Home and then away again

Got home friday from the UK, went to bed early and then up early Saturday morning for our first Formation weekend of the year.  Topic is spirituality of the leader.  We really love these weekends.  So even though I had no time at home after travel and have not seen the kids, except to provide my daughter spending money, we are really happy to be here.  Have a few last photos from the uk including the last night in the pub.  More after I get home today

Trade show, day 2 of 3 complete

Day 4 in Manchester UK almost complete.  Can you guess the weather?  The sun came out this morning, realized where it was, and quickly hid behind the clouds all day.  No matter - cooped in a convention centre for the day, wouldn't have seen the sun anyway.

One more day and then flight home early Friday.  Good dinner with friends last night, expect another with new friends tonight.

Looks like we sold my mom's home - it will be tough to let my childhood home go to someone else.  I suppose we musts let go and move on.  No more Christmas at that home, no more sleeping over on Thanksgiving for the family.  Time for new family traditions.

Pats are on in the UK!

Thought I'd have to listen to the game over the web, but the Patriots are on Fox in the UK!

Go Pats!

Forecast - cloudy and chance of rain

You know you are in the UK when the forecast is overcast and light rain for the week.

Nice hotel, just across the street from the show.  I was lucky to sleep almost the entire flight, woke up with 20 minutes before landing in London Heathrow.  However, the flight was not without adventure.  About 2 hours into the flight, we heard the flight attendant call a "Code Red" at the back of the aircraft.  After a bit of activity, another voice inquired if there was a doctor on board the aircraft.  It started me thinking of how that would impact the flight when we were 2 hours over the Atlantic.  I wondered if we would turn back, or land at another airport prior to Heathrow.  A short bit later they brought the passenger up to first class to manage her care for the duration of the flight.  She was a young woman and it made me think and pray for her well being regardless of how it impacted our flight plans.  I imagined myself in her shoes, frightened of what could happen to her health 35,000 ft above the Atlantic ocean halfway between the USA and UK.  In the end we landed on schedule and the flight was met by paramedics to treat the young lass.

So now that I have arrived, most of the anxiety has left and I am going to enjoy the week here - Friday will arrive before long.  Lots of friends here and colleagues from the states for the trade show.  This will be my only method of communication for the week, so I'm hoping for a few posts.  In the meantime, here are some photos of the hotel room and the view of the convention center from my room:

Oh no! No phone!

Heading to Manchester, UK in a few hours and just discovered that I will have no phone for the week.  Seems none of the family has a global phone.  My Droid 2 won't work there.  I can't wait to ditch the Droid for an iPhone.  It will be my first venture into an Apple product.

Finished our first class on Thursday.  We've learned a lot about the individual synoptic gospels from an academic perspective.  Next up will be a Formation Weekend as soon as I return from the UK, followed a week later by class #2 - Church History.

Just a quick post - still scrambling trying to get everything I will need for the next week packed into a small travel bag.

Next communication will come from international lands...

Anxiety and anticipation

Now starts a very busy two weeks, with two "lost" weekends in the mix.  I say lost only because weekends are my time.  I try to find some alone time and a good amount of family time on weekends.  Next weekend, I head to the UK on Saturday night.  I like England, but still the idea of losing 'my' weekend to travel never excites me.  Until I arrive at the destination.  It's a Saturday night flight that arrives Sunday late morning.  I'm traveling with a friend which will make it easier, and I sleep ok on a plane - although those around me won't, the poor souls, due to my snoring.

I return Friday, 10/14 around 2 PM (hopefully) and then bright and early Saturday morning, head to Contoocook for our first Diaconate Formation weekend of the 2011-2012 Formation Year.  Topic is Spirituality of the Leader.  Formation weekends are fantastic, we've really enjoyed each one.  The instructors change each time, and I do have a favorite in the past, but each weekend has been a great experience with the topic, the food and especially the community of Candidates and Leaders.  And...we have improved our coffee plans this year.  We consume enormous amounts of coffee - in the past, faster than we can brew.  So we are donating two Bunn coffee brewers that I am purchasing and bringing with us to the facility.  All the Candidates are contributing as our gift to the facility (and ourselves!)

So some prep work this week before the trip in addition to the usual grind.  Lots of reading still to do for class, but I will be complete by tomorrow night.  First class is almost complete.  We turned in our paper last Thursday, so the 'homework' portion of the class is done.  Next class on Church history is not so simple, with 2 page papers due each week and a 5 pager at the end.  Right before our first lesson (on a Formation Weekend) on Homiletics!

Off to meet with my spiritual director in a few hours.  Another part of Formation I really like.  Keeps me growing spiritually while all this education happens.

Class half done

OK, so to start, my daughter pointed out that I had not recognized her 16th birthday on the blog.  My response - You actually looked at the blog?!?  She said that she is stalking me occasionally by reading the blog.  We had a party with about 20 of her friends two weekends ago to celebrate - of course it was her doing all the celebrating with her friends.  Who has time for dad when 20 of your friends are here?

Happy Birthday (a little late) M!

With that out of the way, we are halfway through our first class, the Synoptic Gospels.  Our brothers (and one spouse) in Plymouth have to deal with intermittent disconnections from the video feed.  I think it is wearing on them and I hope it gets a bit smoother since we have to do this for the next three years.

Class is interesting, building on an academic approach to the gospels.  However, it is interesting that we have basically checked theology at the door for our review of each gospel.  Some of the class are further along in their theology and are somewhat frustrated at the strictly academic approach.  They have a point.  Although what we are learning is valuable, it is a bit out of sequence.  We still could collectively benefit from a thorough learning of the church's position and teaching on the gospels.  Some specifics - perhaps the teaching on when they were written, why they were written, the church's official interpretation, etc.  We are unique that the Magesterium is the official teaching arm of the church.  I think some personal study is needed here to augment what we are learning.  That has me seeking out things like the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic Answers Live and some other more orthodox sources of information.

Also new in the the news is the announcement of a new bishop of the Diocese of Manchester.  Installation is set for December 8 and hopefully he will be able to attend a portion of one of our Formation Weekends in 2012.  Our first weekend is coming up - Oct 15/16.

Class tonight at 7 PM with our paper for this class due on Thursday.  I used Sunday to ensure I completed my reading and homework so I could use Monday night to write the paper.  I have it mostly done, but want to use tonight's class info to polish it Wednesday in prep for turning it in Thursday.

If you recall, I was also giving a talk on Sat, Sept 21.  I'm glad to report my public speaking went well, but my topic was a bit off.  I talked about "Saying Yes to Jesus" more often in our lives.  I tried to shy away from making large commitments, but trying to focus on some small way we can say "Yes" to Him more often than trying to avoid Him.  It was probably a bit heavy a topic for everyone on a Saturday Morning.  A few good points came up in the discussion, and the feedback so far on my speaking and style has been positive.  So I got some experience, and a lesson in choosing a topic as I prepare for my next talk in Litchfield in November.

Class Time

Tonight begins year 2 of our Diaconate Formation classes.  We start with the Synoptic Gospels.  It looks like we only have to write one 700 word paper toward the middle of the 4 week class.  It can't be just that - I'm prepared that we'll get assigned a final paper.  As soon as that class ends in early October, I travel to the UK for a trade show for a week and as soon as I return from that, we have our first Formation Weekend of 2011-2012.  So I'll have 12 days away from home as soon as class ends.

Looking forward to class starting.  A bit anxious since I have not been in a classroom setting with the other candidates, but I do know all 22 of them.  Four will be joining us remotely from Plymouth, NH via teleconference.  The diocese worked hard to ensure we all got the same instruction, so the teleconference helps us all hear the same message.  I think they will be videotaped also since one person can't attend Thursday classes due to work scheduling.

I'm also quite anxious about my talk on Saturday.  I'll have to find time to review what I've prepped and be sure it is in a final state ready to go for Saturday morning.

We are also listing my mom's house on Wednesday night, so a mad rush to clean out the final items from my childhood home.  Even though it is empty, it's still home.  The thought of someone else living in "my" home is troubling, but we all must let go.

So with the anxiety, the activity, the stress, it is becoming a tough week.  I'll be glad once Sunday afternoon comes and it's all behind me and I am watching the Pats beat San Diego.

Making Progress

Another week has flown by.  This one had a holiday to begin the week - and a welcomed day off.  I accomplished quite a bit - fixing some things around the house and spending a bit of time helping my brother to continue to prepare my parent's house for sale.

Today I've also accomplished a few things.  I attended the Men of St Joseph monthly meeting in Litchfield.  Two Diaconate candidates are members there and a third regularly attends.  I volunteered to speak in November, so I went to get to know some folks and become familiar with my surroundings for my upcoming talk.  I am also speaking at our parish's MoSJ meeting next week, so I came home and drafted the outline for my talk.  Can't give away the topic, so that will be next week.

Planning to spend some time with my brother and his wife tonight having dinner.  K is working at the school, so just me heading out.  The place has Karaoke - good thing I am going alone, that means no drinking because I am driving so it spares all those poor patrons from my singing.

Today I also watched a video on another blog of an atheist chastising a Christian on a call in/television type show.  The question that resonated with me was when one of the two atheist hosts asked "Why are you a Christian" and "Why should anyone believe what we believe."  His argument is that when he (the atheist) was a Christian, his beliefs were without any rational justification and no evidence to support those beliefs.

My take away was more personal.  Am I prepared to answer those questions?  If not - better prepare!  After spending the afternoon thinking about it, I am comfortable that I've got my answer for myself.  But I still need to think about this quite a bit more because that first answer will be followed by more questions and challenges and I need to be prepared for them with good, strong rational answers, even if they ultimately lead to faith, which can't be scientifically proven.

Depp thinking for the next few days as class begins on Tuesday night!

Saturday - a rare post

So here we have one rare long holiday weekend.  It is really special to have Monday off.  Makes Sunday night feel like Saturday. And you know how I am about time.

Mass in the AM at our usual 8 AM. I still need to accomplish changing the oil in my lawn mower, snow blower (winter prep you know!) and generator.  I figure all at once is efficient although I am putting synthetic in the generator to buy time.  Perhaps I should do the same in the snow blower.

Niagara really made me think about God.  It made me aware of a creator for our planet.  Did anyone see the crescent moon last night?  I really like reading about scientist's theories about the creation of the universe, and specifically our solar system and planets.  I think most of us don't ponder these things often enough.  How many of you confuse the solar system and the universe?  I still need to think about it to try to grasp the expanse of everything.  Have you ever tried to grasp the size of the universe and the secular theory that we are just one of thousands of planets with life as yet undiscovered?  It really astounds me. Back to the crescent moon - I was driving to Nocturnal Adoration at Midnight last night when I noticed it.  It was one of those nights when the moon appeared larger than it should in our atmosphere.  That made me think about our size in the universe and our importance.  Sometimes I get complacent about Nocturnal Adoration because it can seem repetitive.  The drive reminded me about how insignificant I am in the universe.  My mother-in-law is beginning to decline and we were reminded of that last night via a brief hospital visit.  It makes me think of my eventual decline.  Can I bring someone, or some people to God before my decline?  Can I provide some witness or an example to a creator?  I can only follow God's will and remind myself regularly that I am His servant.  Just some random thoughts that run through my mind on a regular basis.  It keeps me focused on time and how precious a commodity time can be.