Be Still and Know That I Am God.

10 December 2013

     This is the time of the Great Turning. Soon we'll celebrate the birth of Christ. Spring will follow and we'll talk about his death and resurrection. We'll mainly do it among ourselves as Catholics, but we should be doing it just like the guys on the Road to Emmaus did. "Have you heard the news?" They were strangers traveling on a dusty road and this terrible thing had happened and they talked local gossip just like any traveler would at a gas station or airport. The local news for me yesterday was Danny Paisley's heart surgery. The wonder of the internet in today's world. The news spread like wildfire instantly that bluegrass musician Danny Paisley finally had his long-awaited bypass surgery and was doing OK up in Pennsylvania. Every weekend over in Maryland and beyond fellow-musicians and fans wondered if Danny was doing OK and did he have his surgery yet? The good news finally came via the digital airwaves yesterday.

     I love the bluegrass community. It's always trading gossip and information about each other - a lot like a family or a real town would. Sometimes it's even like a church. People gather in the vestibule (we Catholics call it 'The Narthex') and trade stories about recent good or bad news. There's even an unsung code of not talking politics or religion, but you know it's only human to have those two subjects laying right below the surface of face enface interaction. I've never been a Catholic afraid or ashamed to tell others that I'm Catholic. I also stay aware of any Catholic, or anyone of any religious persuasion for that matter, who is proselytizing in the name of any religion. I remain aware of them; that's all. I give them their space (their perimeter). Because that's what they do. They build up perimeters and walls around themselves and proclaim that their God is better than your God.

     One of the highlights for this Catholic in 2013 was having the unique opportunity to travel in Viet Nam with a Priest-Hero friend of mine. He would castigate me for calling him that. He is also a recognized writer. He is also a veteran. He's punched a lot of unusual and (what society would deem as) important tickets. He comes out of the Maryknoll Missioners' teaching and tradition, and since I'm a convert and have little knowledge of such matters, I had to do some study as to what the Maryknollers really do. Every religious order has a Rule. The Rule guides the daily lives of those attached to an Order. The Maryknoll Missioners are exactly that. They are world missionaries working in some of the most frightening places on our planet. The basic marching order is this:  Go into a village, establish yourself in the community and say nothing about your religion unless you're asked. It's all about winning hearts and minds through living by example. As the neophyte Christian I have to constantly ask myself if I would ever have the guts to do that. Having spent some quality time with this friend of mine as we "traveled the road' in Viet Nam. I was itching to get at the heart of a few deep, theological questions about my Church and my faith and this would be the one-on-one opportunity. So I asked him one night, what's the most important thing to know to lead a good, Catholic/Christian life? His answer stunned me at first and then later made a lot of sense. He said it's all about saying "Yes."

     How much we complicate that. We complicate every day and every daily routine with our negativism and unwillingness. When you first asked me if I was Catholic I sort of laughed inside. Father's words came to mind a second before I answered: "Yes." The more we say Yes the more the fears fall away. The more we say No,  the more stunted and ossified our lives become. I do not want to die sitting in a chair. I am saying Yes every time I tell somebody I love my spouse and family. I am saying Yes every time I tell somebody that I'm quite happy and contented that I made a decision to enter into the Church. So my Friend, I'll leave you with a final caveat and a final thought. I made my decisions and I'm happily living with them. They are not for everybody. I'm trying to exist like everyone else. I try to view others in the same light. My chosen path is still filled with questions and doubts about the path itself. To each his own . . .