbors. As far as the Chinese were concerned, a full unification of all the Chinese territories would give the emperor almost god-like power. For some, that was a good thing, for others not so much.
John 11: 45-56
SPOILER ALERT!
DO NOT READ FURTHER IF YOU INTEND TO SEE THE MOVIE. BESIDES, YOU SHOULD GO AND WATCH THE MOVIE INSTEAD OF READING THIS BLOG ANYWAY.
Some very powerful opponents had some very good opportunities to kill the emperor of this burgeoning empire while it was not yet really an empire. But for one reason or another, someone who had the opportunity to make the kill would back off. One man had a point-blank opportunity but chose instead to show the emperor that he could have killed him but chose not to. In spite of sparing the emperor, he did not win any brownie points. After all, the emperor did not get to his position of power by being kind and gentle.
When the other two chief opponents of the emperor realized that their colleague did not carry out his mission and got executed instead, the one who backed off of a previous opportunity to kill the emperor turned his knife on the other one. As he killed his former ally, he said "this is OUR LAND," referring to the soon-to-be-unified Chinese empire. The other opponent never warmed up to the idea of unification. The remaining former opponent loved his vanquished colleague dearly and it hurt him to have to do this. But ultimately he realized that this was for the greater good. These opponents of the emperor, each one individually was very powerful and capable of getting to the emperor and killing him. Having one around that was still against the idea of unification could destroy it while it's still in such an embryonic stage.
Although this former opponent who was still standing was initially a trifle uncomfortable with one man, the emperor, having a seemingly obscene amount of power, he was also aware that life would be better and safer if China were one people instead of a people divided. He also felt that it was simply China's destiny to be a great nation rather than a scattered patchwork. So a few were sacrificed for the good of many.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
The Running Man (Aahhll be baahhck)
Many years ago I was on a school field trip and we had a long bus ride back home. Thankfully it was one of those buses with television screens and video capability. So we watched an old-school Arnold Schwarzenegger classic called "The Running Man" (even back then it was already an Arnold classic).
In the first scene of the movie, his character, a police officer named Ben Richards, is in a helicopter with some colleagues and there's an unruly crowd down below. The other cops want to just gun them down and get it over with. Apparently that's the way things are done in the dystopian future. But Richards wants none of it. He says "there are 1500 innocent people down there, it would be wrong to just kill them!" Well, the other cops subdue him, knock him out, and then presumably gun down the unruly crowd to make them less unruly.
Well, Richards gets blamed for the massacre even though it was exactly what he had intended to prevent. He tried to do the right thing in preventing the massacre and ended up getting blamed for causing it. There was prison, escape from prison, then a recapture which led to being on a game show called "The Running Man" where criminals are given a chance to try to run free through some strange urban landscapes while being stalked by killers armed with flame throwers, buzzsaws, and electricity.
Richards initially did not want to be on the game show except that the host told him that his two prison friends he escaped with had also been recaptured and will be on the show unless Richards goes on instead. Richards, wanting to save his friends from an almost certain gruesome death (prison is apparently a better way to go), agrees to go on the show only to find that his two prison friends are also on it. Trying to do the right thing again, Richards puts himself in danger but to nobody's benefit.
Of course, the introductions of the contestants consist of the crimes they are charged with, whether real or not, as well as any other offenses they may have committed, such as cheating on university exams. Just like the crimes, the other offenses may or may not be real. So, once again, the massacre Richards tried to prevent gets blamed on him, and this time it gets announced to an already-hostile studio audience.
And so the story begins. Ben Richards continues to take the high road when given the opportunity. Of course, he takes people down too when necessary. This is, after all, a movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger in it.
John 10: 31-42
In the first scene of the movie, his character, a police officer named Ben Richards, is in a helicopter with some colleagues and there's an unruly crowd down below. The other cops want to just gun them down and get it over with. Apparently that's the way things are done in the dystopian future. But Richards wants none of it. He says "there are 1500 innocent people down there, it would be wrong to just kill them!" Well, the other cops subdue him, knock him out, and then presumably gun down the unruly crowd to make them less unruly.
Well, Richards gets blamed for the massacre even though it was exactly what he had intended to prevent. He tried to do the right thing in preventing the massacre and ended up getting blamed for causing it. There was prison, escape from prison, then a recapture which led to being on a game show called "The Running Man" where criminals are given a chance to try to run free through some strange urban landscapes while being stalked by killers armed with flame throwers, buzzsaws, and electricity.
Richards initially did not want to be on the game show except that the host told him that his two prison friends he escaped with had also been recaptured and will be on the show unless Richards goes on instead. Richards, wanting to save his friends from an almost certain gruesome death (prison is apparently a better way to go), agrees to go on the show only to find that his two prison friends are also on it. Trying to do the right thing again, Richards puts himself in danger but to nobody's benefit.
Of course, the introductions of the contestants consist of the crimes they are charged with, whether real or not, as well as any other offenses they may have committed, such as cheating on university exams. Just like the crimes, the other offenses may or may not be real. So, once again, the massacre Richards tried to prevent gets blamed on him, and this time it gets announced to an already-hostile studio audience.
And so the story begins. Ben Richards continues to take the high road when given the opportunity. Of course, he takes people down too when necessary. This is, after all, a movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger in it.
John 10: 31-42
Thursday, March 29, 2012
I saw the sign
When I was living in Telluride, Colorado, I worked at a private residence club that provided hotel services. The parent company of this club had other private residence clubs like it at other resort localities and there were also country clubs, city clubs, and the like. Basically, these were places where rich people spent a great deal of money on memberships that created opportunities to spend more money. The private residence club in Telluride was the company's only location near a ski area.
This posed a bit of a problem. The local demographic near a ski area is very different from the local demographic at any other resort-like place where they golf or go to the beach. Near a ski area, you either have the super rich people who live in seasonal mansions who do not work while they're in town, or you have the people driving from a long way out to work every day in the ski town where the wages are generally higher than in the drab country towns in the lowlands where they're from, or you have people like me who were largely transient and worked just to support our skiing and riding lifestyle - we were ski bums. Although some ski bums stayed in the area for a long time even they were known to change jobs rather often. There is a very unique dynamic associated with a ski town and it affects how workplaces are most effectively run.
Well, the corporate office in Dallas tried to impose a corporate culture on the location in Telluride. That just was not going to work. The kind of issues an employer has to deal with in Telluride is vastly different from what one would deal with at a non-skiing resort or especially in a big city. Here's an example. In one year of working at this private residence club I became the 9th most senior employee in a workplace that had 50 employees and this kind of turnover rate is pretty normal for a ski town. In our particular workplace, the people who left during that year included the Front Desk Supervisor, Concierge, Reservations Manager, Maintenance Manager, Front Office Manager, Assistant General Manager, and even the General Manager.
The year before, I worked at a country club in the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio with 30 dining room co-workers. When I visited them at the time that would have been my 2-year anniversary, I would have still been in the less senior half of that department. Management was changed only slightly at the mid-level and largely unchanged at the highest level. Bear in mind that country club dining room staffs typically turn over much faster than professional jobs geared toward university degree holders and yet this country club staff looked super stable compared to my decidedly less stressful workplace in Telluride. A ski town is just a very different place. People are more laid-back and casual and they just do not take life very seriously, especially not their professional lives, which really only exist to support their bohemian lifestyle anyway.
A few years later I found out that the building formerly occupied by the private residence club I worked at had since been occupied by another club not affiliated with the parent company I was working for. The parent company is still thriving but the Telluride location is no more. The failure of the club in Telluride may have been predictable given the signs that were evident even when I was there. Although a few people did see it coming, there were many who just did not recognize the signs.
John 8: 51-59
This posed a bit of a problem. The local demographic near a ski area is very different from the local demographic at any other resort-like place where they golf or go to the beach. Near a ski area, you either have the super rich people who live in seasonal mansions who do not work while they're in town, or you have the people driving from a long way out to work every day in the ski town where the wages are generally higher than in the drab country towns in the lowlands where they're from, or you have people like me who were largely transient and worked just to support our skiing and riding lifestyle - we were ski bums. Although some ski bums stayed in the area for a long time even they were known to change jobs rather often. There is a very unique dynamic associated with a ski town and it affects how workplaces are most effectively run.
Well, the corporate office in Dallas tried to impose a corporate culture on the location in Telluride. That just was not going to work. The kind of issues an employer has to deal with in Telluride is vastly different from what one would deal with at a non-skiing resort or especially in a big city. Here's an example. In one year of working at this private residence club I became the 9th most senior employee in a workplace that had 50 employees and this kind of turnover rate is pretty normal for a ski town. In our particular workplace, the people who left during that year included the Front Desk Supervisor, Concierge, Reservations Manager, Maintenance Manager, Front Office Manager, Assistant General Manager, and even the General Manager.
The year before, I worked at a country club in the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio with 30 dining room co-workers. When I visited them at the time that would have been my 2-year anniversary, I would have still been in the less senior half of that department. Management was changed only slightly at the mid-level and largely unchanged at the highest level. Bear in mind that country club dining room staffs typically turn over much faster than professional jobs geared toward university degree holders and yet this country club staff looked super stable compared to my decidedly less stressful workplace in Telluride. A ski town is just a very different place. People are more laid-back and casual and they just do not take life very seriously, especially not their professional lives, which really only exist to support their bohemian lifestyle anyway.
A few years later I found out that the building formerly occupied by the private residence club I worked at had since been occupied by another club not affiliated with the parent company I was working for. The parent company is still thriving but the Telluride location is no more. The failure of the club in Telluride may have been predictable given the signs that were evident even when I was there. Although a few people did see it coming, there were many who just did not recognize the signs.
John 8: 51-59
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
You're NOT perfect!
-No More Lessons-
There is a common sentiment amongst young skiers who are no longer beginners that they are too cool or too good for lessons. One summer in Vermont when one of my uncles was taking me 4-wheeling around the mountain he often skied at during the winter, he was pointing out all these "sick trails" as we crossed them. Earlier in the day when I was with some of our older relatives, one of them was telling me about how another takes a lesson every time she goes to a ski area for the first time in a given season. If she visits 5 different ski areas in a season, she will have taken at least 5 lessons. It was unsolicited advice but I was not yet a very accomplished skier. Just like everything else in my life that I have since become good at, I was a late bloomer. So I had no answer to this advice even though I had given up lessons long ago.
Well, my uncle was talking about the perks of having a family camp right near a major ski area. Lift tickets were cheaper if you bought multi-day tickets and season passes were even cheaper still if you skied there like all the time. The best part was, there was no lodging cost and very minimal restaurant-associated spending. I asked about lessons without mentioning whose idea it was. He said "Lessons?! If some cow tells me that I have to take lessons, I'd just laugh and spit in his face!"
I was relieved, and rather amused. So I was not the only good skier, or in my case an aspiring good skier, who shunned lessons long ago. During one of the last lessons I had taken, back in the days at the little local ski hill, the instructor said "I know that you all can ski, but I'm going to teach you how to ski RIGHT!" and did a [Boston Bruins national anthem singer] Rene Rancourt-style fist pump while saying "right." Cheesy? Absolutely! All the techniques I was being taught just seemed like ways to cause me to ski even more slowly than I did before when compared to the cool big kids at the ski hill who tended to ski fast. So I eventually ditched taking lessons altogether.
-The Next Level-
Over the years I moved on from the little local ski hill to real ski mountains. Eventually I made my way to advanced and occasionally even expert terrain. The latter depended upon each individual trail and upon snow conditions. Basically, if the conditions made the less difficult expert trail less difficult than it usually was, I'd take it on so that I would have the satisfaction of having skied a double-black-diamond (expert) trail. But, for the most part, I still had to pick and choose which trails I would take based upon their ability level rather than just indiscriminately going down them.
After making the courageous leap to advanced and expert terrain (after a too-long spell of intermediate skiing) and finally looking like I actually belonged there while skiing it, I got to a point where I found some other limitations in my ability. I could only seem to ski really well if we had a hardpack, packed powder, or (gasp!) groomed corduroy. I struggled with ice and had no idea how I would handle deep powder. I had hit a plateau.
Since I had never skied out west at this point, I believed all the exaggerated stories people tended to tell about the deep snow and the extreme terrain. Because I was planning to go out west in the near future, I decided that I may wish to work on my technique or at least figure out what is preventing me from improving when there was clearly a lot of room for improvement. So I took a lesson nearly every ski day of the season that preceded my move out west.
Very basically, my problem was balance. I was either too dependent upon my own forward momentum when leaning too far up the hill between turns or I was too dependent upon favorable ski conditions that enabled me to do those dreadful heel-driven windshield-wiper turns. Overhauling my technique required a bit of hard work and self-discipline. But by the end of the season I took a lesson specifically for mogul (bump) skiing. I had come a long way.
-Fine Tuning-
I drove out to Telluride, Colorado soon after with a carload of belongings. When the next ski season came I joined the ski school and became a ski instructor. This meant that I got to enroll in all kinds of clinics for instructors where we got to fine-tune our ski technique. A lot of these tricks we learned were of an advanced nature but there were also some things we worked on that seemed very elementary. After all, even really good skiers have managed to pick up some bad habits over the years. Besides, the elementary skills are often the foundation upon which some of the more advanced skills are built.
Another of the perks of being an instructor was that you could also enroll in a free group lesson during a day off. Well, I did just that. Although group lessons are theoretically available in all levels from single-green (early beginner) to double-black (expert), it turns out that the highest level that actually has enough enrollment to justify a group lesson is usually double-blue (advanced intermediate) on a good day and single-blue (early intermediate) on most other days. I was rather disappointed that there were no black or double-black groups going. No instructor is going to offer a private lesson for free; if they're not getting paid, they'd rather freeski.
So I joined the double-blue group, knowing it would be well below my ability level, but I wanted to check it out anyway just to see what one of these lessons would be like from the other side now that I had become accustomed to being the instructor rather than the student. My colleague leading the single-blue group offered to let me join his group if I wanted to work on some of the "slower" stuff. I declined but his offer was nonetheless valid. He knew how good a skier I was and I did learn some things I had not thought of before during the double-blue lesson. The same would likely have been true with his single-blue lesson, albeit with more basic techniques. Every instructor brings a slightly different perspective and style to the lesson so there's always something to learn. Nobody's too good for a lesson, even a low-level lesson.
-The End-
I understand that lessons cost money. But if you're okay with that, it's worth it. And if you're getting it for free, then why not? Lessons are certainly a more effective way to learn skiing technique than watching films by [winter sport filmmaker] Warren Miller. Seeing the way sponsored professionals ski from multiple camera angles and distances is one thing but feeling it yourself is a whole different matter. There's always room for improvement.
John 8: 31-42
There is a common sentiment amongst young skiers who are no longer beginners that they are too cool or too good for lessons. One summer in Vermont when one of my uncles was taking me 4-wheeling around the mountain he often skied at during the winter, he was pointing out all these "sick trails" as we crossed them. Earlier in the day when I was with some of our older relatives, one of them was telling me about how another takes a lesson every time she goes to a ski area for the first time in a given season. If she visits 5 different ski areas in a season, she will have taken at least 5 lessons. It was unsolicited advice but I was not yet a very accomplished skier. Just like everything else in my life that I have since become good at, I was a late bloomer. So I had no answer to this advice even though I had given up lessons long ago.
Well, my uncle was talking about the perks of having a family camp right near a major ski area. Lift tickets were cheaper if you bought multi-day tickets and season passes were even cheaper still if you skied there like all the time. The best part was, there was no lodging cost and very minimal restaurant-associated spending. I asked about lessons without mentioning whose idea it was. He said "Lessons?! If some cow tells me that I have to take lessons, I'd just laugh and spit in his face!"
I was relieved, and rather amused. So I was not the only good skier, or in my case an aspiring good skier, who shunned lessons long ago. During one of the last lessons I had taken, back in the days at the little local ski hill, the instructor said "I know that you all can ski, but I'm going to teach you how to ski RIGHT!" and did a [Boston Bruins national anthem singer] Rene Rancourt-style fist pump while saying "right." Cheesy? Absolutely! All the techniques I was being taught just seemed like ways to cause me to ski even more slowly than I did before when compared to the cool big kids at the ski hill who tended to ski fast. So I eventually ditched taking lessons altogether.
-The Next Level-
Over the years I moved on from the little local ski hill to real ski mountains. Eventually I made my way to advanced and occasionally even expert terrain. The latter depended upon each individual trail and upon snow conditions. Basically, if the conditions made the less difficult expert trail less difficult than it usually was, I'd take it on so that I would have the satisfaction of having skied a double-black-diamond (expert) trail. But, for the most part, I still had to pick and choose which trails I would take based upon their ability level rather than just indiscriminately going down them.
After making the courageous leap to advanced and expert terrain (after a too-long spell of intermediate skiing) and finally looking like I actually belonged there while skiing it, I got to a point where I found some other limitations in my ability. I could only seem to ski really well if we had a hardpack, packed powder, or (gasp!) groomed corduroy. I struggled with ice and had no idea how I would handle deep powder. I had hit a plateau.
Since I had never skied out west at this point, I believed all the exaggerated stories people tended to tell about the deep snow and the extreme terrain. Because I was planning to go out west in the near future, I decided that I may wish to work on my technique or at least figure out what is preventing me from improving when there was clearly a lot of room for improvement. So I took a lesson nearly every ski day of the season that preceded my move out west.
Very basically, my problem was balance. I was either too dependent upon my own forward momentum when leaning too far up the hill between turns or I was too dependent upon favorable ski conditions that enabled me to do those dreadful heel-driven windshield-wiper turns. Overhauling my technique required a bit of hard work and self-discipline. But by the end of the season I took a lesson specifically for mogul (bump) skiing. I had come a long way.
-Fine Tuning-
I drove out to Telluride, Colorado soon after with a carload of belongings. When the next ski season came I joined the ski school and became a ski instructor. This meant that I got to enroll in all kinds of clinics for instructors where we got to fine-tune our ski technique. A lot of these tricks we learned were of an advanced nature but there were also some things we worked on that seemed very elementary. After all, even really good skiers have managed to pick up some bad habits over the years. Besides, the elementary skills are often the foundation upon which some of the more advanced skills are built.
Another of the perks of being an instructor was that you could also enroll in a free group lesson during a day off. Well, I did just that. Although group lessons are theoretically available in all levels from single-green (early beginner) to double-black (expert), it turns out that the highest level that actually has enough enrollment to justify a group lesson is usually double-blue (advanced intermediate) on a good day and single-blue (early intermediate) on most other days. I was rather disappointed that there were no black or double-black groups going. No instructor is going to offer a private lesson for free; if they're not getting paid, they'd rather freeski.
So I joined the double-blue group, knowing it would be well below my ability level, but I wanted to check it out anyway just to see what one of these lessons would be like from the other side now that I had become accustomed to being the instructor rather than the student. My colleague leading the single-blue group offered to let me join his group if I wanted to work on some of the "slower" stuff. I declined but his offer was nonetheless valid. He knew how good a skier I was and I did learn some things I had not thought of before during the double-blue lesson. The same would likely have been true with his single-blue lesson, albeit with more basic techniques. Every instructor brings a slightly different perspective and style to the lesson so there's always something to learn. Nobody's too good for a lesson, even a low-level lesson.
-The End-
I understand that lessons cost money. But if you're okay with that, it's worth it. And if you're getting it for free, then why not? Lessons are certainly a more effective way to learn skiing technique than watching films by [winter sport filmmaker] Warren Miller. Seeing the way sponsored professionals ski from multiple camera angles and distances is one thing but feeling it yourself is a whole different matter. There's always room for improvement.
John 8: 31-42
Going Postal
Last week I went to see a Christian band called The Wrecking, a band that I've been getting pretty well acquainted with over the past year or two. They were opening for another Christian band called Tenth Avenue North. During the show, the lead singer from Tenth Avenue North was talking about how sometimes we see what other people say or do and we think to ourselves "Oh my goodness, I would NEVER..." He says, we really ought to replace "never" with something like "always" or "be very likely to" because every one of us is as mistake-prone as everyone else. It's only by the grace of God that we are clean or even have our occasional good moments.
This concept was apparently lost on the Pharisees in John's Gospel, as they were quite hypocritical in the manner described by this lead singer. Although much maligned in the Gospel, the Pharisees are not this group of people who have a particular disposition of being inherently evil. They are merely representative of certain elements of our own character.
Later on in the show the lead singer said the usual things you expect from a Christian band about how "it's not about us (the band), it's all about God." But then he went on to elaborate further. "We are just the mailmen. God is the sender. When you receive a gift from a loved one through the mail, you don't go and start hugging or bowing down to the mailman who delivered it. That's all we are (motioning to the other band members), we're just delivery boys." Jesus was similarly humble even as He criticized the Pharisees.
John 8: 21-30
This concept was apparently lost on the Pharisees in John's Gospel, as they were quite hypocritical in the manner described by this lead singer. Although much maligned in the Gospel, the Pharisees are not this group of people who have a particular disposition of being inherently evil. They are merely representative of certain elements of our own character.
Later on in the show the lead singer said the usual things you expect from a Christian band about how "it's not about us (the band), it's all about God." But then he went on to elaborate further. "We are just the mailmen. God is the sender. When you receive a gift from a loved one through the mail, you don't go and start hugging or bowing down to the mailman who delivered it. That's all we are (motioning to the other band members), we're just delivery boys." Jesus was similarly humble even as He criticized the Pharisees.
John 8: 21-30
Monday, March 26, 2012
How NOT to recruit
During the "March for Life" weekend one January, I rode on a bus with other young adults from the Archdiocese of Boston. After the Sunday evening Mass at the National Shrine, we all got back in the bus. As I was taking my seat, a seminarian who was a few years older than me made some reference to me and "Asriel."
A few years earlier when I was riding a bus in Chile, the movie they showed on the bus, dubbed and subtitled in Spanish, was that controversial movie from the even more controversial book by Phillip Pullman called "The Golden Compass." The Catholic Church largely denounced this movie because it would generate more interest in the book, which would lead to more interest in the rest of the book series and the rest of the book series becomes very anti-Catholic toward the end. Lord Asriel was a character played by Daniel Craig and I had no recollection of any other "Asriel."
I wasn't sure if I heard this guy right and I was not interested in incriminating myself in front of a seminarian as someone who had actually seen the movie. It would take a bit too long to explain that I was on a 5-hour bus ride and there was nothing else to do. This seminarian did seem like one of those ignorant corporate types who are quick to pass judgment. So I asked "Who?!" He couldn't believe that I did not get the reference. Although I'm told that I look and act young for my age, I can carry a conversation with someone older than me just as easily as I can with someone much younger than me. It really depends more upon the individual than it does upon their age. Well, we seemed to be able to chat it up pretty well earlier so in spite of my young appearance, he just assumed that we were similar in age.
It turned out that "Asriel" was a character from the television show called "The Smurfs." I did not see the Smurfs often enough or recently enough to have any recollection of "Asriel." I'm from a small town where gender roles are much more well-defined than these metrosexual big cities where this seminarian was likely from. Where I'm from, boys did not watch the Smurfs very often. Furthermore, this was from a long time ago and unlike a lot of people, I do not cling to old popular culture references and act like they are still recent. A lot of things have come and gone since then, people! It's time to move on! Finally, having lived a rather sheltered life as a child, I was quite a late bloomer as far as popular culture is concerned, thus making me appear much younger than most other people similar in age to me. Keep in mind, this guy was not my age, he was actually a few years older.
Perhaps because I inadvertently made him feel old, or perhaps because he felt betrayed by someone who he thought was his "age-buddy" (me), he decided to save some face at my expense by asking in a rather grown-up tone "how old are you?" In a busload of people, many of whom were women, and a few of whom were rather attractive, this put me in a rather difficult position. I do not generally like to give away my age because I feel that people should get to know me rather than stereotype and categorize me. Giving away my age will irreparably prejudice, color, or change one's perception of me. However, it is also generally a bad idea to be all evasive and defensive about my age when there are young women around. So I confidently stated my age as if to suggest that it's perfectly reasonable for me to still be too young to know his TV shows. Inevitably, he stated that someone my age "should've" been familiar with Asriel from the Smurfs.
To me this sounded very condescending because I was a late bloomer in the realm of popular culture and I did not appreciate being forced to relive memories of being "naive" nor did I appreciate being talked down to because I did not happen to have the same life experiences as he did in his "normal" and perfect little childhood. Perhaps he just assumed that everyone's childhood experiences are the same if they are similar in age. Given that he did seem like the corporate type, that is sadly not surprising. I did mention that my life was not at all typical of most people my age and gave a few examples. The Spanish-speaking people near me found my examples rather amusing and that kind of lightened the mood a little bit. Still, I feel there was so much more I should have said to really make a point with this guy.
Several minutes later after we left the parking lot of the National Shrine, the seminarian gave me the dreaded sales pitch for going to seminary. (Seriously, if going to seminary means having to put up with him or people like him more often, why in the world would I ever want to go?!). The sales pitch was obviously based upon my age and the fact that I am single. Shameless! I should never have told him my age. Certain priests and excessively intellectual laypeople also have a tendency to be similarly rude in asking my age without bothering to actually get to know me. I suppose I should have known better by now and perhaps I should have been willing to risk being seen as evasive or insecure about my age. At least then the sales pitch might not be so damaging to me emotionally, leaving me wounded. Revealing my age to him or other equally inept recruiters only makes it easier to hit me where it hurts.
I have my own personal issues that I would prefer to talk over in private with someone who will actually listen and understand without trying to push an agenda or put me down. Trying to give this seminarian reasons why I'm not inclined to go to seminary right now is a bit awkward when surrounded by a busload of people who are being very quiet. Being the way he is, he just assumed that my unconvincing explanations meant that I did not know what I was talking about or was on the fence or would be easily swayed. It never occurred to him that this topic was too private a matter to talk about at this time and he was totally unfit as a person to be talking about these things with anyway. I hope for the sake of the Church that he has left seminary by now.
As guilty as this particular seminarian may be, I can not claim to be perfect either. After all, I probably did make him feel old and abandoned while surrounded by much younger and unfamiliar people, some of whom I was very clearly pretty good friends with. I neither intended to make him feel old nor distance myself from him, but whether it's intentional or not makes very little difference to the person who feels wronged. The point is, nobody is without sin. If you feel wronged after a conversation with someone, it is tempting to perceive yourself as the sole victim who is without sin. However, in any case of mutual misunderstanding, both sides are inevitably going to come out feeling misread and there may be some mutual bad blood because each one felt that they were unfairly treated. So who gets the blame? That depends upon who you ask. Very well then. Who gets to assign blame first? Let start with the one who's blameless. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?
John 8: 1-11
A few years earlier when I was riding a bus in Chile, the movie they showed on the bus, dubbed and subtitled in Spanish, was that controversial movie from the even more controversial book by Phillip Pullman called "The Golden Compass." The Catholic Church largely denounced this movie because it would generate more interest in the book, which would lead to more interest in the rest of the book series and the rest of the book series becomes very anti-Catholic toward the end. Lord Asriel was a character played by Daniel Craig and I had no recollection of any other "Asriel."
I wasn't sure if I heard this guy right and I was not interested in incriminating myself in front of a seminarian as someone who had actually seen the movie. It would take a bit too long to explain that I was on a 5-hour bus ride and there was nothing else to do. This seminarian did seem like one of those ignorant corporate types who are quick to pass judgment. So I asked "Who?!" He couldn't believe that I did not get the reference. Although I'm told that I look and act young for my age, I can carry a conversation with someone older than me just as easily as I can with someone much younger than me. It really depends more upon the individual than it does upon their age. Well, we seemed to be able to chat it up pretty well earlier so in spite of my young appearance, he just assumed that we were similar in age.
It turned out that "Asriel" was a character from the television show called "The Smurfs." I did not see the Smurfs often enough or recently enough to have any recollection of "Asriel." I'm from a small town where gender roles are much more well-defined than these metrosexual big cities where this seminarian was likely from. Where I'm from, boys did not watch the Smurfs very often. Furthermore, this was from a long time ago and unlike a lot of people, I do not cling to old popular culture references and act like they are still recent. A lot of things have come and gone since then, people! It's time to move on! Finally, having lived a rather sheltered life as a child, I was quite a late bloomer as far as popular culture is concerned, thus making me appear much younger than most other people similar in age to me. Keep in mind, this guy was not my age, he was actually a few years older.
Perhaps because I inadvertently made him feel old, or perhaps because he felt betrayed by someone who he thought was his "age-buddy" (me), he decided to save some face at my expense by asking in a rather grown-up tone "how old are you?" In a busload of people, many of whom were women, and a few of whom were rather attractive, this put me in a rather difficult position. I do not generally like to give away my age because I feel that people should get to know me rather than stereotype and categorize me. Giving away my age will irreparably prejudice, color, or change one's perception of me. However, it is also generally a bad idea to be all evasive and defensive about my age when there are young women around. So I confidently stated my age as if to suggest that it's perfectly reasonable for me to still be too young to know his TV shows. Inevitably, he stated that someone my age "should've" been familiar with Asriel from the Smurfs.
To me this sounded very condescending because I was a late bloomer in the realm of popular culture and I did not appreciate being forced to relive memories of being "naive" nor did I appreciate being talked down to because I did not happen to have the same life experiences as he did in his "normal" and perfect little childhood. Perhaps he just assumed that everyone's childhood experiences are the same if they are similar in age. Given that he did seem like the corporate type, that is sadly not surprising. I did mention that my life was not at all typical of most people my age and gave a few examples. The Spanish-speaking people near me found my examples rather amusing and that kind of lightened the mood a little bit. Still, I feel there was so much more I should have said to really make a point with this guy.
Several minutes later after we left the parking lot of the National Shrine, the seminarian gave me the dreaded sales pitch for going to seminary. (Seriously, if going to seminary means having to put up with him or people like him more often, why in the world would I ever want to go?!). The sales pitch was obviously based upon my age and the fact that I am single. Shameless! I should never have told him my age. Certain priests and excessively intellectual laypeople also have a tendency to be similarly rude in asking my age without bothering to actually get to know me. I suppose I should have known better by now and perhaps I should have been willing to risk being seen as evasive or insecure about my age. At least then the sales pitch might not be so damaging to me emotionally, leaving me wounded. Revealing my age to him or other equally inept recruiters only makes it easier to hit me where it hurts.
I have my own personal issues that I would prefer to talk over in private with someone who will actually listen and understand without trying to push an agenda or put me down. Trying to give this seminarian reasons why I'm not inclined to go to seminary right now is a bit awkward when surrounded by a busload of people who are being very quiet. Being the way he is, he just assumed that my unconvincing explanations meant that I did not know what I was talking about or was on the fence or would be easily swayed. It never occurred to him that this topic was too private a matter to talk about at this time and he was totally unfit as a person to be talking about these things with anyway. I hope for the sake of the Church that he has left seminary by now.
As guilty as this particular seminarian may be, I can not claim to be perfect either. After all, I probably did make him feel old and abandoned while surrounded by much younger and unfamiliar people, some of whom I was very clearly pretty good friends with. I neither intended to make him feel old nor distance myself from him, but whether it's intentional or not makes very little difference to the person who feels wronged. The point is, nobody is without sin. If you feel wronged after a conversation with someone, it is tempting to perceive yourself as the sole victim who is without sin. However, in any case of mutual misunderstanding, both sides are inevitably going to come out feeling misread and there may be some mutual bad blood because each one felt that they were unfairly treated. So who gets the blame? That depends upon who you ask. Very well then. Who gets to assign blame first? Let start with the one who's blameless. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?
John 8: 1-11
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Credibility
Credibility is a tricky thing. Once you lose it, you can't get it back. But we live in a society where people are constantly trying to take away our credibility. If they do not agree with what we have to say, they will try to discredit us.
Rather than take the civil and dignified approach of addressing or attacking the message, they choose instead to attack the messenger. They misrepresent us by feeding misinformation to others or leaving out important details. This is how malicious rumours start. But if we do have people on our side, then those trying to discredit us will make the claim that the opinions of those who support us are just not important - they don't count. This is how the 'in' groups keep the 'out' groups from disrupting the status quo. But if someone from a position of power chooses to stand up for us, then his or her peers will intimidate or discredit him or her, or make him or her guilty by association. This is how peer pressure works.
These things don't just happen in the school-based social arena in the modern day. They've been going on in all walks of life ever since the original sin was committed. Rather than being understanding and open-minded, humanity instead resorted to skepticism and pervading a culture of fear. It's been all power games since the fall. Credibility is like armor that's constantly under attack. Keeping credibility is like maintaining the integrity of the armor.
John 7: 40-53
Rather than take the civil and dignified approach of addressing or attacking the message, they choose instead to attack the messenger. They misrepresent us by feeding misinformation to others or leaving out important details. This is how malicious rumours start. But if we do have people on our side, then those trying to discredit us will make the claim that the opinions of those who support us are just not important - they don't count. This is how the 'in' groups keep the 'out' groups from disrupting the status quo. But if someone from a position of power chooses to stand up for us, then his or her peers will intimidate or discredit him or her, or make him or her guilty by association. This is how peer pressure works.
These things don't just happen in the school-based social arena in the modern day. They've been going on in all walks of life ever since the original sin was committed. Rather than being understanding and open-minded, humanity instead resorted to skepticism and pervading a culture of fear. It's been all power games since the fall. Credibility is like armor that's constantly under attack. Keeping credibility is like maintaining the integrity of the armor.
John 7: 40-53
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Don't pretend that you know me...
Back in the days when I was younger, I used to spend a lot more time with people who knew me for a very long time. Although it allowed me to establish relationships and set down some roots, it also prevented me from really growing and developing as an individual, which is why I have since abandoned my hometown. If I changed in any way that was visible to others, people would respond with surprise, skepticism, disbelief, or hostility.
I did not know much about sports as a small child but that changed in my adolescent years. If I started talking about it and asking all kinds of questions about it around some relatives who hadn't seen me very frequently but knew me from the beginning, they would start lecturing at me like it's out of character for me. So rather than encouraging this growth in the right direction they would instead try to bring me back down to where I was before.
During my elementary school years I did not talk much about girls in school while I was at home but that began to change as I made my way into middle school. The surprised reaction to this change in me, a change which should have been predictable given my age, made me uncomfortable and self conscious. So I stopped talking about it at home and instead had to learn certain social things by overhearing other people talk while in school. Talking over these things at home would have been a much faster, more effective, and less stressful way to learn and cope with the changes in my life.
I did not have much exposure to contemporary music as a small child aside from what my babysitters happened to play in the background when they were overseeing me during school day afternoons. Even then, I did not get to know any of their music all that intimately until after the fact, which meant that their music was effectively before my time. So I was a bit of a late bloomer in that regard. If I showed any interest in contemporary music in conversations as I got older, the reaction from my peers was often that of surprise or disbelief. I saw it as sarcastic and patronizing. Nevertheless I was getting to know the scene better and better. As I progressed even further into high school, I not only knew contemporary music pretty well at that point, but I also started to get into local bands. If I started talking about an upcoming local gig with a particular group of friends who happened to be into the local band scene but did not know about that gig, they would act all impressed but to me their reaction seemed condescending. They knew me as a friend but not as a fellow concertgoer. I hardly ever got invited to come along and join them to see a gig. Even to this day I still generally go to concerts by myself.
If I changed the way I wore my hair as a schoolkid, a reaction from my peers would be inevitable. They were used to seeing a plain-looking goody-two-shoes ensemble instead of something a little more attractive. If I'm around other adults and they finally see me in my casual clothing instead of the professional or church clothes I'm usually forced to wear, they treat this "change" like it's some sort of "transformation," in a rather patronizing tone, of course.
It does seem rather ironic that the people who have "known" me for a long time really don't know me. Then there are the people who get into my business about my age, relationship status, dating life, professional life, and vocation discernment who know this rather personal information about me but only because they created a situation in which it would have been rude for me to refuse to answer such invasive personal questions. Yet these people really don't know me either because they never bothered getting to know anything else about me. They certainly had the opportunity, as did the people who've known me for a long time. However, they've all allowed the length of time that they've known me or their knowledge of certain personal information to blind them to all evidence that contradicts their own preconceived stereotypes of what they think I should be like.
In John's Gospel, people similarly spoke badly of Jesus. He had a very humble beginning and a very humble upbringing and that's how a lot of people knew Him. In spite of the staggering evidence that He was the Christ, they kept coming up with reasons not to believe. Perhaps they thought it was "out of character" for Him. He had no trouble adjusting to the way His own life had changed. Nevertheless, the people who "knew" Him all along just couldn't seem to do the even simpler task of just accepting Him for who He was at that time rather than judging Him for who He was beforehand. Yet, the people who did not know Jesus until the time of His ministry actually got to know Him in all the right ways. Just like Jesus, they did not dwell excessively on His past, choosing instead to accept Him for who He was right then. We really ought to be more like the followers of Jesus and less like the townies He grew up with.
John 7: 1-2, 10, 25-30
I did not know much about sports as a small child but that changed in my adolescent years. If I started talking about it and asking all kinds of questions about it around some relatives who hadn't seen me very frequently but knew me from the beginning, they would start lecturing at me like it's out of character for me. So rather than encouraging this growth in the right direction they would instead try to bring me back down to where I was before.
During my elementary school years I did not talk much about girls in school while I was at home but that began to change as I made my way into middle school. The surprised reaction to this change in me, a change which should have been predictable given my age, made me uncomfortable and self conscious. So I stopped talking about it at home and instead had to learn certain social things by overhearing other people talk while in school. Talking over these things at home would have been a much faster, more effective, and less stressful way to learn and cope with the changes in my life.
I did not have much exposure to contemporary music as a small child aside from what my babysitters happened to play in the background when they were overseeing me during school day afternoons. Even then, I did not get to know any of their music all that intimately until after the fact, which meant that their music was effectively before my time. So I was a bit of a late bloomer in that regard. If I showed any interest in contemporary music in conversations as I got older, the reaction from my peers was often that of surprise or disbelief. I saw it as sarcastic and patronizing. Nevertheless I was getting to know the scene better and better. As I progressed even further into high school, I not only knew contemporary music pretty well at that point, but I also started to get into local bands. If I started talking about an upcoming local gig with a particular group of friends who happened to be into the local band scene but did not know about that gig, they would act all impressed but to me their reaction seemed condescending. They knew me as a friend but not as a fellow concertgoer. I hardly ever got invited to come along and join them to see a gig. Even to this day I still generally go to concerts by myself.
If I changed the way I wore my hair as a schoolkid, a reaction from my peers would be inevitable. They were used to seeing a plain-looking goody-two-shoes ensemble instead of something a little more attractive. If I'm around other adults and they finally see me in my casual clothing instead of the professional or church clothes I'm usually forced to wear, they treat this "change" like it's some sort of "transformation," in a rather patronizing tone, of course.
It does seem rather ironic that the people who have "known" me for a long time really don't know me. Then there are the people who get into my business about my age, relationship status, dating life, professional life, and vocation discernment who know this rather personal information about me but only because they created a situation in which it would have been rude for me to refuse to answer such invasive personal questions. Yet these people really don't know me either because they never bothered getting to know anything else about me. They certainly had the opportunity, as did the people who've known me for a long time. However, they've all allowed the length of time that they've known me or their knowledge of certain personal information to blind them to all evidence that contradicts their own preconceived stereotypes of what they think I should be like.
In John's Gospel, people similarly spoke badly of Jesus. He had a very humble beginning and a very humble upbringing and that's how a lot of people knew Him. In spite of the staggering evidence that He was the Christ, they kept coming up with reasons not to believe. Perhaps they thought it was "out of character" for Him. He had no trouble adjusting to the way His own life had changed. Nevertheless, the people who "knew" Him all along just couldn't seem to do the even simpler task of just accepting Him for who He was at that time rather than judging Him for who He was beforehand. Yet, the people who did not know Jesus until the time of His ministry actually got to know Him in all the right ways. Just like Jesus, they did not dwell excessively on His past, choosing instead to accept Him for who He was right then. We really ought to be more like the followers of Jesus and less like the townies He grew up with.
John 7: 1-2, 10, 25-30
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Brainwashed
"Life imitates Art" as the saying goes. We see enough television shows, advertisements, or movies and it starts to get into our heads. We see how various personalities interact with one another and how various age groups and social groups tend to dress and we begin to think "everyone" is a certain way. Of course, none of these cultural phenomena we see on TV or movies have any evidence to back them up aside from other TV shows, other adverts, or other movies. At best, when "everyone" knows something about the way our society works in these "modern times," the "everyone" is really just you and maybe half of another person. But then when the general TV and movie audience thinks that way, it's almost as if our society's behaviors mimic the way they've almost universally been portrayed by the popular culture media, all without non-self-referencing evidence.
On the other hand, we see how our own parents, our closest co-workers, and our friendliest schoolmates are and we often don't even notice them. We notice the more glamourous minority of other parents, more distant co-workers, and less familiar schoolmates whose lives seem to more closely imitate popular culture. We either feel that our own lives are directionless and mundane by comparison and therefore just simply directionless and mundane, or we think our workplace or school is no good and shallow and full of people who are full of themselves with parents who are equally despicable. The truth is, the way the people close to us behave in each aspect of our lives is real. The evidence lies in how people in other aspects of our lives behave, especially when they don't all know one another and their parts are not written by script writers. But in spite of the evidence, we do not believe our own life experiences to be a fair representation of society. Yet we allow the popular culture media to influence how we see society. In other words, Art persuades Life to imitate it because we let it get away with doing that.
John 5: 31-47
On the other hand, we see how our own parents, our closest co-workers, and our friendliest schoolmates are and we often don't even notice them. We notice the more glamourous minority of other parents, more distant co-workers, and less familiar schoolmates whose lives seem to more closely imitate popular culture. We either feel that our own lives are directionless and mundane by comparison and therefore just simply directionless and mundane, or we think our workplace or school is no good and shallow and full of people who are full of themselves with parents who are equally despicable. The truth is, the way the people close to us behave in each aspect of our lives is real. The evidence lies in how people in other aspects of our lives behave, especially when they don't all know one another and their parts are not written by script writers. But in spite of the evidence, we do not believe our own life experiences to be a fair representation of society. Yet we allow the popular culture media to influence how we see society. In other words, Art persuades Life to imitate it because we let it get away with doing that.
John 5: 31-47
Now I'm Nothing
A little bit of tact goes a long way. Tact is not about finding the right words to say, it's about having the right attitude. If you say something insensitive and perhaps even hurtful, it's not because you misspoke, it's because your attitude sucks and you just failed to cover it up. It's because you have no respect for the other person's dignity. You need to put yourself in that other person's place.
Sometimes, however, you try your best to take the high road by being humble and considerate toward others only to be accused of the very things you made a point to avoid. So what's the point of being tactful if it only gets you accused of being the exact opposite? Well, with most people that would not be the case, but with these kinds of people it's a no-win situation. There will be a small minority of people in your life who will find fault with what you say no matter how you say it and that's because they've already made up their mind against you. Everything you say will be offensive to them because they are closed-minded.
This was true in today's Gospel reading when Jesus spoke with humility, basically saying "I am nothing without God my Father." The crowd accused Him of being just the opposite, presumptuous and arrogant, because they already decided that they did not like anything He had to say. At the time it may have seemed like the whole world was against Him and there may be times when your consideration or respect toward others seems wasted. But don't let that small minority of people influence your outlook toward the majority. Don't let them be the reason you choose to stop being a decent human being. Don't let them get under your skin and ruin it for everyone else.
John 5: 17-30
Sometimes, however, you try your best to take the high road by being humble and considerate toward others only to be accused of the very things you made a point to avoid. So what's the point of being tactful if it only gets you accused of being the exact opposite? Well, with most people that would not be the case, but with these kinds of people it's a no-win situation. There will be a small minority of people in your life who will find fault with what you say no matter how you say it and that's because they've already made up their mind against you. Everything you say will be offensive to them because they are closed-minded.
This was true in today's Gospel reading when Jesus spoke with humility, basically saying "I am nothing without God my Father." The crowd accused Him of being just the opposite, presumptuous and arrogant, because they already decided that they did not like anything He had to say. At the time it may have seemed like the whole world was against Him and there may be times when your consideration or respect toward others seems wasted. But don't let that small minority of people influence your outlook toward the majority. Don't let them be the reason you choose to stop being a decent human being. Don't let them get under your skin and ruin it for everyone else.
John 5: 17-30
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Help a brother out, man!
"A friend in need is a friend indeed," as the saying goes. It may not always be convenient to reach out to someone in need but there is NEVER a truly bad time to do so. Charity is a fairly well-known Lenten theme and that is a great thing to do during Lent. But what about your own friends? What about people who are going through a lot in their lives? What about people who need someone to talk to? Think about what you stand to lose if you were to set aside what you are trying to get done. Then think about what the other person stands to gain if you just reach out and be a friend. You'll probably recover from your setback but in the process you will make your friend's day, week, month, year, or life. So during the remainder of this Lenten season (the rest of March plus a little bit of April), reach out to someone for fellowship and go help a brother out. It will make your life better as well.
John 5: 1-16
John 5: 1-16
The establishment wants you to play it safe
Every once in a great while I see a bumper sticker that says something to the effect of "don't let others discourage your dreams, they've already given up on theirs." The problem is that when we have dreams, it is very easy for others to discourage them because we have no proof that things will work out. We are following a hunch and trusting our intuition. People who try to advise us on how to live our lives are often people who know us well (too well in all the wrong ways) and they will find reasons why our intuition is not to be trusted. They will do anything to create doubt in our minds unless we can convince them to get off our case. In other words, they're looking for a sign.
The world is full of people who look for a sign and never take a leap of faith. People always want assurances that things will work out rather than go out on a limb. When I decided to go out west to be a ski bum for however long I felt was appropriate, I was met with a great deal of resistance. Even the people who supported the idea just did not seem to get it.
One older fellow told me about a friend he knew who had property in Beaver Creek, Colorado. He asked me if I was going there. I was still considering many options, and not just in Colorado either, so I did not have a definitive answer. Then he got all demanding and said "Well, you're either going there or you're not." I said that I haven't decided because there were A LOT of ski areas I was considering. I was not going to do the default thing and just follow a bunch of my former schoolmates down the Vail bandwagon, or some other similarly sterile option, for lack of considering other places a little more off the beaten path. Following one's former schoolmates is the very antithesis of getting away from the world.
My former boss from before I moved out west was asking me where I was thinking of going. I was considering places in western Canada and maybe Colorado. He said that he thought Colorado was a good idea (which to me sounded like a cliche but he somehow thought he was telling me something profound). Then he mentioned that he knew some people in Breckenridge and asked me if I had heard of it (who hasn't?). He also asked if I had ever been to any of these places, and I had not (I see an attempt to discredit me).
I may not have visited these places before but I knew a fair amount based upon word-of-mouth, the internet, ski maps, road maps, and a bit of common sense. Canada was not going to work out as far as finding work there as an American. In Colorado, I had pretty quickly narrowed it down to more remote places in close proximity to higher mountains - Aspen, Crested Butte, and Telluride. It all came down to how the housing situation would look. Some people in Telluride had a place for me so Telluride it was going to be. It was my first choice anyway.
Well, the aforementioned ex-boss did not seem pleased about that when I was about to depart. He acted like we had an agreement that he would fix me up with a job in Breckenridge. There was no such agreement. Then he reiterated the question about whether I had been to these places before. Apparently, he interpreted my earlier lack of a final decision to a deficiency of knowledge rather than an abundance of knowledge. Then he asked me if I had a job set up out there. Of course I didn't. All I had was a verbal agreement about reasonably-priced housing. If that didn't work out upon my arrival, I would look at some of the other apartment complexes. At that point he got this condescending look of disgust on his face. Even though he supported my idea of going out west, he wanted me to choose a place just by default rather than thinking for myself. He wanted me to have a safe and prudent pre-arrangement rather than going on a leap of faith. As you can see, there are many good reasons why I was the one going out to live the ski bum life and he wasn't.
Now if that's the reception I got from people who supported the general idea of being a ski bum, imagine how people who didn't support the idea must have responded. One dominant theme was that it was not going to further my professional career. It was going to be either restaurant, retail, hotel, or other form of customer service, and they were absolutely right about that. So they clearly missed the point of my going there.
Even people who do go out to live a ski bum life sometimes do it half-heartedly. Obviously you get the big group of friends who all go to the same ski area together to live and hang out there. Lame. One of them works at the local hospital there and then after a few years, works a similar job at a hospital at their hometown. Rather than going out on a limb, this person plays it safe all along. Another one first lives with that group of friends and then just works weekends there once they get a real job in the Denver area. Sure, this person may be living more of a mountain life than I these days but they never lived a true ski bum life. They played it safe all along. Somehow my other former schoolmates seem not to understand this and insist on referring to this person as a ski bum.
And then there is the person who does go out on their own but not until they have already worked a career-oriented job in Boston for a few years. This person then spends a ski season as a lift maintenance worker at a ski area in the Sierra Nevada and then immediately gets a job in the Bay Area at the same company they worked for in Boston, eventually making their way back to Boston. They basically had that job all along and did nothing more than take a brief sabbatical. Sure their resume might look more professional and appropriate than mine but they never took a leap of faith. They insisted on having assurances and getting a sign that things would work out. Rather than going out on a limb and living their dreams, they played it safe.
The world is full of people who play it safe. They conform to the expectations of the establishment. As a result, they never live their dreams. And then they try to discourage you from living yours. Don't let them do that. Your life is yours to live. You don't need a sign, you just need to believe.
John 4: 43-54
The world is full of people who look for a sign and never take a leap of faith. People always want assurances that things will work out rather than go out on a limb. When I decided to go out west to be a ski bum for however long I felt was appropriate, I was met with a great deal of resistance. Even the people who supported the idea just did not seem to get it.
One older fellow told me about a friend he knew who had property in Beaver Creek, Colorado. He asked me if I was going there. I was still considering many options, and not just in Colorado either, so I did not have a definitive answer. Then he got all demanding and said "Well, you're either going there or you're not." I said that I haven't decided because there were A LOT of ski areas I was considering. I was not going to do the default thing and just follow a bunch of my former schoolmates down the Vail bandwagon, or some other similarly sterile option, for lack of considering other places a little more off the beaten path. Following one's former schoolmates is the very antithesis of getting away from the world.
My former boss from before I moved out west was asking me where I was thinking of going. I was considering places in western Canada and maybe Colorado. He said that he thought Colorado was a good idea (which to me sounded like a cliche but he somehow thought he was telling me something profound). Then he mentioned that he knew some people in Breckenridge and asked me if I had heard of it (who hasn't?). He also asked if I had ever been to any of these places, and I had not (I see an attempt to discredit me).
I may not have visited these places before but I knew a fair amount based upon word-of-mouth, the internet, ski maps, road maps, and a bit of common sense. Canada was not going to work out as far as finding work there as an American. In Colorado, I had pretty quickly narrowed it down to more remote places in close proximity to higher mountains - Aspen, Crested Butte, and Telluride. It all came down to how the housing situation would look. Some people in Telluride had a place for me so Telluride it was going to be. It was my first choice anyway.
Well, the aforementioned ex-boss did not seem pleased about that when I was about to depart. He acted like we had an agreement that he would fix me up with a job in Breckenridge. There was no such agreement. Then he reiterated the question about whether I had been to these places before. Apparently, he interpreted my earlier lack of a final decision to a deficiency of knowledge rather than an abundance of knowledge. Then he asked me if I had a job set up out there. Of course I didn't. All I had was a verbal agreement about reasonably-priced housing. If that didn't work out upon my arrival, I would look at some of the other apartment complexes. At that point he got this condescending look of disgust on his face. Even though he supported my idea of going out west, he wanted me to choose a place just by default rather than thinking for myself. He wanted me to have a safe and prudent pre-arrangement rather than going on a leap of faith. As you can see, there are many good reasons why I was the one going out to live the ski bum life and he wasn't.
Now if that's the reception I got from people who supported the general idea of being a ski bum, imagine how people who didn't support the idea must have responded. One dominant theme was that it was not going to further my professional career. It was going to be either restaurant, retail, hotel, or other form of customer service, and they were absolutely right about that. So they clearly missed the point of my going there.
Even people who do go out to live a ski bum life sometimes do it half-heartedly. Obviously you get the big group of friends who all go to the same ski area together to live and hang out there. Lame. One of them works at the local hospital there and then after a few years, works a similar job at a hospital at their hometown. Rather than going out on a limb, this person plays it safe all along. Another one first lives with that group of friends and then just works weekends there once they get a real job in the Denver area. Sure, this person may be living more of a mountain life than I these days but they never lived a true ski bum life. They played it safe all along. Somehow my other former schoolmates seem not to understand this and insist on referring to this person as a ski bum.
And then there is the person who does go out on their own but not until they have already worked a career-oriented job in Boston for a few years. This person then spends a ski season as a lift maintenance worker at a ski area in the Sierra Nevada and then immediately gets a job in the Bay Area at the same company they worked for in Boston, eventually making their way back to Boston. They basically had that job all along and did nothing more than take a brief sabbatical. Sure their resume might look more professional and appropriate than mine but they never took a leap of faith. They insisted on having assurances and getting a sign that things would work out. Rather than going out on a limb and living their dreams, they played it safe.
The world is full of people who play it safe. They conform to the expectations of the establishment. As a result, they never live their dreams. And then they try to discourage you from living yours. Don't let them do that. Your life is yours to live. You don't need a sign, you just need to believe.
John 4: 43-54
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Saint Patrick
Because the 17th day of March falls on a Saturday this year, this whole weekend is being treated like a multi-day Saint Patrick's Day celebration. Lots of people dress in green to either signify their own Irish heritage or just to represent Ireland. Well what does Saint Patrick have to do with Ireland? He's Irish, right? WRONG!
As it turns out, Saint Patrick was a Roman citizen who was captured and enslaved by the Irish. His entire childhood was taken away from him by these savages living on the fringe of the mighty, and presumably civilized, Roman Empire. He did eventually escape but later on decided to return. When word got around that he was returning, the Irish were understandably terrified. They had every reason to expect that a Roman citizen enslaved and mistreated by them for many years would only return for two reasons:
1) Revenge against his tormentors
2) Conquest of an outlying, but also very familiar, territory to add to the Empire
But their fears were unfounded. Saint Patrick took the high road and did not come to make a personal statement by imposing himself upon a hopelessly overmatched defense force. Instead of seeking revenge or conquest, he came humbly and in peace to witness to the Irish. He came to spread the good news and bring the Light of Christ to them, even going as far as to use a shamrock to attempt to explain the Holy Trinity to these pagans of the Emerald Isle. Had he come on a military campaign, he may have won all kinds of accolades in his day but we would not remember him now because he would have been just like countless other Roman soldiers who overran outlying territories when given half the chance. But because he came in humility to spread the Gospel, he not only became a saint but also a larger-than-life legend who has transcended both the faithful and secular worlds.
Luke 18: 9-14
As it turns out, Saint Patrick was a Roman citizen who was captured and enslaved by the Irish. His entire childhood was taken away from him by these savages living on the fringe of the mighty, and presumably civilized, Roman Empire. He did eventually escape but later on decided to return. When word got around that he was returning, the Irish were understandably terrified. They had every reason to expect that a Roman citizen enslaved and mistreated by them for many years would only return for two reasons:
1) Revenge against his tormentors
2) Conquest of an outlying, but also very familiar, territory to add to the Empire
But their fears were unfounded. Saint Patrick took the high road and did not come to make a personal statement by imposing himself upon a hopelessly overmatched defense force. Instead of seeking revenge or conquest, he came humbly and in peace to witness to the Irish. He came to spread the good news and bring the Light of Christ to them, even going as far as to use a shamrock to attempt to explain the Holy Trinity to these pagans of the Emerald Isle. Had he come on a military campaign, he may have won all kinds of accolades in his day but we would not remember him now because he would have been just like countless other Roman soldiers who overran outlying territories when given half the chance. But because he came in humility to spread the Gospel, he not only became a saint but also a larger-than-life legend who has transcended both the faithful and secular worlds.
Luke 18: 9-14
Friday, March 16, 2012
All you need is Love
God is Love. Love is not just something God does, it is what He IS. Without one there is no other. So not only are we expected to love God, we are also expected to love other people. If we choose not to love other people, we are basically being ungodly because God is Love. In other words, we live for everyone around us and not just for ourselves. Life is not something to go through with blinders on.
If someone is trying to talk to you about something that weighs heavily on their mind, try to put yourself in their place and show some compassion rather than just objectively taking an outside-looking-in perspective. We are people in need of healing, not problems to be solved. All too often, friends and family fail miserably in this regard because they just want to take care of business. Or, what they hear sounds unfamiliar to them so they shoot it down to prevent their own selfish know-it-all ego from suffering. So they let a loved one suffer instead. Preventing your own petty "suffering" at someone else's expense is not Love. That is why it is so important to learn how to really love before getting deep into a close friendship or starting a family. Otherwise, you're just dead weight, doing more harm than good.
Oh, and if you're just a passing acquaintance trying to give unsolicited life advice to someone by first asking nosy, rude, and invasive personal questions - DON'T! Trying to push your own agenda by alienating and antagonizing the other person is not loving your neighbor by any stretch of the imagination. Jesus said to love your neighbor, not put down, diminish, degrade, trivialize, discourage your neighbor or strip him or her of his or her dignity. Disrespect is not love. If you're close to someone and you get it wrong, try again. But if you're just a passing acquaintance with an agenda and an oversized ego, don't even bother trying. You'll get it wrong every time because you are incapable of loving someone that you never bothered actually getting to know first. Asking nosy, rude, and invasive personal questions does not constitute getting to know someone. That's all I have for today.
Mark 12: 28-34
If someone is trying to talk to you about something that weighs heavily on their mind, try to put yourself in their place and show some compassion rather than just objectively taking an outside-looking-in perspective. We are people in need of healing, not problems to be solved. All too often, friends and family fail miserably in this regard because they just want to take care of business. Or, what they hear sounds unfamiliar to them so they shoot it down to prevent their own selfish know-it-all ego from suffering. So they let a loved one suffer instead. Preventing your own petty "suffering" at someone else's expense is not Love. That is why it is so important to learn how to really love before getting deep into a close friendship or starting a family. Otherwise, you're just dead weight, doing more harm than good.
Oh, and if you're just a passing acquaintance trying to give unsolicited life advice to someone by first asking nosy, rude, and invasive personal questions - DON'T! Trying to push your own agenda by alienating and antagonizing the other person is not loving your neighbor by any stretch of the imagination. Jesus said to love your neighbor, not put down, diminish, degrade, trivialize, discourage your neighbor or strip him or her of his or her dignity. Disrespect is not love. If you're close to someone and you get it wrong, try again. But if you're just a passing acquaintance with an agenda and an oversized ego, don't even bother trying. You'll get it wrong every time because you are incapable of loving someone that you never bothered actually getting to know first. Asking nosy, rude, and invasive personal questions does not constitute getting to know someone. That's all I have for today.
Mark 12: 28-34
Thursday, March 15, 2012
United
Back in my days as an active fraternity brother, recruitment was not just an activity, it was a way of life. No matter what we did or said in public, we were always mindful of how that would reflect upon our fraternity. However, there were certain times of the year when there existed a higher concentration of recruitment-oriented events than usual. Even though we were encouraged to bring our non-Greek friends to hang out with the other brothers all year round, these recruitment events were those that served as specific target events to aim for when trying to get other guys to come together and meet the other active brothers. For the active brothers who did not bring many non-Greeks to meet the other active brothers year-round, each of these events was their chance to shine.
Most importantly, these were events where, if a non-Greek showed up, there would be a guarantee that he would get to meet many other active brothers, not just a few. At least that's how it always was in theory. It was usually like that in practice as well but not every time. Sometimes there would be active brothers who did not show up to required events, which was wrong.
Basically this was our take on recruitment events: We want to show our support to those who may wish to join and we also want to help our fellow active brothers recruit by allowing their non-Greek friends to meet as many of us at once as is feasible. They would also get to see how we interact with one another and how they feel they would fit in amongst us and our unique social dynamic.
Although it is wrong for active brothers to not show up, those of us who are there have responsibilities as well. As disappointed as we may be with certain other active brothers, we should try to avoid letting that show on our faces. We should also never speak badly of those absent active brothers or of the reasons they provided for not showing. Not only are we to be mindful of what we say, but also how we say it.
A fraternity chapter divided will fall while a chapter united will stand. This temporary storm in the life of the chapter will pass by fairly quickly but if it's what the potential new members see, that is the impression they will have of us. Given that we are alive and kicking indicates that, for the most part, we are united. In other words, a chapter divided is just not who we really are and would thus be an unfair representation of ourselves. Therefore, we ought to show the potential new members a chapter united.
Luke 11: 14-23
Most importantly, these were events where, if a non-Greek showed up, there would be a guarantee that he would get to meet many other active brothers, not just a few. At least that's how it always was in theory. It was usually like that in practice as well but not every time. Sometimes there would be active brothers who did not show up to required events, which was wrong.
Basically this was our take on recruitment events: We want to show our support to those who may wish to join and we also want to help our fellow active brothers recruit by allowing their non-Greek friends to meet as many of us at once as is feasible. They would also get to see how we interact with one another and how they feel they would fit in amongst us and our unique social dynamic.
Although it is wrong for active brothers to not show up, those of us who are there have responsibilities as well. As disappointed as we may be with certain other active brothers, we should try to avoid letting that show on our faces. We should also never speak badly of those absent active brothers or of the reasons they provided for not showing. Not only are we to be mindful of what we say, but also how we say it.
A fraternity chapter divided will fall while a chapter united will stand. This temporary storm in the life of the chapter will pass by fairly quickly but if it's what the potential new members see, that is the impression they will have of us. Given that we are alive and kicking indicates that, for the most part, we are united. In other words, a chapter divided is just not who we really are and would thus be an unfair representation of ourselves. Therefore, we ought to show the potential new members a chapter united.
Luke 11: 14-23
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
The Prophet Said...just kidding, no he didn't
When it comes to raising children in the faith, there is often an interesting dilemma. There is, of course, homeschooling but many families are not comfortable with that idea. So they could send their children to a public school or to a catholic school.
A public school stays away from any discussion of religion so as to avoid causing anyone in their diverse student population to feel unwelcome by the institution. But this also means that learning is not faith based and the moral fabric there is suspect. A catholic school has a very clear religious allegiance so there is no need to walk on eggshells to please a diverse student body. They all know that the school is catholic. However, a student in class with a teacher or elsewhere on campus with his or her peers may have his or her guard down when it comes to academic or social teaching.
In a catholic school, this means that if the teaching is not quite right, a student could be misled. On the other hand, in a public school, a student has no expectation that what he or she is taught will be consistent with the way of the faith. His or her guard will be up and everything he or she receives will be with a grain of salt.
However, public school is a decidedly more hostile environment to living the faith but one could also argue that the student is in a greater disposition to resist such hostility while in that environment. Of course, withstanding such an environment would require an almost superhuman strength in the faith. Most children will not understand being in this world while not being of this world.
Catholic school would at least offer some relief from such strong hostility found in public school, but then there is the whole bit about being aware of the wolf in sheep's clothing. The devil is more likely to infest a catholic school with apostates (false teachers) than a public school for the simple reason that it's just more productive for him. It would be like poisoning a pristine high mountain stream (where we might not filter and/or treat the water before drinking it) versus poisoning a stagnant body of water near civilisation (where we would only drink, or even touch, the water if it's treated and/or filtered). Obviously the question about public school versus catholic school is not one that's easily answered.
Matthew 5: 17-19
A public school stays away from any discussion of religion so as to avoid causing anyone in their diverse student population to feel unwelcome by the institution. But this also means that learning is not faith based and the moral fabric there is suspect. A catholic school has a very clear religious allegiance so there is no need to walk on eggshells to please a diverse student body. They all know that the school is catholic. However, a student in class with a teacher or elsewhere on campus with his or her peers may have his or her guard down when it comes to academic or social teaching.
In a catholic school, this means that if the teaching is not quite right, a student could be misled. On the other hand, in a public school, a student has no expectation that what he or she is taught will be consistent with the way of the faith. His or her guard will be up and everything he or she receives will be with a grain of salt.
However, public school is a decidedly more hostile environment to living the faith but one could also argue that the student is in a greater disposition to resist such hostility while in that environment. Of course, withstanding such an environment would require an almost superhuman strength in the faith. Most children will not understand being in this world while not being of this world.
Catholic school would at least offer some relief from such strong hostility found in public school, but then there is the whole bit about being aware of the wolf in sheep's clothing. The devil is more likely to infest a catholic school with apostates (false teachers) than a public school for the simple reason that it's just more productive for him. It would be like poisoning a pristine high mountain stream (where we might not filter and/or treat the water before drinking it) versus poisoning a stagnant body of water near civilisation (where we would only drink, or even touch, the water if it's treated and/or filtered). Obviously the question about public school versus catholic school is not one that's easily answered.
Matthew 5: 17-19
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
The Unforgiven
Back in my days of living in Telluride, Colorado, I worked at a private residence club. It functioned somewhat as a timeshare but provided hotel services. During ski season I wanted to work as a ski instructor just so that I could say that I lived at a ski area and worked as a ski instructor.
Well, the shift changes at the club were 7am, 3pm, and 11pm. Ski school ended after 3pm which meant that the only shift it did not conflict with was the 11pm to 7am graveyard shift. Telluride was a fairly new location for this club so at the time the graveyard shift was occupied by only a sole manager on duty - the night auditor. We did not institute an overnight bellman until later in the season after a few managerial overhauls worthy of a soap opera.
In order to fully staff the position of night auditor, the club needed a full-time 5-night person and a part-time 2-night person - 2 people total. It just so happened that one of our night auditors got fed up with management over some stupid technicality and just like that I got the part-time gig. I was still going to continue at the front desk or with transportation (as a bellman) during the other three days, all 3pm-11pm shifts. Since the full-time night auditor got to choose which 5 nights to work, I got the leftovers, which did not necessarily work around my 2-day ski school schedule. No problem. If the managers couldn't give me the ski school days off, they would just have me work as the night auditor either 8 hours after (double-back) or just before (double shift) ski school.
My work week was pretty unevenly distributed until I got my next big break which was still fairly early in the ski season. The full-time night auditor, a rather grumpy individual, quit because the club failed to meet this person's unreasonable demands. This, of course, made me the new full-timer which meant that I got to set my own schedule. The only condition was that it was strongly preferred that the full-timer be the one to have custody over the more difficult Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night overnights (spilling over into Saturday, Sunday and Monday mornings). A lot of daytime transactions occur during that part of the week so they wanted someone firmly in the loop to be processing them. Given that ski school was Tuesday-Wednesday, this was not a problem at all. I was basically choosing between working Monday night (creating a double shift and a 32-hour 'weekend') and working Wednesday night (creating a double-back and a 24-hour 'weekend') so I chose a Wednesday-Sunday work week.
It turned out to be a good thing that I did not have a permanent double shift on my work schedule. One of the front desk clerks seemed to call in sick fairly often, leaving me to staff the front desk until 11am when the mid-day swing shift person came in. That effectively took out a day of skiing for me - not good when my reason for living there was to ski. Sometimes this same person worked the evening shift before I got in but there were times that this person left 2 hours before the end of the shift but had someone else punch out his time card for him at 11pm. In both scenarios, he was "sick."
I was a bit cynical about this because we live and work about 2900 meters (9500 feet) above sea level. A lot of ski bums our age are known to drink a lot of alcohol but when someone new comes to Telluride, like at the beginning of ski season, they drink like they think they're still in the flatland. Drinking at high elevation messes you up real fast! Now try to imagine how this often plays out with these hard-partying newcomers. If years of multiple hangovers down in the flatland do not teach them a lesson, what makes you think a few rough nights up here will? Especially when it's still early in the season.
So at one point I wrote in our Front Desk Log Book, not mentioning any names, that people should punch out their own time cards. The next evening, after a confrontation where the aforementioned co-worker got on my case and I blew him off, I read what he wrote. His response made reference to me being a few minutes late (he always came 10 minutes early, except when he just didn't come in at all) and also said that sleeping at work is not appropriate. How did he know that I slept through portions of my shift? He used to work as a night auditor at a hotel just down the road. He was plenty familiar with the culture!
My response that night contrasted my being 8 minutes late with his forcing me to work 4 extra hours and I alluded to the possibility of me not showing up at all. But by the time I finished writing I was in a better mood. Crossing out items on the Log Book to as to make them unreadable would be tacky, as would using liquid paper or white-out. What could I do? Well, I added to my entry and made it look like I would possibly have to call in sick because "I've got the boogie fever." It's the best thing I could have done besides waiting until I was naturally in a better mood (typically later in the shift) before writing in the Log Book. In fact, that rule of thumb is true whether or not you are in direct conflict with someone - wait until you're well past the halfway mark of your graveyard shift.
This problem was easily remedied during the next 11pm shift change. My intent was to apologize specifically for my "boogie fever" Log Book entry because, as I thought about it through the course of the day, I wondered if the other guy would think I was mocking him. I was no longer feeling hostile toward him at this point so I actually felt kind of bad about it. Well, we made up and it was all good. As it turned out, I never again showed up late for my shift nor did I sleep during it. He never again forced me to work extra time in the morning nor did he duck out early in the evening. It was not an agreement we made, we just stopped doing these things on our own.
Later in the season, he came through in a big way - twice. The first time was in late March when my family decided to visit me. It was the first time in 11 months that I saw most of them and the first time in 15 months that I saw my brother. This co-worker agreed to change his schedule for that week so that I could have the week off. The second time was a Friday night in early April so that I could drive to Denver, 7 hours each way, to see a U2 concert. This is the most difficult position to fill at this club's location and it is thus very difficult even to find someone to cover just one night, let alone an entire week or more.
I simply could not thank him enough. I also felt a bit of regret over having complained about him making me work extra in the morning and leaving early in the evening. I began to realize that he probably really was sick and not just massively hung over. But what could I do? Apologize again after having already apologized? He did some HUGE favors for me late in the ski season, asking for nothing in return. I should have been more forgiving early on. I certainly would have been had I been able to see into the future. The rewards come in God's time, not in Man's time. For me it was a lesson learned.
Matthew 18: 21-35
Well, the shift changes at the club were 7am, 3pm, and 11pm. Ski school ended after 3pm which meant that the only shift it did not conflict with was the 11pm to 7am graveyard shift. Telluride was a fairly new location for this club so at the time the graveyard shift was occupied by only a sole manager on duty - the night auditor. We did not institute an overnight bellman until later in the season after a few managerial overhauls worthy of a soap opera.
In order to fully staff the position of night auditor, the club needed a full-time 5-night person and a part-time 2-night person - 2 people total. It just so happened that one of our night auditors got fed up with management over some stupid technicality and just like that I got the part-time gig. I was still going to continue at the front desk or with transportation (as a bellman) during the other three days, all 3pm-11pm shifts. Since the full-time night auditor got to choose which 5 nights to work, I got the leftovers, which did not necessarily work around my 2-day ski school schedule. No problem. If the managers couldn't give me the ski school days off, they would just have me work as the night auditor either 8 hours after (double-back) or just before (double shift) ski school.
My work week was pretty unevenly distributed until I got my next big break which was still fairly early in the ski season. The full-time night auditor, a rather grumpy individual, quit because the club failed to meet this person's unreasonable demands. This, of course, made me the new full-timer which meant that I got to set my own schedule. The only condition was that it was strongly preferred that the full-timer be the one to have custody over the more difficult Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night overnights (spilling over into Saturday, Sunday and Monday mornings). A lot of daytime transactions occur during that part of the week so they wanted someone firmly in the loop to be processing them. Given that ski school was Tuesday-Wednesday, this was not a problem at all. I was basically choosing between working Monday night (creating a double shift and a 32-hour 'weekend') and working Wednesday night (creating a double-back and a 24-hour 'weekend') so I chose a Wednesday-Sunday work week.
It turned out to be a good thing that I did not have a permanent double shift on my work schedule. One of the front desk clerks seemed to call in sick fairly often, leaving me to staff the front desk until 11am when the mid-day swing shift person came in. That effectively took out a day of skiing for me - not good when my reason for living there was to ski. Sometimes this same person worked the evening shift before I got in but there were times that this person left 2 hours before the end of the shift but had someone else punch out his time card for him at 11pm. In both scenarios, he was "sick."
I was a bit cynical about this because we live and work about 2900 meters (9500 feet) above sea level. A lot of ski bums our age are known to drink a lot of alcohol but when someone new comes to Telluride, like at the beginning of ski season, they drink like they think they're still in the flatland. Drinking at high elevation messes you up real fast! Now try to imagine how this often plays out with these hard-partying newcomers. If years of multiple hangovers down in the flatland do not teach them a lesson, what makes you think a few rough nights up here will? Especially when it's still early in the season.
So at one point I wrote in our Front Desk Log Book, not mentioning any names, that people should punch out their own time cards. The next evening, after a confrontation where the aforementioned co-worker got on my case and I blew him off, I read what he wrote. His response made reference to me being a few minutes late (he always came 10 minutes early, except when he just didn't come in at all) and also said that sleeping at work is not appropriate. How did he know that I slept through portions of my shift? He used to work as a night auditor at a hotel just down the road. He was plenty familiar with the culture!
My response that night contrasted my being 8 minutes late with his forcing me to work 4 extra hours and I alluded to the possibility of me not showing up at all. But by the time I finished writing I was in a better mood. Crossing out items on the Log Book to as to make them unreadable would be tacky, as would using liquid paper or white-out. What could I do? Well, I added to my entry and made it look like I would possibly have to call in sick because "I've got the boogie fever." It's the best thing I could have done besides waiting until I was naturally in a better mood (typically later in the shift) before writing in the Log Book. In fact, that rule of thumb is true whether or not you are in direct conflict with someone - wait until you're well past the halfway mark of your graveyard shift.
This problem was easily remedied during the next 11pm shift change. My intent was to apologize specifically for my "boogie fever" Log Book entry because, as I thought about it through the course of the day, I wondered if the other guy would think I was mocking him. I was no longer feeling hostile toward him at this point so I actually felt kind of bad about it. Well, we made up and it was all good. As it turned out, I never again showed up late for my shift nor did I sleep during it. He never again forced me to work extra time in the morning nor did he duck out early in the evening. It was not an agreement we made, we just stopped doing these things on our own.
Later in the season, he came through in a big way - twice. The first time was in late March when my family decided to visit me. It was the first time in 11 months that I saw most of them and the first time in 15 months that I saw my brother. This co-worker agreed to change his schedule for that week so that I could have the week off. The second time was a Friday night in early April so that I could drive to Denver, 7 hours each way, to see a U2 concert. This is the most difficult position to fill at this club's location and it is thus very difficult even to find someone to cover just one night, let alone an entire week or more.
I simply could not thank him enough. I also felt a bit of regret over having complained about him making me work extra in the morning and leaving early in the evening. I began to realize that he probably really was sick and not just massively hung over. But what could I do? Apologize again after having already apologized? He did some HUGE favors for me late in the ski season, asking for nothing in return. I should have been more forgiving early on. I certainly would have been had I been able to see into the future. The rewards come in God's time, not in Man's time. For me it was a lesson learned.
Matthew 18: 21-35
Smells Like Teen Spirit
If you were to ask me how I feel about my teenage years, I would not be sure how to answer that question. Just before grade 6 my family moved a mile down the road from our standard subdivision home in a cozy suburban neighborhood to a beautiful and unique house on a two lane road in a more secluded area. It was certainly an upgrade in terms of real estate value but quality of life suffered a bit.
Because of the strange school district boundaries in my hometown, I found myself spending the rest of my school days in a completely different community - one that my family never interacted with prior to the move and only on rare occasion afterward. They had no reason to, they were only a mile further away from the people that mattered than they were before and we were still in the same town. Too bad childhood relationships are a bit more fragile than adult relationships.
What's more? My old community was very welcoming and inclusive - if you lived in the neighborhood, you were part of the community. The new community I went to school in had families that had been there since the 1600s and the families had grown very close to one another generation after generation. Sure there were some "newer" families there too, like the ones who had "only" been around since the 1700s or 1800s. It was an inbreeders paradise! Basically I was surrounded by economically well-to-do suburban rednecks.
This new community never felt like home. I felt like an outsider looking in. I was a spectator rather than a participant. I felt like I was missing out on what was supposed to be the best years of my life. Instead, this time period became just an inconvenient stopover between elementary school and university. Given that these were my formative years, this was pretty damaging. So am I bitter about my teenage years? That's hard to say...
Also during my teenage years was the bulk of my summer camp career. People from camp came from all over the world, although most were from New England, New York, and New Jersey. We were all in the same situation - people converging upon one place and meeting the others there. Although there were many people we would see again and again, there were always new faces entering the fold. As a result, it was rare for someone to be a fish out of the water. We were accepted for who we were at that very moment rather than judged for what we did or did not do years ago. It was easy to wipe the slate clean. I had many fond memories from my summer camp years. Even the things about it that seemed like mundane drudgery at the time have since become memorable. Although it was not my home by any stretch of the imagination, it felt like home to me.
But when the teenage years ended, so did summer camp. Unlike the undergraduate years at university, it is impossible to relive the summer camp experience once summer camp is over for good. Reliving the undergraduate years is as easy as hanging out at a bar with old friends. In contrast, going to a summer camp reunion is a chance to see the camp in action but only as a spectator rather than a participant. In other words, you're not really reliving it. Would I live those years again if given the chance? Absolutely! So am I nostalgic about my teenage years? That's hard to say...
Luke 4: 24-30
Because of the strange school district boundaries in my hometown, I found myself spending the rest of my school days in a completely different community - one that my family never interacted with prior to the move and only on rare occasion afterward. They had no reason to, they were only a mile further away from the people that mattered than they were before and we were still in the same town. Too bad childhood relationships are a bit more fragile than adult relationships.
What's more? My old community was very welcoming and inclusive - if you lived in the neighborhood, you were part of the community. The new community I went to school in had families that had been there since the 1600s and the families had grown very close to one another generation after generation. Sure there were some "newer" families there too, like the ones who had "only" been around since the 1700s or 1800s. It was an inbreeders paradise! Basically I was surrounded by economically well-to-do suburban rednecks.
This new community never felt like home. I felt like an outsider looking in. I was a spectator rather than a participant. I felt like I was missing out on what was supposed to be the best years of my life. Instead, this time period became just an inconvenient stopover between elementary school and university. Given that these were my formative years, this was pretty damaging. So am I bitter about my teenage years? That's hard to say...
Also during my teenage years was the bulk of my summer camp career. People from camp came from all over the world, although most were from New England, New York, and New Jersey. We were all in the same situation - people converging upon one place and meeting the others there. Although there were many people we would see again and again, there were always new faces entering the fold. As a result, it was rare for someone to be a fish out of the water. We were accepted for who we were at that very moment rather than judged for what we did or did not do years ago. It was easy to wipe the slate clean. I had many fond memories from my summer camp years. Even the things about it that seemed like mundane drudgery at the time have since become memorable. Although it was not my home by any stretch of the imagination, it felt like home to me.
But when the teenage years ended, so did summer camp. Unlike the undergraduate years at university, it is impossible to relive the summer camp experience once summer camp is over for good. Reliving the undergraduate years is as easy as hanging out at a bar with old friends. In contrast, going to a summer camp reunion is a chance to see the camp in action but only as a spectator rather than a participant. In other words, you're not really reliving it. Would I live those years again if given the chance? Absolutely! So am I nostalgic about my teenage years? That's hard to say...
Luke 4: 24-30
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Cursillo
As I was meeting some friends of mine earlier today I learned that a few of them will be going to Cursillo in a few months. Cursillo is a retreat that is really so much more than just a retreat. It is a very intense 3-day journey that does not really end. I lived my Cursillo about 2 years ago and the "4th day" so far has generally been better than the zero-eth day (or whatever you would call the day before the first day). This would be especially true in regard to the most recent time leading up to my Cursillo.
I first heard about Cursillo back in the autumn of 2008 when someone at my parish spoke about his experience. I talked to him about it and the October Cursillo was coming up very soon. I wanted to go to that one but for some reason I was not going to be available. It might have been work-related.
So the focus was then on December. Well, there was a tentative project at work that was going to go all week and I wanted to be available for that - to keep me productive. Well, the project did not happen but by the time I knew that, it was just before Thanksgiving. I e-mailed the guy who spoke about Cursillo but he did not receive the message until after Thanksgiving, now less than a week away from Cursillo. He got me a form to fill out right away on Monday but this form was rather complex and involved - much more so than for a standard weekend retreat. It also required me to get contact information from him and one other person (another step, and via e-mail the back-and-forth took another day). The reason we needed another person's contact information is because this guy had not yet gone a full year since his Cursillo so he could not solo sponsor anyone yet. So I got the information I needed on Tuesday night and sent the form out on Wednesday. Cursillo starts on Thursday evening and they were full anyway so it did not work out for December 2008.
In February 2009 I went on a Vocation Discernment Retreat so Cursillo did not work out then. In April 2009 my backcountry ski tour in the Alps that year overlapped with that weekend so I was going to have to wait for the next season to start. So that brought us to October 2009.
In October 2009 there was a concert involving Skillet, Hawk Nelson, Decyfer Down, and The Letter Black. Christian rock is something I had just gotten into earlier that year and this was a monster line-up that almost rivaled what I saw at Rock the Sound in New York back in August 2009 (Red, Pillar, Decyfer Down, Remedy Drive, Double Edge). So I went to the concert.
In December 2009, a friend of mine was celebrating her birthday and her Toronto Maple Leafs were visiting the Boston Bruins on a Saturday night (Hockey Night in Canada!). Getting to see your team on the road is really cool too and the fact that this was also her birthday made it extra epic for her. So I joined in the big birthday celebration.
I was considering the possibility of going on a Vocation Discernment Retreat again in February 2010 so I did not bother signing up for that month's Cursillo. I felt that, unlike during the previous year, I was ready this time for a Vocation Retreat. I had some spiritual direction, I felt like I was part of a parish community (Saint Monica in Methuen, MA), I was feeling much more confident and secure, and I had recently gone on another retreat (BU Fall Retreat 2009) that made me feel good and pumped as opposed to earlier retreats that left me feeling angry and misunderstood. But I did not go on the Vocation Retreat in February 2010 because at the time I was dealing with another issue.
I was in the middle of a rather difficult time in my life when I was neither going to Confession nor receiving Communion. I will not go into the specifics about why I had gone for an extended time like this while still attending Mass but I will say it was the first such drought since receiving my Sacraments of Initiation nearly 10 years prior. Still, I signed up for the April 2010 Cursillo not really knowing how it would work out.
After arriving on Thursday evening and going through a full day of intense activity on Friday, there was an opportunity for Confession. Since the beginning of Advent more than 4 months prior, I had plenty of such opportunities but did not bother. But this one involved priests who were visiting even though they were not part of the weekend's Cursillo program. One of those priests was Father Richard O'Brien, a regular visitor to the Saint Monica Rectory where I often had dinner with the parish priests and their friends. I was still not sure. I really wanted to go to Confession in the worst way but felt that I would be living a lie.
I lined up for the door to the room where Father Richard was hearing Confession but always allowed people to jump in front of me. But then at one point there was no line and it was still early in the evening. I still wasn't sure. Then someone else showed up and I let them go ahead. So I went to my bunk room to think about it some more. Incidentally, the room Father Richard was in was labelled with a large paper sign that said "Father Richard" and it was right across the hall from my room. It was impossible to ignore! So I went back out to the hallway again and when the other person exited the room I decided to give it a shot.
I felt an enormous burden lifted off me and I felt that I could trust that God would make things work out, no matter what kind of mess I was in. I would keep going to Mass and keep receiving Communion and just put all my trust in His Divine Mercy - somehow things would all get sorted. I suppose it was fitting that this took place on Divine Mercy Weekend. Cursillo was a lot of things for me, as it was for everyone else there. But because of the timing of it combined with my own circumstances, it seems that it could be best described for me, personally, as a time of healing.
Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32
I first heard about Cursillo back in the autumn of 2008 when someone at my parish spoke about his experience. I talked to him about it and the October Cursillo was coming up very soon. I wanted to go to that one but for some reason I was not going to be available. It might have been work-related.
So the focus was then on December. Well, there was a tentative project at work that was going to go all week and I wanted to be available for that - to keep me productive. Well, the project did not happen but by the time I knew that, it was just before Thanksgiving. I e-mailed the guy who spoke about Cursillo but he did not receive the message until after Thanksgiving, now less than a week away from Cursillo. He got me a form to fill out right away on Monday but this form was rather complex and involved - much more so than for a standard weekend retreat. It also required me to get contact information from him and one other person (another step, and via e-mail the back-and-forth took another day). The reason we needed another person's contact information is because this guy had not yet gone a full year since his Cursillo so he could not solo sponsor anyone yet. So I got the information I needed on Tuesday night and sent the form out on Wednesday. Cursillo starts on Thursday evening and they were full anyway so it did not work out for December 2008.
In February 2009 I went on a Vocation Discernment Retreat so Cursillo did not work out then. In April 2009 my backcountry ski tour in the Alps that year overlapped with that weekend so I was going to have to wait for the next season to start. So that brought us to October 2009.
In October 2009 there was a concert involving Skillet, Hawk Nelson, Decyfer Down, and The Letter Black. Christian rock is something I had just gotten into earlier that year and this was a monster line-up that almost rivaled what I saw at Rock the Sound in New York back in August 2009 (Red, Pillar, Decyfer Down, Remedy Drive, Double Edge). So I went to the concert.
In December 2009, a friend of mine was celebrating her birthday and her Toronto Maple Leafs were visiting the Boston Bruins on a Saturday night (Hockey Night in Canada!). Getting to see your team on the road is really cool too and the fact that this was also her birthday made it extra epic for her. So I joined in the big birthday celebration.
I was considering the possibility of going on a Vocation Discernment Retreat again in February 2010 so I did not bother signing up for that month's Cursillo. I felt that, unlike during the previous year, I was ready this time for a Vocation Retreat. I had some spiritual direction, I felt like I was part of a parish community (Saint Monica in Methuen, MA), I was feeling much more confident and secure, and I had recently gone on another retreat (BU Fall Retreat 2009) that made me feel good and pumped as opposed to earlier retreats that left me feeling angry and misunderstood. But I did not go on the Vocation Retreat in February 2010 because at the time I was dealing with another issue.
I was in the middle of a rather difficult time in my life when I was neither going to Confession nor receiving Communion. I will not go into the specifics about why I had gone for an extended time like this while still attending Mass but I will say it was the first such drought since receiving my Sacraments of Initiation nearly 10 years prior. Still, I signed up for the April 2010 Cursillo not really knowing how it would work out.
After arriving on Thursday evening and going through a full day of intense activity on Friday, there was an opportunity for Confession. Since the beginning of Advent more than 4 months prior, I had plenty of such opportunities but did not bother. But this one involved priests who were visiting even though they were not part of the weekend's Cursillo program. One of those priests was Father Richard O'Brien, a regular visitor to the Saint Monica Rectory where I often had dinner with the parish priests and their friends. I was still not sure. I really wanted to go to Confession in the worst way but felt that I would be living a lie.
I lined up for the door to the room where Father Richard was hearing Confession but always allowed people to jump in front of me. But then at one point there was no line and it was still early in the evening. I still wasn't sure. Then someone else showed up and I let them go ahead. So I went to my bunk room to think about it some more. Incidentally, the room Father Richard was in was labelled with a large paper sign that said "Father Richard" and it was right across the hall from my room. It was impossible to ignore! So I went back out to the hallway again and when the other person exited the room I decided to give it a shot.
I felt an enormous burden lifted off me and I felt that I could trust that God would make things work out, no matter what kind of mess I was in. I would keep going to Mass and keep receiving Communion and just put all my trust in His Divine Mercy - somehow things would all get sorted. I suppose it was fitting that this took place on Divine Mercy Weekend. Cursillo was a lot of things for me, as it was for everyone else there. But because of the timing of it combined with my own circumstances, it seems that it could be best described for me, personally, as a time of healing.
Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32
Friday, March 09, 2012
I ♥ H8rs! lol, jk
Behind every success is a pack of haters. It's just human nature. We see someone who seems to have it made. Their perfect little life seems to be all set and they appear to get all the praise from the establishment - praise that they don't even really need because they already have more than enough to be happy about. What's more? They seem to be utterly oblivious to all the frustration and doubt experienced by most of the rest of the world around them. So we assume they're arrogant too. The truth is, once you've decided that you dislike someone, every little thing they do will seem offensive to you, regardless of what it is. You begin to wonder what they ever did to deserve all this. Sometimes life just does not seem fair.
"How so?," you might ask. Just when you've found your calling, your niche, just when you seem to have finally found your groove, your purpose in life, people are constantly trying to discourage you and cause you to feel doubt. Some harshly criticize every little thing about you whether it is a good thing or a bad thing. Others go as far as accusing you of being a certain way whether it be true or not. The whole world just seems determined to tear you down after you had just barely found some relief in your life. It almost seems too cruel. You begin to wonder what you ever did to deserve all this.
Matthew 21: 33-43, 45-46
"How so?," you might ask. Just when you've found your calling, your niche, just when you seem to have finally found your groove, your purpose in life, people are constantly trying to discourage you and cause you to feel doubt. Some harshly criticize every little thing about you whether it is a good thing or a bad thing. Others go as far as accusing you of being a certain way whether it be true or not. The whole world just seems determined to tear you down after you had just barely found some relief in your life. It almost seems too cruel. You begin to wonder what you ever did to deserve all this.
Matthew 21: 33-43, 45-46
Thursday, March 08, 2012
Life's a Journey, Not a Destination
Looking back at my own life is like taking a trip down memory lane. Some of the memories are those I would be tempted to do just about anything to relive if I could. Summer camp comes to mind. So does children's choir. So do some memories from my school days, especially the early ones. Of course, during those times I did not see it that way. Not only did I take those moments for granted, which is forgivable since we can't see into the future, but I was actually dissatisfied with my life for much of that time. I was always looking forward in anticipation of my life getting "better."
In summer camp I was looking forward to the days I would no longer have to be a lowly camper and would get to be one of the cool counselors. In children's choir I was looking forward to the time I would stop singing soprano and start making my way down to mezzo-soprano, then alto, and then onto bigger and better things. As a child during my carefree days hanging out with my neighborhood friends, I was always looking forward to the days we all got to be older and cooler like our babysitters from around the neighborhood. With a number of brother-sister sibling pairs amongst the neighborhood's big kids, there actually were quite a few male babysitters, believe it or not - and I wanted to become just like them. It's too bad that it's just about impossible to relive the summer camp years, or children's choir, or the carefree days of hanging out in the old neighborhood.
And it goes on. Many years later I found myself out in Cleveland, Ohio and hated the fact that I was so far from the mountains. It was just a matter of circumstance that I ended up there in the first place. I was also a bit disillusioned with everything else about my life at that time so naturally I made plans to go out west, be a ski bum, blow off some steam, and see where I go from there. I lived my life in Cleveland like someone in transition to bigger and better things on the horizon. I did not think much about my time there, just treated it like an inconvenient stopover.
I moved on to Telluride, Colorado with an excited feeling of anticipation. At first it seemed unreal that I really just packed all my belongings into my car, moved out of my place in Cleveland, and drove out west to get an apartment after having just made a few phone calls. When I was there, the first few days still seemed unreal. But eventually the novelty of living nearly 3000 m (10,000 ft) high in a super-remote mountain town wore off. Sure there were bigger mountains nearby than back east and the unfamiliar territory seemed like the perfect cure to my sheltered earlier life. But some things I missed about the east were the presence of large and beautiful natural lakes as well as the fact that everything is green back east. I even missed my life in Cleveland - the presence of the neighborhood corner store as well as bars and restaurants that are easy to get to. Concerts, and good radio stations, were easy to come by as well. Nevermind the fact that Cleveland had a feeling of community that Telluride lacked.
Needless to say, I had no qualms about leaving Telluride after just slightly more than a year there. I moved back east and felt content. But then after some years passed, I looked back in retrospect and realized that the adventurous part of my life had effectively come to an abrupt end when I returned back east. At first I did not sense an end of any era, probably because I was too eager to leave Telluride to see its bright side. There was also the fact that during the first few years back east, all that adventure was still very recent so it did not feel like it was really over. But later on I realized that the 6 times I crossed North America all occurred during a period of only 3 years, ending with my time in Telluride. Sometimes I do wish I appreciated my time there more than I did, especially when I see something that brings me back to that time, like a big blast from the past or an awesome day of out-of-bounds tree skiing.
The rest of the world will have you believe that your life is not good enough at the moment. So instead of enjoying the moment and living in the moment, we try to fast forward through it and move on to something "better." This is especially the case during those times we feel as if our lives are either getting nowhere or passing us by. The truth is, if we trust in God's plan, we are exactly where we ought to be in life at any given time. The only thing that matters is where we end up. It does not matter how fast we get there, how smoothly things go, or how normal of a path we take. If we hit a few rough patches, we're still on course. There's no such thing as an inconvenient stopover in life. With that peace of mind, we can stop worrying about where we are in life at the moment and simply enjoy the moment for what it is while it's still there for us to enjoy. After all, life's a journey, not a destination.
Luke 16: 19-31
In summer camp I was looking forward to the days I would no longer have to be a lowly camper and would get to be one of the cool counselors. In children's choir I was looking forward to the time I would stop singing soprano and start making my way down to mezzo-soprano, then alto, and then onto bigger and better things. As a child during my carefree days hanging out with my neighborhood friends, I was always looking forward to the days we all got to be older and cooler like our babysitters from around the neighborhood. With a number of brother-sister sibling pairs amongst the neighborhood's big kids, there actually were quite a few male babysitters, believe it or not - and I wanted to become just like them. It's too bad that it's just about impossible to relive the summer camp years, or children's choir, or the carefree days of hanging out in the old neighborhood.
And it goes on. Many years later I found myself out in Cleveland, Ohio and hated the fact that I was so far from the mountains. It was just a matter of circumstance that I ended up there in the first place. I was also a bit disillusioned with everything else about my life at that time so naturally I made plans to go out west, be a ski bum, blow off some steam, and see where I go from there. I lived my life in Cleveland like someone in transition to bigger and better things on the horizon. I did not think much about my time there, just treated it like an inconvenient stopover.
I moved on to Telluride, Colorado with an excited feeling of anticipation. At first it seemed unreal that I really just packed all my belongings into my car, moved out of my place in Cleveland, and drove out west to get an apartment after having just made a few phone calls. When I was there, the first few days still seemed unreal. But eventually the novelty of living nearly 3000 m (10,000 ft) high in a super-remote mountain town wore off. Sure there were bigger mountains nearby than back east and the unfamiliar territory seemed like the perfect cure to my sheltered earlier life. But some things I missed about the east were the presence of large and beautiful natural lakes as well as the fact that everything is green back east. I even missed my life in Cleveland - the presence of the neighborhood corner store as well as bars and restaurants that are easy to get to. Concerts, and good radio stations, were easy to come by as well. Nevermind the fact that Cleveland had a feeling of community that Telluride lacked.
Needless to say, I had no qualms about leaving Telluride after just slightly more than a year there. I moved back east and felt content. But then after some years passed, I looked back in retrospect and realized that the adventurous part of my life had effectively come to an abrupt end when I returned back east. At first I did not sense an end of any era, probably because I was too eager to leave Telluride to see its bright side. There was also the fact that during the first few years back east, all that adventure was still very recent so it did not feel like it was really over. But later on I realized that the 6 times I crossed North America all occurred during a period of only 3 years, ending with my time in Telluride. Sometimes I do wish I appreciated my time there more than I did, especially when I see something that brings me back to that time, like a big blast from the past or an awesome day of out-of-bounds tree skiing.
The rest of the world will have you believe that your life is not good enough at the moment. So instead of enjoying the moment and living in the moment, we try to fast forward through it and move on to something "better." This is especially the case during those times we feel as if our lives are either getting nowhere or passing us by. The truth is, if we trust in God's plan, we are exactly where we ought to be in life at any given time. The only thing that matters is where we end up. It does not matter how fast we get there, how smoothly things go, or how normal of a path we take. If we hit a few rough patches, we're still on course. There's no such thing as an inconvenient stopover in life. With that peace of mind, we can stop worrying about where we are in life at the moment and simply enjoy the moment for what it is while it's still there for us to enjoy. After all, life's a journey, not a destination.
Luke 16: 19-31
Wednesday, March 07, 2012
The Dark Side
Unless you live under a rock, you are probably aware that political campaign season has been underway for quite some time now. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with political campaigns. I love campaign season because it can be exciting to follow but I also hate political campaigns because there is so much underhandedness and insincerity involved.
If you're a politician, the media and the people are just looking to see you trip up. I mean heaven forbid you build a political platform, take a position, or say something in a speech that contradicts something you said or something you voted on a decade ago or more. Even if you do manage to be stubbornly unchanging, which is totally inhuman and a bit unrealistic, you could still easily be taken out of context if you're wording is not constructed just right so as to avoid ever being misconstrued.
Negative adverts attacking opposing candidates thrive on these elements of the human condition. They take something beautiful and use it to do ugly things. People who go through life with an open mind are always changing and growing. Life will cease to be worth living if you become set in your ways. That's when you know it will be time to find other ways to challenge yourself. But that mentality just does not fly in a political campaign - it only makes you an easy target.
Now let's say you take a position and then show your level of understanding of the issue by acknowledging the existence of the opposing viewpoint and explaining why you feel it is wrong. You could be taken out of context and be accused of having taken the opposing position as a result of having acted to actually strengthen your own position. It is sadly ironic but being thoughtful like that just does not fly in a political campaign - it only makes you an easy target.
The target of what, you might ask. A target of the aforementioned shallow attack adverts, which the general public seems to be maddeningly easy to get swayed by. That's another thing that bothers me. Why is it that the candidate at the receiving end of such adverts automatically drops in the polls? Is the general public really that incapable of thinking for themselves or forming their own opinions? Are they really somehow that oblivious to the fact that their state is being targeted and that they're just being played like pawns in a childish game?
Truth be told, this is not a recent phenomenon. The types of media used may change over the years but the backbiting culture has always been there. So have the generally ignorant and oblivious citizens who just go with the flow and are thus easily exploited. All the underhandedness, insincerity, and complacency coming to the forefront is merely the dark side of humanity being exposed for what it is. All the madness and drama are just products of our sinful nature.
Matthew 20: 17-28
If you're a politician, the media and the people are just looking to see you trip up. I mean heaven forbid you build a political platform, take a position, or say something in a speech that contradicts something you said or something you voted on a decade ago or more. Even if you do manage to be stubbornly unchanging, which is totally inhuman and a bit unrealistic, you could still easily be taken out of context if you're wording is not constructed just right so as to avoid ever being misconstrued.
Negative adverts attacking opposing candidates thrive on these elements of the human condition. They take something beautiful and use it to do ugly things. People who go through life with an open mind are always changing and growing. Life will cease to be worth living if you become set in your ways. That's when you know it will be time to find other ways to challenge yourself. But that mentality just does not fly in a political campaign - it only makes you an easy target.
Now let's say you take a position and then show your level of understanding of the issue by acknowledging the existence of the opposing viewpoint and explaining why you feel it is wrong. You could be taken out of context and be accused of having taken the opposing position as a result of having acted to actually strengthen your own position. It is sadly ironic but being thoughtful like that just does not fly in a political campaign - it only makes you an easy target.
The target of what, you might ask. A target of the aforementioned shallow attack adverts, which the general public seems to be maddeningly easy to get swayed by. That's another thing that bothers me. Why is it that the candidate at the receiving end of such adverts automatically drops in the polls? Is the general public really that incapable of thinking for themselves or forming their own opinions? Are they really somehow that oblivious to the fact that their state is being targeted and that they're just being played like pawns in a childish game?
Truth be told, this is not a recent phenomenon. The types of media used may change over the years but the backbiting culture has always been there. So have the generally ignorant and oblivious citizens who just go with the flow and are thus easily exploited. All the underhandedness, insincerity, and complacency coming to the forefront is merely the dark side of humanity being exposed for what it is. All the madness and drama are just products of our sinful nature.
Matthew 20: 17-28
Tuesday, March 06, 2012
My doc is MAD ILL!
Many years ago I saw Christopher West speak. He goes around and gives talks and conferences pertaining to the "Theology of the Body" of Pope John Paul II. There was a point in time during his talk when he was addressing the issue regarding people who become disillusioned with the Church and leave because they feel that some priests are hypocrites. First of all, there are many priests who are NOT hypocrites. Furthermore, nobody, not even a priest, is perfect. Ultimately, when it comes to anything from Church teaching to little tidbits of secular wisdom, the message is generally a good one. It's just the messenger who is flawed.
Christopher West used the example of a doctor. If your doctor gets sick, do you cancel all future appointments and tell him that he's no longer your doctor? Do you then proceed to avoid going to any doctor's office ever again for the rest of your natural life? All because your doctor came down with a sickness?! How about if a grossly obese doctor advises a slightly overweight patient on what kind of diet they should follow to get back to a healthy weight? Does this mean that the patient should immediately go home and do everything exactly opposite to the doctor's advice?
It makes about as much sense to judge the Church in the same manner. Priests are people who are just as prone to sin as the rest of us. They may be flawed as messengers but their message is good and true. In the same way it makes no sense to give up on all health care because you found out that doctors get sick, it also makes no sense to give up on the Church because you found out that priests fall into sin. So if you've stepped away from the Church, I encourage you to give it another go. You might want to start seeing your doctor again as well while you're at it.
Matthew 23: 1-12
Christopher West used the example of a doctor. If your doctor gets sick, do you cancel all future appointments and tell him that he's no longer your doctor? Do you then proceed to avoid going to any doctor's office ever again for the rest of your natural life? All because your doctor came down with a sickness?! How about if a grossly obese doctor advises a slightly overweight patient on what kind of diet they should follow to get back to a healthy weight? Does this mean that the patient should immediately go home and do everything exactly opposite to the doctor's advice?
It makes about as much sense to judge the Church in the same manner. Priests are people who are just as prone to sin as the rest of us. They may be flawed as messengers but their message is good and true. In the same way it makes no sense to give up on all health care because you found out that doctors get sick, it also makes no sense to give up on the Church because you found out that priests fall into sin. So if you've stepped away from the Church, I encourage you to give it another go. You might want to start seeing your doctor again as well while you're at it.
Matthew 23: 1-12
Monday, March 05, 2012
Age Ain't Nothing But A Number
A positive attitude goes a long way. It influences your whole outlook on life which in turn influences how you're generally perceived by the people around you. I make it a point to live my life like there's always room for change and there's always a potential new adventure ahead. I make it a point to avoid becoming "set in my ways." As a result, I tend to feel, and therefore appear, much younger than what many expect for someone my age.
Still, there are people who resort to asking me my age rather than just getting to know me first and it's because they have a personal agenda. They want to tell me how to live my life, where I should be in life at certain ages, or what my childhood memories are supposed to be. Rather than being cheap and judgmental, they instead ought to consider the fact that different people reach different stages of their lives at different ages. What's more? There is no set sequence either. The order in which these things occur is different for every different individual. Therefore there is no such thing as an entire person being "behind" or "ahead" because that would depend upon what part of someone's life you're examining.
Sure, the nature of some relationships does necessitate knowing the ages of the others involved, but again, get to know them first. People who ask me my age in the first day or first few days of knowing me are generally people I will never meet again, even when opportunities are plentiful. There's a reason for that. So if you want to get to know me, leave your personal agenda at the doorstep, quit trying to pigeonhole and categorize me in terms of age, relationship status, or profession, and choose instead to just chill out, spend some quality time, have some good conversation, and be open-minded. It will enrich your life. Depending upon who you are, it might enrich my life as well.
Luke 6: 36-38
Still, there are people who resort to asking me my age rather than just getting to know me first and it's because they have a personal agenda. They want to tell me how to live my life, where I should be in life at certain ages, or what my childhood memories are supposed to be. Rather than being cheap and judgmental, they instead ought to consider the fact that different people reach different stages of their lives at different ages. What's more? There is no set sequence either. The order in which these things occur is different for every different individual. Therefore there is no such thing as an entire person being "behind" or "ahead" because that would depend upon what part of someone's life you're examining.
Sure, the nature of some relationships does necessitate knowing the ages of the others involved, but again, get to know them first. People who ask me my age in the first day or first few days of knowing me are generally people I will never meet again, even when opportunities are plentiful. There's a reason for that. So if you want to get to know me, leave your personal agenda at the doorstep, quit trying to pigeonhole and categorize me in terms of age, relationship status, or profession, and choose instead to just chill out, spend some quality time, have some good conversation, and be open-minded. It will enrich your life. Depending upon who you are, it might enrich my life as well.
Luke 6: 36-38
Sunday, March 04, 2012
Saturday, March 03, 2012
Clique
I remember being very relieved to graduate from high school. I actually had many reasons I was glad to leave that place but one in particular was the leaving behind of such a rigid social scene. It was very cliquish there and there was a very visible social hierarchy there. Think of the book or the movie "The Outsiders" although perhaps not quite that divided. Even if Ponyboy and Cherry Vallance did have feelings for each other, there's no way anything would have happened because of the considerable social gulf between them.
Well I was all excited about getting a fresh start to a new life at university only to find that it's very cliquish there too. Sure, there's not such an oppressive hierarchy that permeates the social fabric but it's still cliquish nonetheless. Getting to know people outside of your social circle requires a lot of effort.
In the adult world, there is a slightly different problem. You could go weeks or months without meeting certain people. You just don't see individual people as regularly in adult life as you do while in school. Some people you will get to know and then make arrangements to meet with them regularly but if you leave it to chance, it's really a bit of a crapshoot. There are some people you could know for many months but you never seem to get past the acquaintance level with them. But somehow, they invite some of your friends to their parties while you don't get invited. Finding out about it after the fact on Facebook is enough to make you feel like an outcast. So the adult world is quite cliquish as well.
Is this a recent phenomenon? Absolutely not. It's just the way people are naturally inclined to behave. We are more comfortable spending time with people who are familiar to us than with those who are unfamiliar. We are also creatures of habit, following cycles of whatever length - weeks, months, years - with same or similar activities and companions each time around. If someone wants to reach outside their own social circle and meet someone in our group, it takes a lot of effort for them to do that. But it takes a lot of effort for us to reach out to those on the outside looking in. If we meet each other halfway, we reach out to them while they try to reach us, it makes the distance between us more manageable.
The idea does seem rather awkward, doesn't it? Well, it only has to begin with just saying "hello" to a stranger you have seen multiple times by chance. Maybe if there's time to say more than one word, step it up to making introductions. I know of a couple that started dating because they lived in the same apartment complex (known for being very NON-interactive living spaces) and the guy said "hello" to the girl on a few occasions. When they were in the apartment complex laundry room together for more than a split second, of course this was after a few previous short encounters of just "hello," introductions were made. Subsequent encounters, that may have been just "hello" had it not been for the introductions, instead became opportunities to have very brief conversations. They would actually pause for a few seconds to chat rather than just pass by each other in a split second.
Sure they had obstacles that stood in the way of the feasibility of carrying out this relationship. He was, after all, a military man who could be shipped out with short notice and be away for who knows how long. But at least they were giving it a chance. Otherwise, there wouldn't have even been anything to work on or work through. I do not know the status of that relationship today but even if it did not last, they at least created the opportunity to enrich each other's lives for however long they were together. Even if they are apart now, the positive influence from that life-changing experience with each other will still remain. If, on the other hand, the relationship lasted and they are still together - well, more power to them.
Matthew 5: 43-48
Well I was all excited about getting a fresh start to a new life at university only to find that it's very cliquish there too. Sure, there's not such an oppressive hierarchy that permeates the social fabric but it's still cliquish nonetheless. Getting to know people outside of your social circle requires a lot of effort.
In the adult world, there is a slightly different problem. You could go weeks or months without meeting certain people. You just don't see individual people as regularly in adult life as you do while in school. Some people you will get to know and then make arrangements to meet with them regularly but if you leave it to chance, it's really a bit of a crapshoot. There are some people you could know for many months but you never seem to get past the acquaintance level with them. But somehow, they invite some of your friends to their parties while you don't get invited. Finding out about it after the fact on Facebook is enough to make you feel like an outcast. So the adult world is quite cliquish as well.
Is this a recent phenomenon? Absolutely not. It's just the way people are naturally inclined to behave. We are more comfortable spending time with people who are familiar to us than with those who are unfamiliar. We are also creatures of habit, following cycles of whatever length - weeks, months, years - with same or similar activities and companions each time around. If someone wants to reach outside their own social circle and meet someone in our group, it takes a lot of effort for them to do that. But it takes a lot of effort for us to reach out to those on the outside looking in. If we meet each other halfway, we reach out to them while they try to reach us, it makes the distance between us more manageable.
The idea does seem rather awkward, doesn't it? Well, it only has to begin with just saying "hello" to a stranger you have seen multiple times by chance. Maybe if there's time to say more than one word, step it up to making introductions. I know of a couple that started dating because they lived in the same apartment complex (known for being very NON-interactive living spaces) and the guy said "hello" to the girl on a few occasions. When they were in the apartment complex laundry room together for more than a split second, of course this was after a few previous short encounters of just "hello," introductions were made. Subsequent encounters, that may have been just "hello" had it not been for the introductions, instead became opportunities to have very brief conversations. They would actually pause for a few seconds to chat rather than just pass by each other in a split second.
Sure they had obstacles that stood in the way of the feasibility of carrying out this relationship. He was, after all, a military man who could be shipped out with short notice and be away for who knows how long. But at least they were giving it a chance. Otherwise, there wouldn't have even been anything to work on or work through. I do not know the status of that relationship today but even if it did not last, they at least created the opportunity to enrich each other's lives for however long they were together. Even if they are apart now, the positive influence from that life-changing experience with each other will still remain. If, on the other hand, the relationship lasted and they are still together - well, more power to them.
Matthew 5: 43-48
Big men who don't know american football (really?!)
A few weeks ago while a bunch of us were sitting around having lunch, one older fellow asked if anyone knew how National Football League games are settled if the score is tied after 60 minutes. A rather large fellow sitting across from me started talking about how each team gets its turn with the ball and if it's tied after each team gets its turn, then it continues. If the score is still tied after the 15 minute over time, then the game ends in a tie. If it's an elimination game, then there's another 15 minute period. I stated that this sounded like a college football overtime to me and that I thought NFL overtime was sudden death. The large fellow responded that the rules were changed about 2 years ago to more closely emulate college football overtime.
Well, this particular fellow seemed surprisingly knowledgeable in a lot of rather obscure things and I thought that perhaps this was one of those things. I certainly have not stayed on top of obscure NFL rule changes over the recent years. In fact, it still makes no sense to me that the Denver Broncos made the playoffs instead of the San Diego Chargers. Furthermore, since he was a fairly large man, there was a chance that he used to play american football and would thus be more inclined to follow these things than I would. He very well could know something I don't.
Thus, I did not wish to be antagonistic. So I simply asked if these rule changes were made shortly after the NFC Championship game between the Minnesota Vikings and the New Orleans Saints (January 2010). This game happened to be a particularly memorable affair in which Brett Favre threw a late interception that prevented Minnesota from winning it in regulation. New Orleans got the ball first in overtime and kicked a field goal to punch their tickets to the Super Bowl. Minnesota did not get "their turn" after that score - the game was over. Well, the large fellow responded to my question with a deer-in-the-headlights look in his face. He did not know. Because I did not wish to be antagonistic, rather than shoot down his explanation, I just asked to confirm that he indeed was not sure - "You don't know?" I was hoping to get to the bottom of this disconnect regarding NFL overtime rules in the next minute or two with further discussion.
But just then, the older fellow who somehow did not know a thing about NFL rules pointed out to me that the other guy shrugged (something I noticed before the older guy noticed). Then he felt the need to explain to me that the other guy's shrug meant that he did not know (something I was aware of before the older guy was aware of it). Then he proceeded to tell me that I need to learn to read social cues (look who's talking). This older fellow happens to be the most socially inept person I've ever met outside of academia. As a matter of fact, he even makes my strangest professors seem like normal guys. In other words, the way he was talking down to me was due entirely to the fact that he failed to see the situation for what it was. I did not have all the facts and I was trying to walk the fine line between being too deferential and being too confrontational. I was not oblivious to my surroundings; in fact, I had an unusually acute awareness of them.
Unfortunately, this interjection from the older fellow brought the discussion to a screeching halt so I never did get to the bottom of this. I was misread and misunderstood on not one, but two, occasions. Because the discussion did not continue I was made out to be a fool. Somehow during all this I never remembered the very recent playoff game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Denver Broncos. The one where Denver got the ball first in overtime and Tim Tebow finished it with an 80-yard pass. Pittsburgh did not get "their turn" after that score - the game was over. If only I had remembered that, I could have been the hero and given the definitive answer that nobody else seemed able to give. So our "knowledgeable" friend was really just making stuff up.
Now I suppose one could have argued that there may be different rules in the regular season. Well, there are. There are only 15 minutes of overtime in the regular season. In the playoffs, they keep playing until there is a winner. But other than that, the rules are the same. I know because I just looked it up a few minutes ago. Regular season overtime was still sudden-death as of December 2011. There was a game between the Oakland Raiders and the Kansas City Chiefs that went into overtime. Oakland got the ball first and kicked a field goal at the end of that first drive. Kansas City did not get "their turn" after that score - the game was over. Basically, this sudden-death rule for both regular season and playoff overtimes in the NFL has been unchanged for more than 20 years! I really do not understand what possessed our "knowledgeable" friend to think a change was made.
As frustrated as I get about situations like these with people like these, I am not really in a position to complain too much. There have definitely been times when well after the fact I would suddenly come to this realization that the other person was right about something we discussed and I would be wishing there was a way I could go back to that person and let them know. In other words, I've been guilty too. We've all been guilty. The important thing is that we be reconciled. Even if we can't reconcile in person, at the very least we ought to be reconciled in our hearts.
Matthew 5: 20-26
Well, this particular fellow seemed surprisingly knowledgeable in a lot of rather obscure things and I thought that perhaps this was one of those things. I certainly have not stayed on top of obscure NFL rule changes over the recent years. In fact, it still makes no sense to me that the Denver Broncos made the playoffs instead of the San Diego Chargers. Furthermore, since he was a fairly large man, there was a chance that he used to play american football and would thus be more inclined to follow these things than I would. He very well could know something I don't.
Thus, I did not wish to be antagonistic. So I simply asked if these rule changes were made shortly after the NFC Championship game between the Minnesota Vikings and the New Orleans Saints (January 2010). This game happened to be a particularly memorable affair in which Brett Favre threw a late interception that prevented Minnesota from winning it in regulation. New Orleans got the ball first in overtime and kicked a field goal to punch their tickets to the Super Bowl. Minnesota did not get "their turn" after that score - the game was over. Well, the large fellow responded to my question with a deer-in-the-headlights look in his face. He did not know. Because I did not wish to be antagonistic, rather than shoot down his explanation, I just asked to confirm that he indeed was not sure - "You don't know?" I was hoping to get to the bottom of this disconnect regarding NFL overtime rules in the next minute or two with further discussion.
But just then, the older fellow who somehow did not know a thing about NFL rules pointed out to me that the other guy shrugged (something I noticed before the older guy noticed). Then he felt the need to explain to me that the other guy's shrug meant that he did not know (something I was aware of before the older guy was aware of it). Then he proceeded to tell me that I need to learn to read social cues (look who's talking). This older fellow happens to be the most socially inept person I've ever met outside of academia. As a matter of fact, he even makes my strangest professors seem like normal guys. In other words, the way he was talking down to me was due entirely to the fact that he failed to see the situation for what it was. I did not have all the facts and I was trying to walk the fine line between being too deferential and being too confrontational. I was not oblivious to my surroundings; in fact, I had an unusually acute awareness of them.
Unfortunately, this interjection from the older fellow brought the discussion to a screeching halt so I never did get to the bottom of this. I was misread and misunderstood on not one, but two, occasions. Because the discussion did not continue I was made out to be a fool. Somehow during all this I never remembered the very recent playoff game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Denver Broncos. The one where Denver got the ball first in overtime and Tim Tebow finished it with an 80-yard pass. Pittsburgh did not get "their turn" after that score - the game was over. If only I had remembered that, I could have been the hero and given the definitive answer that nobody else seemed able to give. So our "knowledgeable" friend was really just making stuff up.
Now I suppose one could have argued that there may be different rules in the regular season. Well, there are. There are only 15 minutes of overtime in the regular season. In the playoffs, they keep playing until there is a winner. But other than that, the rules are the same. I know because I just looked it up a few minutes ago. Regular season overtime was still sudden-death as of December 2011. There was a game between the Oakland Raiders and the Kansas City Chiefs that went into overtime. Oakland got the ball first and kicked a field goal at the end of that first drive. Kansas City did not get "their turn" after that score - the game was over. Basically, this sudden-death rule for both regular season and playoff overtimes in the NFL has been unchanged for more than 20 years! I really do not understand what possessed our "knowledgeable" friend to think a change was made.
As frustrated as I get about situations like these with people like these, I am not really in a position to complain too much. There have definitely been times when well after the fact I would suddenly come to this realization that the other person was right about something we discussed and I would be wishing there was a way I could go back to that person and let them know. In other words, I've been guilty too. We've all been guilty. The important thing is that we be reconciled. Even if we can't reconcile in person, at the very least we ought to be reconciled in our hearts.
Matthew 5: 20-26
Thursday, March 01, 2012
Dead Gardens
I weathered another storm, but it's not the last one. I had a little bout with writer's block this week, as evidenced by the 4am blog posts, which were LATE by more than 4 hours. Eating grits and waffles at Waffle House (or Denny's) at that hour is pretty cool in a bizarre sort of way. Trying to write the previous day's blog post after having dozed off for a few hours fully clothed and with contact lenses still on - not so much.
Over the past few months I have prayed the Rosary each day more often than not. During these last few days I did not even start the Rosary. Not much else really got done either - chores, going to the gym, etc. Writer's block can be all-consuming, frustrating, and anxiety-inducing. Given the fact that we are only slightly into Lent made it seem like a really bad omen as well.
I was initially tempted to just post a YouTube video of the song "Dead Gardens" by Nightwish, or just copy and reprint the lyrics. It would have been an easy enough blog post. "Dead Gardens" was a song written by [keyboard player and primary songwriter] Tuomas Holopainen that was reportedly about writer's block. But upon watching the video on YouTube - one of those fan-made videos with lyrics - I felt that the song made writer's block out to be the end of the world or life as we know it or at the very least something either permanent or very long-term. In other words, it seemed a bit too melodramatic for the occasion.
I felt that I would get out of this funk fairly soon. In the meantime, however, it seemed like I was burning the candle at both ends with my odd sleep schedule and the dreaded feeling of falling behind in everything else I was trying to do. Even with a lousy prayer life, I prayed that I would get back on track and that I would be able to keep my promise all the way through Lent.
We are still in the very early bit of Lent but I think it's safe to say that, at the very least, I got through the week. I have all weekend to worry about Friday through Sunday and maybe even get a head start on Monday. It's really only Tuesday through Thursday that can be a challenge and today is already Thursday. Asketh and thou shalt receiveth.
Matthew 7: 7-12
Over the past few months I have prayed the Rosary each day more often than not. During these last few days I did not even start the Rosary. Not much else really got done either - chores, going to the gym, etc. Writer's block can be all-consuming, frustrating, and anxiety-inducing. Given the fact that we are only slightly into Lent made it seem like a really bad omen as well.
I was initially tempted to just post a YouTube video of the song "Dead Gardens" by Nightwish, or just copy and reprint the lyrics. It would have been an easy enough blog post. "Dead Gardens" was a song written by [keyboard player and primary songwriter] Tuomas Holopainen that was reportedly about writer's block. But upon watching the video on YouTube - one of those fan-made videos with lyrics - I felt that the song made writer's block out to be the end of the world or life as we know it or at the very least something either permanent or very long-term. In other words, it seemed a bit too melodramatic for the occasion.
I felt that I would get out of this funk fairly soon. In the meantime, however, it seemed like I was burning the candle at both ends with my odd sleep schedule and the dreaded feeling of falling behind in everything else I was trying to do. Even with a lousy prayer life, I prayed that I would get back on track and that I would be able to keep my promise all the way through Lent.
We are still in the very early bit of Lent but I think it's safe to say that, at the very least, I got through the week. I have all weekend to worry about Friday through Sunday and maybe even get a head start on Monday. It's really only Tuesday through Thursday that can be a challenge and today is already Thursday. Asketh and thou shalt receiveth.
Matthew 7: 7-12
Who's bad?
About 10 years ago I saw Mudvayne, a secular rock band, in concert for the first time. Also on the bill were Ozzy Osbourne, Rob Zombie, and Soil. In the middle of Mudvayne's set, between songs, the lead singer went on this speech about how every day we should turn off our phones, sit with our children and just listen to what's on their minds, without distraction, for at least 15 minutes or so. What kind of people are we if we can't spend at least 15 minutes each day of quality time with our children? When he finished this speech, he was met with resounding applause and approval from the audience. Now the metal crowd has always been perceived by mainstream society, perhaps inaccurately, as being less than wholesome and a bit unconventional. But they listened very intently to a family-friendly message from an unlikely source.
Now think about how mainstream society itself behaves. How many "good" families have parents who are too career-driven to worry about petty things like their kids having a rough day at school? How many of those who do worry are too impatient to do anything other than "solve" the problem with a quick-fix solution rather than actually listen to and understand their kid? How many "upstanding" companies have a culture that just does not seem compatible with raising a family - where being childless gives one a huge advantage? How often do successful and "upstanding" young professionals poison their minds with the mean-spirited programming of empty-vee and other similarly tacky forms of mainstream and "conventional" popular culture?
The powers-that-be in mainstream society have all heard a positive and family-friendly message that was probably presented more intimately, more often, and from more credible sources than the message presented to the attendees at the aforementioned Mudvayne concert. Yet there is overwhelming evidence that way too many "upstanding" citizens did not listen. The problem lies not in the message or the messenger, nor even in the status or upbringing of the recipient, but rather in the intent of the recipient.
Luke 11: 29-32
Now think about how mainstream society itself behaves. How many "good" families have parents who are too career-driven to worry about petty things like their kids having a rough day at school? How many of those who do worry are too impatient to do anything other than "solve" the problem with a quick-fix solution rather than actually listen to and understand their kid? How many "upstanding" companies have a culture that just does not seem compatible with raising a family - where being childless gives one a huge advantage? How often do successful and "upstanding" young professionals poison their minds with the mean-spirited programming of empty-vee and other similarly tacky forms of mainstream and "conventional" popular culture?
The powers-that-be in mainstream society have all heard a positive and family-friendly message that was probably presented more intimately, more often, and from more credible sources than the message presented to the attendees at the aforementioned Mudvayne concert. Yet there is overwhelming evidence that way too many "upstanding" citizens did not listen. The problem lies not in the message or the messenger, nor even in the status or upbringing of the recipient, but rather in the intent of the recipient.
Luke 11: 29-32
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