America, the Titanic

 Once upon a time there was a great ship. She was magnificent, mighty and miraculous in many ways. She was a marvel and an extraordinary example of what human beings can accomplish. She was built with the best materials that could be found, outfitted to be an oasis of comfort and plenty as she traveled the vast sea. It was said that she couldn't be sunk. She was launched with all the hope and excitement that a new model of engineering brings to her builders. 

As she set forth into the vast ocean, the mood on board was ebullient. People had flocked to her and it was considered a stroke of excellent luck to be sailing with her. There were luxurious quarters. Money, wine and food was present in abundance on the upper decks, while on the lower, though there was less material wealth, even the poorest people considered themselves blessed. There were parties and dancing, there was gambling and it seemed you couldn't lose. 

This incredible journey was well underway when the passengers felt something, as if the ship had been struck. But it didn't seem to be much of a concern. All the staff and crew seemed to be going about their business, and the ship was still steaming along. Surely it was nothing to be concerned about. 

The parties continued. People came and went from the rooms. There were the usual minor issues that are encountered on a long voyage, but all in all it seemed that the ship was right on course and would carry her passengers the rest of the way. It all seemed just fine.

But it wasn't fine. It wasn't even a little bit fine. It was the beginning of a disaster.

Does this story sound familiar?

It sounds a lot like what happened on April 15th, 1912 in the North Atlantic. The "unsinkable" Titanic, on her maiden voyage, struck an iceberg that was barely visible above the surface of the sea. 

But this story isn't about the Titanic. It's about another mighty "ship". The ship that we are currently sailing on, America. 

This "ship" was thought to be "unsinkable" as well. It was built with the idea that all who would sail through history aboard her would enjoy a safe, abundant and well-appointed journey. And it seemed to be so. There was plenty of space and prosperity, even for the poor who rode along in the lower decks. There were rooms filled with opportunity. The ship seemed to be magnificent and stable and true.

But then it ran into an "iceberg" in the form of the sexual revolution, and when it did, a jagged tear was torn in the hull, invisible to all but a few who were paying attention. The tear allowed an evil to begin to pour into the hold, destabilizing the ship slowly at first. This is where the family began to be affected. The most basic and foundational part of the ship, the "hold" of the nation. The family was overcome by selfishness, divorce and sexual license. As the evil began to rise, it grew more powerful. Other things flowed into the ship. Pornography, Abortion, and the blood of the innocents. As the evil poured in, the ship began to list a bit, but the people had been assured that she was unsinkable, so they continued to eat, drink, dance and gamble the time away. 

There were some who began to be concerned. They started to ask the crew if they had noticed the odd list, and the faint smell of smoke.

"No, no" they were told. "all is well, there is nothing to be concerned about. The captain at the helm says that we are on course and will arrive at our destination on time."

Now the evil filling the entire ship has become unmistakable. There is a decided tilt to the deck, and things are starting to slide around, but the bands, and football teams, play on. "No worries" the PR people say. "We have a solution, the band-aids are certain to hold, in fact, the problem might even be a good thing!" Most people are very confused about how this can be, but they have always trusted the crew, so, they think, maybe this is true. 

Those who can see that the ship is actually sinking are few, but they are trying to make the people aware and usher them to the Lifeboats. The Lifeboats are there, on the ship, and they hold the Way to safety. The Coast Guard is now on scene, and they are encouraging the people to come to the Lifeboats. They are out in the ocean and they are prepared to receive those who are willing to come off the ship.

 The people manning the Lifeboats are trying to be heard over the din of the band and the conversation. They want to save as many as possible, but as the passengers start to realize that they may need to leave the ship, they start grabbing the baggage that they have had with them. They are told that they have to leave those things behind. The things that they have acquired on the ship are tainted with the evil that is filling the ship, and have to stay behind. Many of the people say "No. If I can't take these things with me, I'd rather stay on the ship. After all, the ship has always been seaworthy. I'm sure the crew will fix it. We'll be back underway in no time." None of the crew is attempting to encourage people to go to the Lifeboats, that must mean something. 

Out on the sea, the Coast Guard Cutter is waiting, and it's Captain stands in the prow. He is wearing a bright white garment, and at His side stands a woman. Her hands are lifted, and her face looks to the Captain. He calls out to the Lifeboats to come to Him. There is safety with the fleet of Coast Guard craft. There are many, and they are manned by people who look as if they have come from all places and times. Some of them seem not to have people on them at all, but they are also coming to the aid of those who are in danger. 

There are some people who want to get into the Lifeboats, but they hesitate because they don't like the look of some of the people who are already in them. It's true. There are some pretty scruffy and unsavory looking characters. It's also true that some of the people in the Lifeboats are just sitting there, watching the disaster and nodding, as if they knew that this was going to happen and they feel vindicated. They are not at all helpful. Some of them are even unwilling to move over for those who want to get in. 

The Coast Guard Captain is calling. He calls out that the ship is really sinking, and He wants to save as many as possible, but they have to come to Him. He is waiting and some turn to look at Him.                  One man on the ship shouts "Why don't you guys come over here and save the whole ship? You're just sitting there! Stop the ship from sinking!" But the Coast Guard Captain sadly shakes His head. The ship is sinking under the weight of sin and evil. It has reached the point where the entire craft has taken on the character of evil, and the people on board have chosen not to notice. When it could have been corrected, the people were too busy partying to make an effort to staunch the flow. The ship is lost, but the people can still be saved. Maybe most of them, but they have to act fast. 

It's do or die time. Put down your baggage, get to a lifeboat, and get in. 

I Cry at Weddings

 It's a beautiful third Sunday of Easter and today's Mass was one of those times when the Truth of what we have been given just comes pouring in.

I had been praying with the Gospel this morning, and the thing that most leapt out to me was what Jesus said about how all the things that were written about Him in Scripture, in the Law and the Prophets and the Psalms had been fulfilled, and, starting with the Apostles, we, the Church are witnesses to this.

Then, during Mass I was thinking about how the Mass is always a wedding feast, and we are not just witnesses, we are the Bride! When Fr says, "this is my Body" It is the Bridegroom speaking to the Bride. Heaven is coming to us and we receive Its kiss. The Father says, "you may kiss the Bride"

When we are called to receive Him, to come forward to the altar, it is our Bridegroom is waiting. He comes to us, in the Body, and we are held and loved in a Heavenly embrace. 

So yeah, I frequently cry at Mass, because crying at weddings is what I do. 

Of Big Bangs and Love

 Recently I was listening to an audiobook by Max Tegmark called "Life 3.0".

The book is about life in a world where humans coexist with Artificial Intelligence, but the thing that I was most taken by was his description of the beginning of the universe.

 I'm not sure of the author's actual beliefs around Creation and the Person of the Creator, but his description of the way that the universe began was absolutely poetic. I was captivated by his words as he expressed the moment that it came into being, as he spoke about the energy that must have been present to provide for the birth of the first matter to exist. The power and the intensity of that energy, to me, can only be understood in terms of relationship, of love. There is something about that description of the beginning that points to ecstasy and the love between persons, in this case Divine Persons. The Love that is so powerful and so fruitful that it's expression supernaturally leads to creation. And in the beginning it was the Father loving the Son with the Holy Spirit. 

I don't think there is any point in quibbling about how long all of this took, in our concept of time. God is outside of time and the material is in time, so it can be brought into existence in whatever way God desires. The important thing is, that God desired. 

This is indeed a description of a Big Bang, although I think that there are any number of better terms for it.  It is a Love that gave life to a whole universe so that He could bring me, and you, into relationship with Him. His whole intention was to provide a home for His beloved and to bring them to Himself. God wants us. God thought of me, before time, and made sure that I would come to exist. All that exists is for us, and it is intensely personal. One human person is worth more than all that matter and creation and all that exists. You are worth more than the oceans, the Rocky Mountains, the Grand Canyon, or the Himalayas. They are just made of the material, but YOU are made of material and the immaterial. YOU have the gift of a soul. Your ensouled humanity will exist forever, even after all that stuff disappears or is destroyed. 

So, that was the first Big Bang. And we know what happened in the story. Because God created us to be His children and not pets, He gave us the ability to choose His way, or not. And because He also gave that choice to His immaterial creatures, the angels, there were bound to be some who chose not. Bad actors. And not just bad actors but jealous ones, who could not leave humanity well enough alone. So, when clueless and naive humanity met the liar, they fell for the lie and disobeyed God, and things really just kind of fell apart from there. But God isn't a half-hearted lover, and He wouldn't just give up on His beloved. He had a plan. A second Big Bang. An even more incredible expression of His love. 

After millennia and centuries and decades and years. After generation after generation came and went with varying success in following His ways and obeying the Laws that He gave them. After the Covenants between He and His people were made and then broken by those people, it was time. 

Into this world, in the time of the Jews under Roman occupation, and in a simple place in Galilee of Judea, He asked a young woman if she would be willing to bear His Son. And she said "Yes". And this was more momentous than the whole beginning of the Universe and the Creation of the world as we know it. God, Himself, stepped into our time and our world. He became one of us. The magnitude of this fact is incomprehensible. God, Almighty God, came to be with us, to unite our existence with His. Heaven stepped into earth, and everything changed. The moment that happened the whole world was different. It was raised to a new level. A NEW Creation, with a New Eve and a New Adam. An expression of Love that was more powerful than the first. 

But that wasn't all. The Son, who came to live here with us, also came to die for us. The Word came to speak into our world another Truth. A third Big Bang. More powerful than the ones before. God was doing something unthinkable for us, but that's only because we can't think like He does. He took a body, so that He could give us His body, and then He died, he was buried, and HE ROSE from the dead! And He promises that we will also rise, if we believe and live in the New Covenant. The Mystery of His Love just gets deeper and better!! 

The last Big Bang will happen when all that He has intended is finished. When the last person that the Father has thought of is conceived, and can live eternally with Him, then the fulness of time will be complete. It's all about relationship. God has married us. We, the Church, are the Bride, and Christ is the Bridegroom. 

And that's not a theory. That is the Truth.

Love and Responsibility

 Something happened to me in the past couple of weeks. Most of it isn't for public consumption, but some of it is. 

I was very blest to be able to attend my 7th course with the Theology of the Body Institute, although this time it was an online course, which was very different from my previous experiences. The course was "Love and Responsibility" based on the book written by Karol Wojtyla, our now sainted John Paul II. He wrote the book in an earlier stage of the sexual revolution. An attempt to make it clear that the only appropriate response when engaging with a human person is Love and the recognition of their dignity as an eternal soul. The understanding that a person is always someone, and never something. 

That seems to go without saying, but when you drill down into everyday interactions between people it seems that maybe it doesn't.  Putting aside Murder, abuse, and crimes against humanity, there are millions of small, daily infractions that make it clear that we have a problem with the way that we see, or don't see, each other. 

I went into the course knowing that it would stretch me, and that I would come out different than I went in. TOB always provides a deep interior experience. I was prepared to learn and grow. I wanted that. I wasn't really prepared for the parts of me that would be opened up and exposed, or the things that I would see in the light. I wasn't prepared to go so far back into the past, and to see so much of my life and how the people and events that formed me also formed the way that I myself treat people. I can see so many places where I learned to protect myself, and as a result shut people out. The things that formed the way that I saw myself as a child, girl, and young woman, and the way that those things affected the way that I see other people. 

I won't go into those details, but something that hit me toward the end of the course is the way that I go about interacting with the people that I encounter in the course of attending to the daily details. It's one thing to be caring and careful with friends, family or the people that I am responsible to, like my directees, or people at the church, but I think its much more telling the way the I act toward those who are tasked with the "invisible" jobs. Customer service, people who provide services, people who have no choice as to whether they will interact with me. The Lord brought some things into clear focus and I am not at all proud of what I saw. It seems to me a truer test of my respect for the dignity of each person, to look at the people that are most likely to be treated as simply part of the machine of commerce and how I treat them. Yeah, I have been failing that test. 

This was just one small piece of the huge interior renovation that Jesus is inviting me to. If I didn't love and trust Him so much I would be very discouraged, but I know that He only wants this for the sake of my ability to love. And I do want to make Him happy. I want Him to be pleased, and I want to make other people happy, I really do. I can see so many ways that I have been closed to the whole person when I am offered an invitation to intimacy. Thinking that I can't "handle" too much exposure, of my wounds, and of the harder parts of relationships. 

The Lord wants me to look at people and to want to know them. No matter who they are. Within reason of course. He wants me to invite others to know me. I think that is the hardest part. I have often found that when people really know me, they are disappointed. I am found wanting. The truth about my lack of "cool" is exposed. Well, He wants me to see that I am wanted, and I am loved, and that my lack of cool isn't a problem for Him. 

So I guess I'll try to hear Him better in the moment. I'll try to hear His voice when I encounter another person. "This is my beloved child. Listen."