Incremental Steps

"Even this narrow exception of condom use, however, is an acknowledgment by the pope that the journey to holiness is usually a long-term process...[I]ncremental steps, which may or may not withstand moral scrutiny on their own, can reflect long-term moral growth in the context of a greater path to holiness." ~John Mattras, of Busted Halo (my emphasis)

Pope Benedict XVI's comments on condoms and AIDS have been all over the news, overshadowing anything else he spoke about in his recently released interview-book. Here is the official news from the Vatican on that book. If you've been anywhere near the internet for the past three or four days, you have heard the uproar from all sorts of people in all sorts of forums. The Busted Halo article on the subject talks about gradations of morality -- that some sins are graver than others -- which stays in line with Catholic teachings. If you want a more official perspective, the Vatican clarified what the Pope meant. And did it again, in a shorter form, if you don't have much of an attention span.

From what I understand, nothing the Pope said is horribly revolutionary, though it certainly is a new addition to the conversation about AIDS. As I commented yesterday, society likes to lose track of what things are. A condom is not objectively evil. A condom is a thing. Things in and of themselves have no moral weight. The way in which something is used has moral weight. Now the Pope distinguishes between manners of using things and surprises everyone, because even most Catholics have come to think that condoms are evil.

Pumpkin Pie

A week ago Wednesday the Freshmen Outreach team held one of CCM's most awesome events of the year: Freshmen Pie Night (made of real freshmen). In preparation I had two pie-making occasions. Tuesday night, I aided two CCM guys (a grad and a law student) in pie-baking. They contributed an apple and a key lime pie, respectively.

Monday was mine own pie day. I took one of the pumpkins that we had purchased for CCM's Halloween party and proceeded to turn it into food. By which I mean, I gutted it, pulling out the seeds and cleaning them. Then I chopped it into pieces and steamed it. After steaming it, I took the peel off and stuck it into the blender to end with pumpkin puree. I baked the seeds and used the puree to make a pie. I had gone from round, Jack-o-Lantern-to-be to FOOD!

Now comes the point where I wax metaphorical. As I was turning pumpkin into food, I was listening to beautifully twangy country music and musing over the fact that I was getting food from a pumpkin. Almost every year as a child, I helped pick out a pumpkin, and we carved it into a jack-o-lantern. In fact, every time I have purchased a pumpkin or witnessed the purchasing of a pumpkin, it has been to create a jack-o-lantern. At the same time, I have eaten pumpkin pies, pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin muffins... you get the picture. Yet never had I seen the process of transformation from round, orange gourd into pulpy puree. Pumpkin to carve is a gourd. Pumpkin to eat comes from a can.

We have divorced the meaning of the food pumpkin from the plant pumpkin. This divorce is a wider problem in our society : we forget what things are in our quest for convenience. I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with canned pumpkin. Having turned a gourd into food, I now have about half a gallon of pumpkin that I need to use, and the process took a long time. Next time I cook with pumpkin, I will probably get a can -- after I use what's left of this pumpkin, of course. However, we rarely consider what our food is. When was the last time you thought about the cow that gave you your milk? The plant on which your coffee beans grew?

This approach to food might explain at least a part of America's health and obesity problems. The implications of the divorce of meaning go far beyond food, however. Most of the evils in the world can be traced back to this lack of understanding. Consider abortion. Our society can tolerate abortion because it denies the reality of what the unborn child is -- a child.

Other interpersonal evils -- the way we treat each other -- comes back to the same idea. We don't think about what our sexuality is; so we use each other. We pay no attention to our waste; so we destroy our planet. We don't think about who we are; so we accept less than what we deserve. I know it's pretty deep to go from a pumpkin, but all that was baked into the pie.

Day-Maker #13

I walked into the office this morning, having had both a birthday and a day off yesterday. My floor was covered with balloons, including a set that (when I put it together) read: "Happy birthday, Beth"! I also had a lovely card, signed by much of CCM and a glow-stick magic wand with a star on top. I'm thinking it's for board meetings.

A Gem from a Friend

Catherine, a friend who keeps a pro-life blog, posted a video that I want to share. The speaker, Stephanie Gray, offers her best argument for life.

[Note: That is my friend's real name. What? Why? If you click the link to go to her blog, as you should, you will discover her name anyway.]

Making the Case for Life: Pro-Life Apologetics from Mark Harrington on Vimeo.

Five Years in the Planning

Last weekend, Wendy came back into town for an event that we'd been planning with Julia for five years. Way back when the three of us were sophomores, we took a class on Greek Civilization with a friend from CCM. The four of us spent many evenings in our dorm room studying for tests. When we learned about symposiums -- where Greek men sat around drinking and talking about love -- we decided that this tradition should be continued, by the four of us. However, since we were all 20 at the time, it wasn't about to happen right then.

Now, five years later, Julia and I are back in the 'burg, Wendy's parents live here and she's not far away, and our friend is at a med school rotation generally in the area. Thus, we decided to carry out our symposium plans! We had a surprise guest, a mutual friend who comes back to the area that night.

Everyone pooled in with alcohol and food, and Wendy brought talking points. She also brought some old dress-up material for togas, much to the males' chagrin. Mine eventually ended up over my head more as a veil than a toga. We ended up with a very good conversation about many things related to love and dating: marriage, soul-mates, filios vs eros, etc. We offered a variety of perspectives and ended up talking later into the night than we expected.

And You Are Christ's: The Charism of Virginity and the Celibate Life, Thomas Dubay, S.M.

More of an Idiot: And You Are Christ's: The Charism of Virginity and the Celibate Life, Thomas Dubay, S.M.: "I borrowed this book from a friend who is reading it as prep for a retreat. The sub-title really tells it all. Fr. Dubay writes about people who dedicate their lives to Christ as celibates. He explains it in terms of love, self-gift, and prayer, and contrasts this approach to ideas of freedom for service. He offers the idea that virginity for Christ is a radical, rich, and loving. The virgin remains single because she is completely given to God, totally in love with Him, and can't imagine anyone else as the focus of her life. He of course goes into detail and pulls on Scripture and the saints, but that is the long and short.

I enjoyed the book, but I think that's mostly because of where I am in life right now. It's an accessible read and insightful, however, if you are interested in the topic."

And the Green Grass Grows All Around

As I mentioned in my previous post, Percy picked me up in Richmond after I spent the morning sidewalk counseling. We went from Richmond to Lawrenceville, which is essentially in the middle of nowhere. One of Percy's friends from YouthWorks (a program for which Percy and I have both worked) is on a clogging team, and they were performing at a college there.

After a lovely ride to the soundtrack of bluegrass Disney (imagine "Circle of Life" meets "Let the Circle Be Unbroken," with a lot of banjo), we arrived in Lawrenceville a good hour before Percy's friend. So he and I explored the town. All of it, on foot, in one hour.

The first shop we walked into promised "Something for everyone." I spent most of my time in the store thinking how wrong that promise was. The entire store filled two large rooms -- and by filled, I mean that every inch of the two rooms was covered with stuff. It was all second-hand, and normally I am a fan of thrift shopping. But the chaos of the organization (again, just piles), combined with the obvious age of some products (metal tubes of toothpaste? TVs that are older than me!), added to the... eclectic taste in product (large plastic lobsters, a massage machine that looked like a space ship, furry car seat-covers...) made me hesitant to touch anything. Percy and I spent quite a while wandering, gawking, laughing...

And then I found what was for me. In the midst of the chaos, I pointed at a picture and cried: "I found Jesus!" And He was there... also, there was a picture of Him.

When we were leaving the store, something else happened to make me a fan of this store. The owner stepped out to talk to us. Addressing Percy, he handed him a flyer and said, "Next time you come back, your wife will say that you should go to..." And he looked at me to finish the sentence. So apparently Percy and I are married. Um. Yeah....

We wandered around into a second-hand boutique and an apple festival that was more of a yard sale. Then we met up with Percy's friend and his fiancee for lunch, where Percy and I were again told that we were a couple. After this incident, he started telling everyone about his male roommates.

We left the restaurant and Percy's friend pulled a ukulele from his trunk, and an Irish whistle. They proceeded to play the instruments on the street while singing and dancing, until a lady came out of a store to ask if this was a preview for the show tonight. Delighted, Percy's friend said yes.

We walked the town again with Percy's friend and his fiancee. Percy and I had seen a sign for an estate sale, but I had very strong feelings about not going to it. However, when the third person of the day told me that we should go to the estate sale, I decided that it was a sign from God and we wandered over. An old building was set up very nicely as a house. Except for the random stuffed (i.e. taxidermied) bird on a stick, it wasn't morbid, and we had a good time window shopping. Percy even found a kitchen table to bring home.

We decided to bring his car back to see if the table would fit. The woman working the sale gave four random strangers her home and cell phone numbers in case she wasn't there when we got back. She told Percy that he could even take it home and send her a check in the mail. I couldn't believe the amount of trust that still exists in some parts of the world.

Luckily, after much maneuvering, we managed to fit a kitchen table and four chairs into the back of Percy's car. We left the estate sale and finally got down to the business of watching clogging.

In case you (like me until very recently) have no idea what clogging is, think contra dancing (square dancing + ballroom) meets tap dancing, and you are very close. The Celtibillies (exactly what they sound like) played, and the Green Grass Cloggers and a group of Irish dancers danced, and good times were had by all. I was highly impressed and had a blast -- plus, we had been through the town so many times that day that townspeople greeted us like friends.

After the show, Percy and I hopped back into his car and his friend and the fiancee followed us back to the 'burg. Coming from the middle of nowhere, we took mostly back roads on the venture and ended up coming at town from a new direction. The road and stars were gorgeous and I was surprised by the fact that it worked and we made it back! Sometimes, I'm just a little too much of a skeptic.