The Sum Is Greater Than Its Parents

When you first become a parent, you have some pretty stupid, uninformed ideas as to what that means. There are SO many things you have to learn, SO many ways you have to grow and mature and SO many ways to be surprised.

For some reason, relishing in my ignorance, I somehow believed that my kids could do no better than what my wife and I genetically bring to the table. Yes, that means I forgot that we both have generations of DNA waiting to be unleashed from family members gone by... I told you, I was an idiot.

So, when my kids started doing things better than I could have ever imagined, it caught me off guard. As a writer, I love words, but my daughter has had a mastery of language that I could not even have comprehended at her age. She is an incredibly talented writer and is able to phrase things in such tremendously beautiful ways.

And my son is a baseball freak, in the best sense of the word. His skills, understanding and competitiveness when it comes to baseball are years ahead of most kids his age. He's eight, can throw over 40 mph fastball and is a switch hitter. I was lucky to remember to wear my cup when I was eight and he's making diving catches at third base.

This pleasant surprise... that my kids have unique talents, has been a great ride for both of us. As a parent, I get to foster their God-given talents and watch them achieve things I could never achieve and they get to have our support and attempt tasks with unknown outcomes with the knowlege that we will be there to catch them if they fall.

Again, I am brought back to the thought that being a parent gives us greater insight into God. That He is there through our journey and will catch us when we fall.

I was sitting in my living room the other night watching my children and I was so filled with love for them. And I looked up to heaven and thought, "God, you love us even more than I love my children, don't you?" How He must take great joy in our overcoming obstacles, of fulfilling our dreams, of sharing that success with Him. As with any parent, you want your children to be both independent and, at the same time, actively involved in your life.

So, as my children continue to explore frontiers specifically designed for them, I sit gladly in the passenger seat and enjoy the ride, all the while reminding myself to make sure God sits next to me when as I brave through my own personal adventures.

Painful Lessons Learned

My heart aches for those pour souls in New Orleans...

The most disheartening aspect of all of this is the fact that so many people who should have known better appear to be caught by surprise.

• If your city is on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, below sea level, surrounded by a lake and a mighty river and is only dry because of levies and numerous pumping stations, how can the Mayor of New Orleans and the Govenor of Louisiana NOT have a disaster plan in place, ready to go, that facilitates a massive evacuation of a city underwater?
• How can the Mayor and Govenor of Louisiana not have understood the human toll? They know how many people own cars in New Orleans. They also know how many people live in New Orleans. Yet, they did not know that thousands of poor would have no quick way to exit the city?
• How can the Mayor and Govenor of Louisiana provide a "solution" where they plop thousands of people in the Superdome without beds, without water, without food and without generators?
• How can news reporters get into the area, but soldiers or police cannot?
• How can news helicopters fly around, but helicopters full of water cannot?
• How could all of this been a surprise to anyone who's job it is to know that this could happen?

I feel so badly for those displaced people in New Orleans. Personally, I think they should tear everything down, call it Lake New Orleans, and rebuild the place in the spirit of Venice, Italy... a city on the water.

Unfortunately, there are months ahead of more painful lessons to be learned. The only silver lining I can find out of this horrible event is that I hope our government officials are better suited to respond to such widespread destruction in a much more efficient manner. Because I believe it is only a matter of time before a terrorist organization unleases a WMD in the US, whether that be a dirty bomb, a nuke or a virus of some sort... I can only hope and pray that our government response will be vastly better from the lessons learned from the awful events unfolding after Hurricane Katrina.

Home Is Where The Theater Is...

As a movie junkie and theater nut, cinema is my life. If I weren't so religious, the movie theater would be my church and movie actors, my idols.

Human beings are inherently drawn to shared experiences such as family gatherings, sporting events, stage performances and movie theaters. But the pain of the movie experience has quickly outweighed the gain of watching a movie with hundreds of strangers.

Going to the movies used to be a wonderful experience. Something special. For your nickel you got cartoons, new reels, movie serials and perhaps a double feature. Now, for your ten bucks you get 30 minutes of television commercials, 20 minutes of movie trailers, vastly overpriced concession products, cellphones ringing, inconsiderate movie goers, and the first look of a film that will be available on DVD within six months.

Going to the movies used to be an event, now it's an expensive extension of my living room... which made me wonder why I don't just put the theater in my house.

So, in a fit of temporary insanity, I decided to turn my home office into a home theater. I immediately rode the wave of excitement and completely destroyed my office in no time... removing the carpet, tile, everything. Nothing but barren walls and a concrete floor. Then a thought occured to me... putting a movie theater in here is going to cost money! Probably more than I anticipate! Plus, I have no carpentry skills what-so-ever! And I can't do electrical work either!

Huh. This could be a problem.

So, the room sat in its naked state for months as I designed the eventual transformation and bartered some carpentry skills from a good friend. The constuction would consist of five basic areas...
1) an entertainment center to hold the electronics and movie screen
2) a built in desk for my computer and video editing hardware
3) a mini-concessions/candy rack with a mini-fridge, above which would store DVDs
4) a riser in the back half of the room for two-level seating.
5) a mosaic tile of the Local Talent Productions logo.

Eight months have passed and we're finally making headway.

I've finally completed the mini-concession/candy rack area. The mosaic tile is done. We're about 50% done on the desk, 50% done on the entertainment center and 30% done on the risers.

I hope to have it all completed by the start of football season. It may not be completely done, but if it's close enough for me to plop down the projector and watch the Bucs vs. Vikes the first week, I'll be a happy camper. I'll have more on the project as things progress.

In the end, I'll have a small movie theater in my house where my love for movies can be enjoyed, without the interruptions, the commercials and the overly expensive snacks.

God's Plan vs. Our Plan

This week's homily was by a priest in charge of the diocesan vocations for priests, nuns and other religious positions. Being married, the only area of interest for me would be becoming a deacon, but I believe that will have to wait until the kids are out of the house.

In any event, he began his homily with a very simple, yet powerful statement. He explained the God has a plan for all of us and it is up to us as to whether we will follow that plan.

I thought about that for a long time... God has an individually designed specific divine plan for each and every one of us. And, with Free Will, we have the ability to either take that path or ignore God's call. For a long time, I wondered how I was to meld my creative passions with my faith and am actively working toward that end. But is that the right path? My path?

And, yet, I am reminded by the writings of St. Paul when he states that we are all part of God's one body. That, just as our body is made up of different organs and functions, we too bring different talents, skills and paths to God's body. Some of us are apologists, some of us raise our children with God as a focus, some of us evangelize, some of us write, some of us paint, some of us sing, some of us help, some of us lead, some of us follow... but with each skill comes a unique path that God has laid for us... will we take it? I'm sure there will be bumps in the road and the path may, at times, look as if it is leading us into trouble or discomfort, but if it is laid by the Creator, then why do we resist taking it?

I continue to ponder that question, what is God's path for me? And am I willing to trust Him enough to take it? It is only through prayer that the answer will be shown to me... do I have enough faith to pray and ask for that answer? What if God wants me to do something I don't want to do?

Ugh... faith... it sure ain't easy.

Medicine Oil?

Why is the oil industry the only industry that raises prices when they only have the POTENTIAL for issues to arise? I remember when the Exxon Valdes spilled oil in Alaska and suddenly ALL of the oil companies raised prices because of the cost to Exxon on the clean up.

Excuse me?

If I had a sports bar and I was in competition with three other sports bars and I had a fire in my bar, do you think they'd raise prices while I rebuilt? No, they'd watch me die a slow and painful capitalistic death and celebrate their greater share of the sports bar market.

But with the oil companies, if they even hint that one of them is going to have issues, everyone gets in on the "let's screw the average Joe" mentality. So, Hurricane Katrina is going to move through the Gulf of Mexico... let's raise prices! Is there any damage? Don't know, raise prices! But we don't even know what the impact is to the market? We don't need to know, raise prices!

What a scam!

Long mileage hybrids can't come soon enough for me. And here's a message to the hybrid car makers... if home electricians can load up your hybrid car's trunk with batteries and turn their 40 mpg cars into 200 mpg cars, don't you think you guys could at least offer that as an option?

I can't be the only person who thinks of this stuff... I'm simply not that smart!

I should have started an oil company or an insurance company. I'd be filthy rich and then, perhaps, I would understand the justification for screwing hard earned cash out of every American citizen for the sake of my own, excessively deep pockets.

*Sigh* Nah, that wouldn't have helped... my damn morals would have gotten in the way.

Our Prayers Are With You...

Our prayers, this morning, are with the residents of New Orleans and the coast of Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. Having survived four hurricanes last year, we know just how powerful Mother Nature can be when she's ticked off.

I have visited New Orleans a few times. My wife went to college there and we were lucky enough to attend the SEC Championship Game when the Florida Gators took on the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.

Personally, I found the city of New Orleans to be a city of extremes... a city founded on Catholicism (i.e., what we call counties, they call parishes), full of history and vibrancy, but also oozing with decadence and immorality. As I walked through the historic French Quarter I couldn't help but wonder if Sodom or Gomorrah resembled such a city. New Orleans reminded me of the nature of sin... enticing in the dark, but ugly in the light of day.

I wondered to myself if God's Wrath would eventually wipe the slate clean there and other places. I certainly did not wish any ill will to all of the people there, especially those of faith. But I did wonder if the Old Testament God would revisit our world and set us straight on His path once again.

We have first hand experience of what destruction of a strong hurricane can have on people. Last year we drove down to Wachula, Florida with our church to provide assistance and deliver water and food to those out in the rural areas. It was brutal to see the destruction for miles on end, to see houses and livelihoods turned into an unrecognizable pile of rubble. We were spared such destruction so far and we are grateful.

So, our family has prayed repeatedly for those people about to be impacted by Hurricane Katrina. Perhaps in the turmoil and the removal of temporary, material things, the victims of today's storm will find peace and guidance in our Lord today.

Lord, please be with them all today, in their hours of need.

The Fog of Sin

When I was in young man, I would complain to my father that most priests were very unskilled when it came to public speaking and that this was most apparent during the homily. The homily is the part of the Catholic Mass where the priest, after reading from the Gospels, discusses the readings covered and how they could be implemented in our lives. My father told me that my job was to listen and that the Holy Spirit can work, no matter how unskilled the presentation.

And he's right. So, every Sunday I do my best to listen to the message, not the messenger. However, there have been a few homilies that have really stuck with me.

One of which I remember more for how it struck me as funny than for its divine guidance. It was at a friend's wedding where the priest, who was a good friend of both the groom and me, and whom was concerned about the struggles the couple may face, repeatedly reiterated that they were "going to have problems." God could get them through, but they were "going to have problems!" After the seventh "you're going to have problems" the homily finally ended.

The most gifted homilist I've heard was a priest in college named Father John Oliver. Two of his homilies have stayed with me. One of which, he started by walking into the middle aisle and threw a bunch of change onto the cement floor. Everyone perked up. He then went on to tell us how we should respond to the voice of God the way we responded to the sound of money.

The second homily I remember from him was about sin. He rolled out a very large bowl and he asked us how much water we believed it would take to fill the church with a very thick fog. He then reached into the bowl and pulled out a very small glass of water. His point was, like water vapor, it takes very little sin to cloud our judgment.

As I work toward creating my own Christian film production company, I've written a commercial script based on that homily. I hope to shoot by the end of the year. I'm currently looking for locations of a sound-friendly church with a great looking crucifix. When we're done, we'll make this commercial avalailable to Catholic Churches nationwide. It's the first step in a long process to convert my passions for filmmaking and my faith into a career.

In the meantime, a new priest, Father Michael Morris has joined our parish and the Holy Spirit flows through him and through his homilies. He is a joy to hear and when I get the message, I am appreciative of the messanger as well.