Fall 2009
Week of December 20, 2009
Ghost of Christmas past
No longer on the payroll
Now it’s all gratis.
We sat physically as far away as possible from the altar. My eldest son prefers the anonymity of the balcony for the Christmas Eve Mass. My youngest likes it because everyone can see him from there. It’s all a metaphor for me. The church was full, but I was empty. It has been over ten years since I stopped working for the Holy Roman Catholic Church. It seems just like yesterday that I was violating canonical law.
Shortly after I left working for the Church I sent out a message to all my fellow church workers to “get out before it is too late.” I discovered that (for me) having been on the payroll distorted my perspective about faith. The intensity of my faith had an economic dimension to it that I wasn’t fully aware of. I had a financial motive to believe and to inspire others to participate more fully in the life of our shared faith. Even though I was diffrent, I shared a place on the same stage, or altar, as T.V. evangelists. I was the lower middle class, liberal Catholic version of Jerry Farwell, Jimmy Swaggart, Pat Robinson, Oral Roberts, and Tammy Faye Baker. Even though I did not share their tendency to distort the Gospel message for personal gain, I was in union with them. At the end of the sermon, we all received a check.
I’m glad that the likes of Joe Kelly, Marilyn Ring, Alice Kelly, Dan Berrigan, Mother Teresa and the Marists who changed my life also got something in their envelope as well. The problem has never been working for institutional religion. It’s a business like all others. Rather, it has always been the issue of what one does with the faith they get paid for. For the honorable and just, you might want to take a break from it all , just to get to experience faith without economic ties. It’s difficult to balance it all, but one perk is you get the weekends off.
Week of December 13, 2009
Can’t see Orion
My life is covered by clouds
Need to float above.
I have a few friends I feel guilty about. It has been too long since I last called them. Same thing goes for the big guy with the belt. I am amazed that it is already December 17th and I have yet to see the faint orange glow of beetleguise. I am way (wahwhay) too busy. I haven’t even been waiting. Two nights ago it was St. Nicholas’ feast day and we forgot to stuff the kids boots with fruit and candy. Thank old St. Nick they forgot as well. I know Orion is up there, above the roof. I feel a little embarrassed, but I will go out and greet him, just not tonight.
Week of December 6, 2009
Bus drivers decide
To give students’ a snow day
Keeping the kids safe.
It is not much of a poem, but what a wonderful event in the life of district #205. The forecast called for a foot or more of snow. The timing was perfect. The heaviest snow started falling after midnight. Around 5 A.M. the local T.V. stations began reporting school closings. Every single district within a radius of 50 miles was bowing to Mother Nature. Winnebago, Harlem, Honnenegah, Dixon, Oregon, Rockford Catholic and Christian schools shut their doors; everyone except District #205.
A bit disgruntled, I rolled out of bed, and got ready for work. It took a few times to ram my way out of my driveway, but I eventually was crunching my way to work through the blowing snow. It was only 6 A.M. and still dark, and all I could see were snow banks on my left and right.
When the phone rang I assumed it was my wife calling to remind me to be careful on the road, but instead it was her laughter, telling me to come home. How could that be? The window of opportunity for a snow day had been slammed shut. I rammed back into my driveway, got in the house and discovered that a large number of school bus drivers were “unable” to get to their buses. The district web site laid the blame on the bus drivers. They are responsible for the well being of the children they drive to school and they took their responsibility to another level. God bless them for their courage and for keeping the kids safe from harm.
Week of November 29, 2009
Coming of the cold
Earth tilts away from the sun
Father from his son.
Some things I cannot fathom.
Week of November 22, 2009
A pigskin mission
Champagnat goes to Champaign
To intercept lives.
I am a mighty and strong Marist man. My four years of high school under the guidance of the Marist Brothers was a time of spiritual enlightenment and academic mediocrity. The brothers showed me by their example the importance of service and community. I was fortunate to encounter the likes of Colella, Vito, and Patch. These three men guided my journey into the realm of faith and soul. They revealed to me a consciousness beyond adolescent ego and religion far deeper and interesting than suburban parish fare.
By the grace of God ( and a smart ass remark) I was removed from the I’m O’K., You’re O.K. religion class and tutored by Br. Vito. We studied Thomas Merton and Theilhard de Chardin together. He kindled an interest in spirituality that has never been extinguished. His ember continues to enlighten my life. Colella encouraged me to get real. He commented on numerous occasions that I was full of crap. His proposed path for my spiritual growth included a better understanding of math and the reading of Russian novels. As for Patch, his real presence made the idea of “real presence” more real. This trinity truly intercepted my life.
In my day, Marist was no perennial football power. Even though we are located in Chicago, we played, and still play, in the East Suburban League. Just down the block from Marist is Brother Rice. They are part of the Chicago Catholic League. For the longest time they were considered the bigger and better league. They had tradition, size, scholarships, and linemen with beards. The rivalry between these two schools has been intense for years. I remember how half of the boys in my 8th grade class went to Rice, and the rest of us went to Marist. We saw them as Neanderthals and they referred to us as fags. It is comforting to know that Brother Rice is eating crow this Thanksgiving as the mighty and strong Marist men march on to the state finals in Class 8A football.
Week of November 15, 2009
Smartest kid in class
Got a sense of history
and two felonies.
He sat there and argued. His point was simple. He said to the class that if the British had won the Revolutionary War it would have been better for African Americans because they abandoned the slave trade in 1807. I stood looking at him in stunned silence. Then I inquired about the British treatment of the Indian subcontinent and he stood his ground. He is brilliant, insightful, fearless, and a juvenile felon.
Week of November 8, 2009 ~ Veteran’s Day
It sounds simplistic, even a little jingoistic or jihadist ( thank you Patch) but beyond the sentimentality there is something honorable about putting oneself in harms way for a cause you believe in. I’m against and appalled by war. Like my friend, Claude, once said, “War is Hell.” He knew. He spent too much of his youth in Europe chasing down Nazis. I think if the universe does bend toward justice, the curve leads the battalions of good men and women to an eternal resting place. Not a place with ten virgins waiting, but rather with the souls whose lives were saved or improved by some stranger with a canteen and a longing for home in their heart.
Week of November 1, 2009
“Allahu Akbar”
But God’s followers are not
Curse of religion.
I wonder if Timothy McVie whispered something about Jesus prior to igniting the bomb that destroyed the federal building in Oklahoma? The trajedy at Fort Hood will be linked to the world wide muslim conspiracy against America, but I think it should be connected with mental illness and the availablility of small guns of mass destruction. Will the NRA come to the conclusion that if the victims were armed this would horrific massacre would have never happened? The weapons used by the person who murdered these brave soldiers were not army issued. They were the kind you can get at any gun show. It’s complex and good people are dead and families are torn apart.
The rumor is that Nidal Malik Hasan yelled out “Allahu Akbar” ( God is Great). If he didn’t, someone, somewhere did. Religion that is used to promote innocent suffering is demonic. With veteran’s day on Wednesday it is more important than ever to reach out to vets to let them know that even though war is abhorent, they are not. People who are willing to sacrifice their lives for others are great!
Week of October 25, 2008
Ave Maria
Rises from the laundry room
Up into heaven.
Rudy Vernetti passed on Sunday. We received a call that he had made a special request in his will that Kate sing at his funeral mass. We haven’t seen Rudy for years. He used to sing in the choir at St.Patrick’s with Kate and Sr. Rosa. He was a Seebee in WWII, and worked in various engineering firms throughout his years in Rockford. He always had a smile and sang deep from in his soul.
It is touching and awkward to have someone who has died make a request of you. I have been asked to do funeral services from people I haven’t communicated with for years. Returning to a part of your life you have moved on from is a form of time travel. Although inconvenient and at times difficult, it is a journey worth taking. We all move on, some to new careers, others to new existence. When we get to the place when the past and present are all one, it won’t matter. Kate will be singing at that venue on Thursday at 10 a.m. at Rudy’s mass.
Week of October 18, 2009
Smile wide as the goal
Keeper of the joy of sports
Undefeatable.
David just finished his soccer season. He was the goalie of the freshman team. He was nothing short of entertaining. His presence on the field delighted fellow players, coaches, parents, and even the other team. He looked at times like pig pen as well as a young Beckham. His antics and attitude were cause for laughter and cheers. It takes a strange kind of kid to get in the goal. David meets the requirements. What a joy.
Week of October 11, 2009
Jules of the children
Advocate and righteous mensch
She’s the crème brûlée.
The following is an announcement sent out by Tom Geraghty, associate dean and director of the Bluhm Legal Clinic with additional comments added by S. Suma
It is with great pleasure that we announce that Julie Biehl has become the new Director of the Children and Family Justice Center, Bluhm Legal Clinic, Northwestern University School of Law, effective October 1, 2009. Julie succeeds Bernardine Dohrn, who has served with great distinction as Director of the CFJC for the past 18 years.
Ms. Biehl is an outstanding lawyer for children, an excellent teacher, and an accomplished leader in the field of child justice. Biehl, who had been the Program and Policy Director of the CFJC, was previously Legal Director of the Cook County Juvenile Court Clinic, an attorney for homeless children and families at the Legal Aid Bureau of Chicago, and lawyer for the Cook County Public Guardian. Julie Biehl will enhance the CFJC mission of preparing law students and lawyers to be keen and skilled attorneys for their young clients, while developing the CFJC as a children’s law and policy center to reform the administration of justice for children, adolescents and their families.
“Julie Biehl is a nationally recognized leader in the effort to realize child rights through zealous advocacy for youth justice,” said Dohrn. “She is an inspired advocate and organizer, deeply committed to fairness, proportionality and community engagement. Julie will guide the CFJC into the critical challenges of the 21st century, continuing to attract a superb team of lawyers, students and clients who insist on the rights of all children to the full benefits of justice.”
It should also be noted that Ms. Biehl makes a tremendous pot of butternut squash soup and a crème brûlée.to die for.
Week of October 4, 2009
The beauty of death
A complete transformation
Leaves changing colors.
My favorite season. The cool winds and enormous cumulus clouds underlined in deep purple have arrived. My neighbors’ Norway maple has taken the lead and has begun filling my yard with crimson, maroon and yellow. The same cannot be said of my Acer platanoides. It is the same species, but it refuses to accept the inevitable and clings to the color of summer. It will be weeks before it lets go of the green. Eventually my whole yard will become a mulchable canvass. Despite the dreaded raking, I welcome all fall has to offer.
Week of September 27, 2009
Contiguous time
Moments in eternity
The many are one.
Late last night I was awoken by this haiku. The wind was howling and stars shone bright outside my bedroom window. The sound of creaking maple branches pulled me out of my dreams. I sat up in my bed and thought to myself, “Here I am”, then went back to bed.
Week of September 20, 2009
Last summer sunset
Disappeared one cool evening
Crickets sang goodbye.
Sometimes haikus disappear in front of my eyes. This one is for Basho.