The pain of a rural town in Iowa

Two huge and cataclysmic realities descended on Parkersburg, Iowa in the past year and a half. The first was the force of an F-5 tornado which reduced nearly the whole town, which was not a small town by any means, to splinters as can be seen in the picture. Here is a link from the moment the tornado passed through...footage from a bank camera panned out on a small cozy house. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAPnbzHvIKs&NR=1

The second devastation was the random murder of perhaps the most significant and respected person in the town, a high school football coach who had an incredible legacy for motivating young men. As many as five of his players became pro. These two catastrophes have made many residents in this town search their souls deeply and seek to reaffirm their faith in a benevalent God. Today I watched a very moving segment on ESPN that showed footage of the tornado and also of the coaches funeral procession with high school football players from the state of Iowa lining the streets. In the background one could see all the new buildings that were built out of the devastated town. The best testimony among those who were interviewed spoke the words from Isaiah: God's ways are mysterious to us, they are not often as we would wish. In the end analysis, there is only glory somehow, and the reality of Parkersburg, and all other situations of pain and loss, somehow carry a sign value and the means to cause us to be awake to ultimate reality, and to grow mature.

Cool, Crisp, Envigorating Mountain Air

Having arrived two days ago, and having gotten my "mountain legs" back from a year of absence, my spirit is elevated to peak level once again. I know there are lots of great destinations for people to make vacations, but I can't seem to get enough of the Rocky Mountains. Walking mountain paths, with a gentle, warming sun beating down upon a slightly cool and crisp ground level atmosphere. Pine trees and wild flowers, birds of prey overhead, snow capped peaks in the distance and a small pedestrian town bent on environmental consciousness....not hardly a speck of litter anywhere to be found. This is Frisco, Colorado. I'm here for a month this time, having made the two day ride on my old Yamaha. So satisfying to have gotten off the interstate and unloaded my bags. My life now is free enough that I could seek employment here, but my primary allegiance is to the monastery where I have lived for the past five years. So this is merely a first class extended vacation at best.

Assuming She is Our Mother

Today is the Feast of the Assumption. The monastery I have been affiliated with for most of my adult life is named for "Our Lady of the Assumption". For many people, having a devotion to the humble, historical person "Mary from Nazareth" must seem rather mysterious, fanciful, and quite abstract. But this very deep devotion, from the perspective of Christian Faith is quite compelling and attractive, when thought through completely.

According to Christian Revelation, with the spotlight on Redemption of Humanity, we come interestingly into the possibility of a "new" human life, or more precisely a "new" human family.

"In the beginning" in Sacred Scripture, we learn of the origins of an original human family, at a point when the Creator breathed into the developed species a living rational spirit, bearing the image and likeness of the Divine. At this point we are told that both "male and female" were formed, with the woman to be named Eve, Mother of all the living. According to the account, it was through the woman that temptation was first consented to, and sin entered the world infecting both the man and woman. With sin came many maladies and evil currents which obviously infect our world up to the present hour.

In the new Redeemed Humanity, Jesus is (the "New Adam") and Mary ("Behold your mother" John Ch: 19) becomes the New Eve, the Mother of the Redeemed Human Family....all believers and receivers of the redeeming love of God. Mary is a mother in the order of faith, living and active on the level of spirit and life. So we are called to love and thank her. The Feast of the Assumption commemorates and celebrates her place in the afterlife...she who said "yes" to God, unlike the first mother Eve, and conceived our Redeemer in her womb. When the curtain comes down upon our world and all falsehood and vanity will vanish, these Realities will shine forth in all their splendour. It is well for us to believe in what God has revealed!

Life or Death

Referring back to the book The End of the Modern World by Romano Guardini:

Guardini, in this deep and penetrating analysis of human civilization, ends up making a distinction, not peculiar to himself, between two contemporary ages or worlds, the Modern World and the Post Modern World of Mass identity. The Modern World, which actually began centuries ago, during the Age of Enlightenment, Post Renaissance, Post Reformation, transferred mankinds perception of the "infinite" from God and His dwelling place, to the material universe of possibilities. The Scientific Revolution broke the shell of the Middle Age perspective most definitively and the "Modern World" gradually came to birth, flowering in the age of technology, which of course is upon us at present. According to Guardini, this technological wash has unrooted man from his contemplative and reflective traditions. Appreciation of abstract and "revealed" truths has been supplanted by material utilitarianism....a focus perhaps almost exclusively on material things for practicality and purpose. In a summary paragraph, Guardini writes:

"The modern era was fond of justifying technology and rested its defense upon the argument that technology promoted the well being of man. In doing so it masked the destructive effects of a ruthless system. I do not believe that the age to come will rest with such an argument. The man engaged today in the labor of technology knows full well that it moves forward in final analysis neither for profit nor for the well-being of the race. He knows in the most radical sense of the term that power is its motive...a lordship of all; that man seizes hold of the naked elements of both nature and human nature. His action bespeaks immense possibilities, not only for "creation" but also for destruction, especially for the destruction of humanity itself. Man as a human being is far less rooted and fixed within his own essence than is commonly accepted, and the terrible dangers grow day be day. Once the "autonomous" state has broken all bonds (with inherited wisdom?) it will be able to deliver the last coup de grace to human nature itself. Man's relations with nature have reached the point of final crisis: man will either succeed in converting his mastery into good....then his accomplishment would be immense indeed....or man himself will be at an end. "

Sounds heavily weighted towards pessimism. For me, it is probably an accurate analysis. Afterall what we have in the world which portends mass destruction is not a matter of science fiction, but reality with a capital "R". At this point one can reflect upon the words of the Gospel concerning the narrow path which leads to life, and the broader path which leads to destruction.

As with Guardini, I personally believe that the proper outlook is not an unrealistic romance for earlier, simpler times, but a melding of the mentality of earlier times with a frugal and measured interaction with practical life in our modern and technological age. This requires discipline and asceticism for which much Grace is given.

My Dogs

Max and Charlie were my two great dogs which I passed along to a farm couple at the time I entered the hermitage community. Dogs are not allowed here, as they tend to bark, which can be annoying for some. Actually, I had four dogs. Lucy and Nigel were two strays who discovered Charlie and Max's food dish one day. I accepted them, making it known to Charlie and Max that they were to be tolerated, and so then there were four who became great adventuresome friends. Lucy is now in Kansas City at a rural residence. She has a dog partner to play with there. Nigel lives at the Trappist monastery down the road. Every morning, when I go to bake Assumption Abbey Fruitcakes, Nigel (who the monks call "Elijah") is lying near to the door of the bakery waiting loyally for me. He chose me, and even though I don't live at the monastery presently, he refuses to bond on that level with any of the monks. So he is still my dog, and gets so excited when I pull in. I take him for a short walk every day and give him affection. I do not have a picture of Nigel, but I do have these two pictures of Charlie and Max. Dog's are symbols of God's playfulness and friendliness. Everything which God created reflects some aspect of the Divine Personality.

Life as an Aspiring Hermit

I presently am looking into the option of joining a group of hermits in the Ozarks. Most of them are nuns, formerly of other expressions, who have desired to enter upon a life of greater solitude and prayer. The picture to the left, which I am not a part of, was taken about a year ago. I have been deeply impressed with the sanctity of this group of hermits. Our central daily occupation here in the summertime, involves tending to a large garden. The quantity of vegetables which we process in the growing season will last throughout the winter months. Hermits are not "closed in" personalities, as might be supposed, but are very friendly and sociable I have found. Life here can be lonely, but we understand why we are here. Few people possess the freedom or inspiration to be hermits. There is a significant amount of people who may desire to be a hermit, but never arrive at the opportunity. It is a life lived for God alone, not ideally an escape from people or circumstances. We are able to exercise works of charity within our little group and its structure of life.

Everyone who comes to attempt to live this life of solitude runs into a wall eventually. It is not easy to live in ones own company with so few outlets (no television, no personal car, no vacations) for an extended period of time, let alone a lifetime. A true hermit will have been given a reason why. Hermits, and people of all other contemplative expressions are affirmed in the conviction that a relationship with God through prayer is of pre-eminent importance in life, and so they witness to this belief outwardly, yet hiddenly in the world.