Fifth Week of Lent

uno. I would be remiss not to reflect on the shooting incident on Capital Hill last weekend. This story is sad on many levels; can't think of them all and will not attempt to cover more than a few areas.

One thing which occurred to me is how to interpret the rules of membership; specifically between minors and adults. Minors are essentially powerless to control the resources adults generally take for granted. Under 16 they cannot drive; they usually have little or no access to money and even if physically mature they are not emotionally ready to navigate the complexities of adult urban life.

Given all of the above [and more], there is an unstated contract which requires adults to care for minors in their environment - it's just what a civilized society does. For an adult to treat a minor as a peer is out-of-balance; leads to a breakdown of the unstated contract to seek the care of the minor as preeminent. So often - and clearly this was the case on Capital Hill last weekend - there is an implicit trust of the adults, from the minors point of view. When those teenagers walked into that house, after the rave party had ended; they carried certain expectations about how they would be treated. And their hosts , again from the minors point of view, were to honor these expectations.

So as the membership lines blur; where minors enter a world beyond their years, and adults are hosts to [essentially] children, may Our Father guard each to be stewards of a delicate but foundational relationship.

Now it's time to go off on the NRA. This man clearly had the will to kill but almost as important he had the means. The apex of his rage met with the tools of destruction; perhaps one fueling the other until it could not be contained. We may never know what set off the time bomb in his psyche but we can be absolutely certain of the mechanism. I would be interested to hear the NRA defend the recreational use of a pistol grip 12-guage shotgun. What sort of recreational activities does this sort of weapon require; other than pure destruction?

Christ was tempted in the desert; Satan offered the world, dominion and power over the world if Christ would bow to the fallen angel. Christ did not and we are asked in faith to follow the same decision against temptation. Yet guns seem to be the same temptation wrought on man to manufacture the illusion of power. What is a man with a pistol grip 12-guage shotgun amongst teenagers if not powerful [at least in the narrowest sense from within a selfish perspective]? What voices of artificial dominion haunted this man moments before he executed the will of this dillusional power?

Now the ultimate kneeling of my heart is to have mercy for this killer, for the tortured soul used to destroy other souls. Unfortunately I can't go there right now because it hurts to think about each of the young lives lost, imagining how Deborah and I would feel if it was our personal loss. Oh Father please have mercy on those families as they suffer so deeply.

And the vanity of guns extends to higher levels; when nations engage in war as a form of artificial power. Is power the opposite of peace? Is man seeking to control the illusion of power the opposite of peace? When a nation sends young men and women to a foriegn land to kill other young men and women, we load the weapons [so to speak] of abusive power. More to pray on.

dos. Father Harbaugh asked us to remember the homily he shared heading into Lent; can't remember it word for word but it was related to lamenting the condition of all people, remembering some do suffer, whether we like it or not. And sometimes those who suffer we may not like, or love. It's not going to be easy serving; especially serving those who are not whom we would choose to serve. This is conviction because it makes me think I don't have the right to be served; came here [existence] to serve. My heart should be beating to the drum of social justice; essentially the training I received as child to Chula. This was and is her life. Watch how she gives, how she has always given - even those she may not like.

tres. The guitar sits in the corner of the dining room. Why did it appear during Lent? This will be lifted in prayer. I want to learn how to play this instrument to express the deepest prayer; the wailing of our elders who have voices eternally calling out through each of us. They lived before us not by chance but by design. We can't run away from who they are or what they did on their best/worst days. It's one of the sad tragedies of our extended family, we know so little beyond a few incomplete stories. There are whispers of names and meaning behind the names but the whole story is a complete mystery. So let the mystery sing it's song; and we play music to pass it on.

quatro. Roman politics at work; at work. I was taught to seek leadership but question those who claim to lead us. Never take the command of a strong voice as final, or right. My place of work is the complete arc of these concepts played out; with characters drawn from blank pages trying to fill in with color. There is one good man in this realm who has become a member of our family through action as the support of each word. He has done what he says. I admire those who humble themselves before the priority of family - hard as this is on a daily basis - and quietly set it in motion as the model to follow. Again, this is rare in my place of work.

cinco. The leak stopped; thanks to Dennis and Denny. It was like Chinese torture; a constant flow of drips to drill into the mind and stir thoughts of torn down walls. Now we are [at least with this area of the remodel] at peace. Energy can be focused on other anxieties.

ses. Easter will be here soon. I miss you all. Can we still try to pray together; and for the children, fill baskets with goodies from the lawn? There's plenty.

See you next week. Con paz.

frank