7 Quick Takes Friday #70

See more 7 Quick Takes Friday contributions at Jennifer Fulwiler's Conversion Diary.

The past week or so is probably best summarized as a series of time periods, overlapping. Some times have been interesting, others disconcerting, and yet others simply an example of the passage of time.

1. A time of accidents. Last week my co-catechist was enroute to our class when a drunk driver pulled out in front of her and she crashed into him, totalling her car and ending in the ditch. Fortunately, she was okay. Unfortunately, she had all our teaching materials with her, so I grabbed a movie from our shelves and after having the kids pray for her showed a movie, arranging the room like a movie theater. The experience was successful -- and we even rummaged chips and drinks from our supply cupboard. The movie was great, and I recommend it to all catechists: Joshua. I won't spoil the movie by relating the plot. This week it was my turn. My brakes did not hold in go-stop-go-stop traffic, and when I ended up in go mode and had to stop quickly, the brakes did not hold, and my car ended up pinned on the trailer hitch of the truck in front of me. Actually, it looked rather obscene. The car is fixable, but it will take a little time and cost a lot of money because I had the chutzpah to take a $1000 deductible. (Seemed reasonable at the time -- I had not been in an accident in twenty years.) The car has 200,000 miles on it, so tomorrow Donnie and I are driving to San Jose to look at a possible replacement car. A new car is not a bad consolation for the experience of an accident.

2. A time of tech! Oh, la, la! The technology that has penetrated my life this week! Bright and early Monday morning, my boss decided to call a web meeting. I came in early to make sure everything was set up alright. That was fortuitous. I had not used the web conferencing program for so long that my password had expired, and I had to ask our tech support folks to call over to the network administrator and have a new one assigned. Whew! I wiggled out of the unexpected Tuesday web conference by assigning it to two of my senior managers, who repeated my Monday experience since their passwords, too, had expired. On Wednesday, I drove to headquarters to attend the ribbon-cutting for our new fancy network (replacing our older, slower model). It was on the way back from there that I had my accident. Thursday morning was spent in flipping slides at a quarterly report-out to my boss. Low tech, not high tech, but tech nonetheless. Today, I got to see some really fancy social network developed by a local institute and being used in helpful ways to put severe limitations on local criminal activity -- pretty neat stuff and well worth the half-hour trip and trek (more trek than trip -- had a long, long walk from a distance parking lot).

3. A time of stress. Did I mention the slide-flipping presentation for my boss? We do this once a quarter. In fact, we call it the quarterly review and analysis, and each of my managers get to stand up and explain his or her accomplishments during the previous quarter. Failures must be analyzed and explained. Although I know my boss pretty well, I have never been able to predict just which items will become sticking points for him. The presentations always go well, in general, and so did this one. I try to ensure that by bringing in pastries and fruit. At least, if the presentation goes sour, there is something tasty in the room to balance the taste left in our mouths!

4. A time of busyness. The past month has been a very busy time. The amount of work this week, though, has been unprecedented -- or so it seemed. We had visitors who needed to be briefed every single day. Well, that is not so uncommon. Many days we have had a visitor in past times. However, this week we have had 2-3 every day. I had to hand off some of the briefings and meetings I would otherwise have liked to attend because I could not be in 2-3 places at the same time. So, I chose the ones that best fit my schedule rather than those that best fit my interest. It did not help that one of my key senior managers has been on a business trip this week and not available to help. Oh, well, as we say at my office, it is better to be overworked than to have no work at all! I also have to admit to some play time. The visitors were balanced with two lunar new year holiday parties. We have a Korean contingent and a Chinese contingent. Both celebrate the lunar new year with food and entertainment. I sent each home an hour early, so I was very popular this week. (At least, some folks got a little less stress than I.)

5. A time of planning. It is amazing that, given the intensity of each moment of the week, that I had any opportunity to think ahead and plan anything at all. However, Tuesday lunch was a wonderful respite: a move from thinking about the past (the quarterly review and analysis) and present (all the visitors and tech and accidents and the like) to some time spent thinking about the future. A colleague and I met for lunch at our favorite local Chinese restaurant and worked out plans to finish a book that I had drafted in 2003, that a publisher still wants, and that my colleague, now that she has completed her doctorate, would like to help me finish and, with her newfound knowledge, is able to do so. We are now trying to move ahead on fast forward, but that is probably more dream than reality. However, my Chinese fortune cookie did tell me that "a dream is about to become a reality."

6.  A time of people. One would think that with all the "stuff" that was going on this week there would have been no time for people, but quite the opposite was true. People issues of all sorts sprang up. On Tuesday I had a mediation meeting with a judge with an employee from another division who wanted to sue our division for not hiring him. Happily, I was able to show beyond a shadow of a doubt that the decision was based on fair criteria, and the employee withdrew his lawsuit. Yes! Other situations, though, were not as happy. One employee whom I have known for years and with whom I have worked clsoely at some times in the past has become seriously ill but is unwilling to take the time off that he needs to get well, if getting well is possible, given that he is now elderly and struggling with diabetes and cancer. He has failed to show up for work, and when he has come in, he has been barely able to walk. We have no system that will force him to take care of himself, so his manager and I have been brainstorming some kind of compassionate approach to support him and still get the work done that needs to be accomplished. Then, two employees who had been fired by another division appealed to me through my boss for a second chance. I was able to accommodate one of them; I felt sorry for the other one because my managers could probably have trained her to work with our teams but I had no opening at all for her. This is not a good time to lose one's job. The saddest of all was my new deputy. He managed to work for me for all of two days, making me quite joyous because he is highly skilled and actually under-placed in my division. My boss's boss quickly realized this and took him to work with him. So, apparently, I will continue to be overworked until a suitable candidate can be found to replace my deputy who left in July. Sigh!

7. A time for critters. Yes, finally, some time to relax enough to enjoy the time with our cats: Murjan, Intrepid, and Simone. Time for a visit to the vet, which they absolutely hate. Simone once bit the vet in her fear. They don't like the carrier even though it is quite large, and often they will be cranky with each other for hours after they return. Vexed by being locked up, I guess. Well, happy surprise, a few weeks ago a new vet (well, the only vet we have) moved into town, and she does home visits. Yes! She came to our house and met our cats. She and Murjan did a fine job of bonding, and she was able to take of all his needs. However, Interpret and Simone did not want to have anything to do with her. She decided to give them some time, and she will come back tomorrow and finish up with their needs. It is so great not to have to pack up the cats and drag them off to a distant city!

Have a great weekend! I think I am going to have a busy one -- new car, insurance claim, vet, visiting Doah, Mass, and more. Still, a change of pace from work is always welcome! Wishing you all rest, peace, and happiness, at least for the next two days!

Letter Home from a Redneck Farm Kid in the Marine Corps

Another goodie from the Internet. I usually don't care for redneck jokes, but, as a former Army officer, this particular letter tickled me. Hope you enjoy it!

Dear Ma and Pa,

I am well. Hope you are. Tell Brother Walt and Brother Elmer the Marine Corps beats working for old man Minch by a mile. Tell them to join up quick before all of the places are filled.

I was restless at first because you get to stay in bed till nearly 6 a.m. But I am getting so I like to sleep late. Tell Walt and Elmer all you do before breakfast is smooth your cot, and shine some things. No hogs to slop, feed to pitch, mash to mix, wood to split, fire to lay.

Practically nothing.

Men got to shave but it is not so bad, there's warm water. Breakfast is strong on trimmings like fruit juice, cereal, eggs, bacon, etc., but kind of weak on chops, potatoes, ham, steak, fried eggplant, pie and other regular food, but tell Walt and Elmer you can always sit by the two city boys that live on coffee. Their food, plus yours, holds you until noon when you get fed again. It's no wonder these city boys can't walk much.

We go on 'route marches,' which the platoon sergeant says are long walks to harden us. If he thinks so, it's not my place to tell him different. A 'route march' is about as far as to our mailbox at home. Then the city guys get sore feet and we all ride back in trucks.

The sergeant is like a school teacher. He nags a lot. The Captain is like the school board. Majors and colonels just ride around and frown. They don't bother you none.

This next will kill Walt and Elmer with laughing. I keep getting medals for shooting. I don't know why. The bulls-eye is near as big as a chipmunk head and don't move, and it ain't shooting at you like the Higgett boys at home. All you got to do is lie there all comfortable and hit it. You don't even load your own cartridges They come in boxes.

Then we have what they call hand-to-hand combat training. You get to wrestle with them city boys. I have to be real careful though, they break real easy. It ain't like fighting with that ole bull at home. I'm about the best they got in this except for that Tug Jordan from over in Silver Lake. I only beat him once ... He joined up the same time as me, but I'm only 5'6' and 130 pounds and he's 6'8' and near 300 pounds dry.

Be sure to tell Walt and Elmer to hurry and join before other fellers get onto this setup and come stampeding in.

Your loving daughter ,

Alice

Monday Morning Meditation #112: Of What Does Justice Consist?

A difficult weekend capped my difficult week. I almost never bring work home for the weekend. I am categorically against doing that. The weekend is my time with family and God. I will work very late into the evening, sometimes as late as midnight, in order to get all my work done and avoid bringing homework home. (Hm, I thought homework ended with one's school days, but clearly this is not the case.) So, after working until nearly midnight on Friday, I ended up with, sigh!, lots and lots of homework for the weekend. That left little time for anything this weekend except Mass on Saturday at our town's little mission you see here and on Sunday with Doah at a larger church in a nearby city, where he lives, and work, work, work. I am delighted, therefore, to find a few minutes for meditation Monday morning prior to the start of another brutal week.

The reading this week comes from the second chapter of Micah. It appears that this book is going to be rich in thought-provoking readings. At the beginning of this chapter, it is written:

¹ Woe to those who plan iniquity,
   to those who plot evil on their beds!
At morning’s light they carry it out
   because it is in their power to do it.
² They covet fields and seize them,
   and houses, and take them.
They defraud people of their homes,
   they rob them of their inheritance.

About this situation, God says that it cannot go on forever. He will ensure justice:

 “I am planning disaster against this people,
   from which you cannot save yourselves.
You will no longer walk proudly,
   for it will be a time of calamity.
⁴ In that day people will ridicule you;
   they will taunt you with this mournful song:
‘We are utterly ruined;
   my people’s possession is divided up.
He takes it from me!
   He assigns our fields to traitors.’”

Oh, how like so many situations we encounter millennia later!

Reading: Micah 2

Meditation: These verses remind me of the question that my first-year confirmation students ask me in our religious education classes. First, they want to know the converse of the question raised and answered in these verses: Why do bad things happen to good people? (I have written about that topic at length on this blog and in my various publications.) Then, thinking a little longer on this topic, they want to know: Why do good things happen to bad people? I suppose most of us get a little irritated at times when those who do not love God or each other seem to be the ones who get ahead in this world. Why is God favoring these people, we wonder?

Micah poses what to me is an acceptable response. They are not being graced with anything special. They are taking it for themselves. Ultimately, if the continue to ignore and disrespect God, they will get their comeuppance. It is not up to us to judge them; God will judge them in His good time.

That is one part of the answer. Another part, it seems to me, can be presented through another question: Just what is it that they are receiving that we want? Getting ahead in this world? Is it this world where we want to be recognized and accepted and to which we contribute and for which contributions we are rewarded or is it that world, the Kingdom of God? Does it really matter how well another seems to fare in the Kingdom of Man? Of what is there to be envious in that case? I know how I would answer that question -- there is nothing for which to be envious. Let the rich have their earthly riches. It is the heavenly riches -- those that often appear in the form of poverty -- that bring the greatest blessings and, if we allow, the greatest joy.

Contemplation: That is far as I can go with you this Monday morning. I now retire to private prayer to praise God a kingdom in which the last are first and the first last. I will ask forgiveness for ever even thinking that getting ahead in this world in and of itself is something for which to strive. I will also ask God to remind me, whenever needed, which kingdom is the important one. Then I will move on to contemplation, my favorite part of the day, letting God take over the direction in which my relationship with Him moves.

I will leave you now to your prayer and contemplation. First, though, I would like to bring to your attention a Monday morning prayer post that you might enjoy:

Fr. Austin Fleming, priest of the Archdiocese of Boston and pastor in Concord, Massachusetts, posts a prayer each Monday morning that he calls "Monday Morning Offering." I enjoy his prayers very much. I think you also will find them inspirational. He has graciously given me permission to include a link to his blog on my Monday Morning Meditation posts. (During the week, he also posts great homilies and other thoughtful discussions. I enjoy reading those, too, as do readers of this blog who have taken the stroll over to his blog.)




For additional inspiration throughout the week, I would point out two sets of blogs: (1) the list of devotional blogs on my sidebar and (2) my blogroll, where I am following a number of inspirational priests and writers about spiritual matters. I learn so very much from all these people. I highly recommend them to you.

Spiritual Sunday #39: On the Unwiseness of Taking Things Back

For more Spiritual Sunday posts, I recommend that you wander over to the website of Charlotte and Ginger, who host the Spiritual Sunday meme.

Because I do not blog on Sundays -- keeping it as the sabbath, a practice started by Fr. Christian Mathis (Blessed Is the Kingdom) -- I use older posts (forgotten perhaps but hopefully still interesting) from one or another of my blogs that seem appropriate for this meme. It seems to work to bring out the older posts that many have not read before or ones from other blogs I maintain that readers of 100th Lamb may not know about.

This week I have chosen a post from 2009, a lesson learned and re-learned and one I hope I will now always remember: On the Unwiseness of Taking Things Back.

Wishing you a peaceful Sunday!

Monday Morning Meditation #111: God's Love and Compassion Are Meant for All

I cannot believe that I did not put this up in the morning. It was not a matter of time; I had seemingly plenty of it since I had the day off. Yippee! However, one thing after another came along -- Mass and post-Mass tea with a friend, editing an article for a young professional in Turkey (not sure how she found me; she popped up on my Facebook page a few months ago, asking me to friend her although I did not know her -- I sometimes do that with young professionals in my field), vet, home business requirements, taxes (yeah, gotta think about those now; I try to get them done early, but I don't always succeed), prayer group movie night (at my house -- so that requires scurrying around, making sure everything in the house sparkles, especially the bathrooms and picking up munchies at the store), laundry, and likely a lot more that I have already forgotten. Oh, and, of course, the tumble I took that laid me flat out on my back and temporarily knocked the wind out of me. Nothing broken or damaged, thank God. I did not forget the MMM, however, and so, assuming that the saying "better late than never" holds in this case, here it is.

The reading this week comes from the last chapter of Jonah, chapter 4. Jonah is, indeed, a short book, but for me, it is a powerful book. My life seems to have some parallels with Jonah, and I can certainly empathize with some of his feelings. Chapter 4 tells of Jonah's anger at God's compassion on the Ninevites, whose destruction he had been sent to preach, only to learn that God would not destroy them because they repented.

Reading: Jonah 4

Meditation: Last week, I commented about how my job situation had taken a path along the lines of Jonah's task to preach to the Ninevites. I have long been aware of that parallelism. However, I had not thought much about the conclusion to Jonah's story until I read it today. I really do understand Jonah's anger (or, at least, frustration). All that work -- and embarrassment -- for nothing!

Earlier the end of the story struck me as Jonah going off the deep end and being a selfish person. However, now that I have had so much contrary experience with the task of dealing with Adrian (as I pseudonymized the real person in my book, A Believer-in-Waiting's First Encounters with God), or Goliath, as I referred to him in earlier posts on 100th Lamb and Modern Mysticism. I seemed to be tasked with combatting the sense of evil that seemed always to surround Adrian, then was told to "love him," and the later he seemed to get off scot-free. (Sort of like when I was told my abusive mother "lives in grace.") Just like Jonah, I have had to come to terms with the reality that God gets to make the judgments, not I. (But, oh, how I would like to be the one to make them!)

Contemplation: That is far as I can go with you this Monday morning. I now retire to private prayer to praise God for love that goes beyond anything I can imagine. I will ask forgiveness for my petty reactions when I see such love being given to my nemeses and will give thanks for being gently guided into more proper thinking, as was Jonah. I will also ask God to readjust my attitude whenever a readjustment is needed. Then I will move on to contemplation, my favorite part of the day, letting God take over the direction in which my relationship with Him moves.

I will leave you now to your prayer and contemplation. First, though, I would like to bring to your attention a Monday morning prayer post that you might enjoy:

Fr. Austin Fleming, priest of the Archdiocese of Boston and pastor in Concord, Massachusetts, posts a prayer each Monday morning that he calls "Monday Morning Offering." I enjoy his prayers very much. I think you also will find them inspirational. He has graciously given me permission to include a link to his blog on my Monday Morning Meditation posts. (During the week, he also posts great homilies and other thoughtful discussions. I enjoy reading those, too, as do readers of this blog who have taken the stroll over to his blog.)




For additional inspiration throughout the week, I would point out two sets of blogs: (1) the list of devotional blogs on my sidebar and (2) my blogroll, where I am following a number of inspirational priests and writers about spiritual matters. I learn so very much from all these people. I highly recommend them to you.

Monday Morning Meditation #110

Last Monday, I had a wonderful, leisurely day. This week, it appears, Monday will be a "gotcha" day -- don't plan to get much relaxation. The stress machine started on Friday evening when I had to work until 10:00 p.m., then realized that my purse was locked in the conference room, and it took me over half an hour to find a security officer to open the room for me since I made the discovery of not having the purse at the moment that both security officers took off on perimeter security duty, leaving the building empty for some time. (I was beginning to think I would have to spend the weekend there, but fortunately all ended okay. "Ending well" might be a bit of an overstatement.) For the first time in a long time, I brought work home. It is not yet finished, so am going in very early and am hoping that my deputy can handle my meetings so that I can finish the work (about 100 hours of work and two workdays to do it, plus what I could eke out this weekend, which was not much because on Friday my sister-in-law was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer, which has a very poor prognosis and has engendered much family discussion about how to be supportive).

So, with more than a little on my mind, I returned to Hosea, looking for some insights. However, I found nothing more there from what I have written about in earlier posts from Hosea, so I proceeded through Amos and then Obadiah. I guess, given the news of the weekend, I was looking for something other than the wrath of God against Israel although, of course, we can learn much from those early days. I found a different message in Jonah, one I have written about before but also one that is worth repeating.

Reading: Jonah 1-3

Meditation: The story of Jonah will also be special to me because I have lived the story of Jonah. God sent Jonah to Ninevah, but he did not want to go. Instead, he went off in another direction. Imagine his surprise when the whale threw him up on shore in exactly the place that God wanted him to be.

That is pretty much what happened to me. God wanted me in my present job, but I sought other jobs. All the doors were closed to me, including the job I had been holding. Then, after taking my present job, I sought a different job again and ended up among the top three candidates. Once again, that door was closed to me: the job was never filled. A third time, other, seemingly better, opportunities arose, but that time I knew better than to start down the path where God did not want me because, as God did with Jonah, I knew God would do with me -- send me right back where He wanted me. So, like Jonah ("Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD" - Jonah 3:3), I decided to obey, and I have not regretted it.

Contemplation: That is far as I can go with you this Monday morning. I now retire to private prayer to praise God for knowing better than I where I should be. I will ask forgiveness for all the times I tried to walk in the opposite direction and will give thanks for being brought back to where I needed to be -- three times. I will also ask God to continue to guide my steps because I do know that He knows best. Then I will move on to contemplation, my favorite part of the day, letting God take over the direction in which my relationship with Him moves.

I will leave you now to your prayer and contemplation. First, though, I would like to bring to your attention a Monday morning prayer post that you might enjoy:

Fr. Austin Fleming, priest of the Archdiocese of Boston and pastor in Concord, Massachusetts, posts a prayer each Monday morning that he calls "Monday Morning Offering." I enjoy his prayers very much. I think you also will find them inspirational. He has graciously given me permission to include a link to his blog on my Monday Morning Meditation posts. (During the week, he also posts great homilies and other thoughtful discussions. I enjoy reading those, too, as do readers of this blog who have taken the stroll over to his blog.)




For additional inspiration throughout the week, I would point out two sets of blogs: (1) the list of devotional blogs on my sidebar and (2) my blogroll, where I am following a number of inspirational priests and writers about spiritual matters. I learn so very much from all these people. I highly recommend them to you.

When Someone Kicks You, Still Your Leg

I thought I might share, this sleepy Saturday, a vignette I just posted on Mahlou Musings. Here it is:

When someone kicks you, kicking back is not always the answer. Sometimes it seems that a nice swift kick, especially in a vulnerable spot, would garner a wonderful feeling. However, holding one's leg back from doing what it wants to do sometimes ends with even better results than any amount of revenge would have brought. In short, don't get mad, and don't get even: get what you want.

In my own life, I have written three doctoral dissertations in order to finally finish one doctoral degree. For one fabricated reason after another, my department chair did not accept the first two. (Rumor told me that he blamed me for his not being hired at the institute where I worked and had told one of the other graduate students that I would finish my degree only over his dead body -- a rumor that appeared to be true at face value although he would not state something like this publicly and I never cared enough to expend the effort to confirm the details. Since I was a slow learner, apparently, it took two dissertations for me to realize that perhaps the rumor was true and at the very least something was wrong.) I could have sued the university, had I had the inclination, money, and energy, and I might have won. I could have taken on the chair in other ways, but I did not. I chose to move on from a painful situation, still the leg that wanted to kick back, make my career through competent work and publication, and wait for serendipity to help with the dissertation and degree issue.

Many people along the way offered to help, and that made me feel validated. The department chair of another department at the same university wrote me a note of encouragement, suggesting that I complete the degree elsewhere and let her know when I could put the initials behind my name; that comment kept me going for years, and I was able eventually to let her know that she could, indeed, use those initials.

Colleagues treated me as if I had "punched" the dissertation ticket, and I have not been held back in my career. In fact, I would not trade my career for any other. For that reason, too, I have not felt the need for revenge. As for the dissertations I wrote, they proved useful in other ways -- another reason for not taking revenge.

The first dissertation topic was quite esoteric. I received a couple of fellowships to conduct the research for it in Siberia during the height of the Cold War, a time when Americans did not go to Siberia, least of all for research. I not only went there, but also I took my oldest daughter, Lizzie, with me. Through the years, the Siberian connection has been of professional and personal value. I have many friends there, have provided much consultation there, and was able to bring a child artist from there to the United States for medical treatment. If I had not worked on that dissertation, none of those connections would have been made. Besides, I made a conference presentation and published an article on the dissertation.

The second dissertation topic was less exciting, but it helped me land a dream job in my specialty, a job that most people get only at the end of their careers but which I got at the beginning of mine. Although my advisor never read the dissertation, it has been published piecemeal as several articles, presented at numerous conferences, and cited in the works of others. That is better than revenge.

The best outcome was that the trajectory of the kick landed me in an extraordinary position much later. I have now completed a third dissertation, this in in Russia, at a university that is better respected than my original university. Had either of the other two dissertations been read and processed, I would not have been eligible to do the later degree. Perhaps thanks to my earlier negative experience, I appreciated all the more the comment that was made by the department chair in Russia at the end of my dissertation pre-defense: "We don't know why you need us, but we feel fortunate that you came to us."

----

Excerpted and adapted from a collection of vignettes I published, copyright 2003.