A Kindergarten Kid

I received the letter shown below from Fr. Gene Hattie via email on Wednesday November 5, 2014 (Guy Fawkes Day).

Letter from Fr. Gene Hattie, sent/received W11/05/2014.

See my Father Hattie page for more information on how to communicate with Father and how to donate to help his orphans in Nsumba, Uganda.

Below is my transcription of his letter. I have taken the liberty of adding a bit of color in honor of the aerograms he used to send when he was in Uganda. I also have "corrected" any typos or keystrokes that are too light to see. Otherwise, I have tried to stay faithful to the text/meaning of the original letter.
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My dear Rick:                     Peace of the risen Lord!

     Many, many thanks for your last 3 interesting E-Mails about the Transfiguration and the bombing of Hiroshima (Is the lord giving a message that we fail to hear). When you ask me to look up things on the Internet or use words like Google, Twitter or Tweet, you are speaking to a Kindergarten kid, for these are merely words without meaning for me, for I have no idea how to use a Computer. One of the Aides here takes my messages from the machine and scans my outgoing mail and retrieves Attachments & that's about IT, for I have no time to learn how to use a Computer at 92 and she has no time. For a time, she kept bugging me to learn & wouldn't accept the excuse that I was too old to learn UNTIL I had a brilliant idea..I showed her my Hindi New Testament (looks like Arabic..tho, to those who don't know Arabic, they seem to be the same, yet they are as different as day and night) and she let up on me.

     The Sister painter in Cleveland I never knew even though I had visit[ed] St. Paul's Convent many times.  When we had the yearly Mission Circle Carnival to raise funds for the Bishop of Patne Mission, they were always there...Keep up the good work of scanning on your Computer, for you can learn many wonderful things.

     At the end of October, a loyal donor/friend, whom I had never met, came here to visit me from California with his son-in-law and grandson. The grandson, only 18 & still in High School has been thrown out of many schools & is not in treatment, for addiction to liquor and drugs. Grandpa was convinced that meeting me & learning of my life would cure him. Great Faith! The son-in-law is not a Catholic, but is an avid Bible Reader, attends Sunday Mass & receives H. Communion under both species. Grandpa thought that a visit with me would bring him into the Church. Prayers for both, please.

     Finally, but far from least, thousands of thanks for your latest kind & generous Gift of $X, appreciated more than you know.

     Continue to be assured that you & your family have a super-special remembrance in my daily Mass & prayers & in those of the Sisters & orphans as I implore Him to fill all of you to the brim & flowing over with His & Her choicest gifts. Graces and blessings.  In the meantime, continue to smile & spread His & Her love, hope and joy all over W. Hartford.

Tons of love & gratitude,                                  

Fr. Gene, S.J.                                            

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NOTES:

[1] August 6th is the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan in 1945. In addition, August 6th is also the Feast of the Transfiguration. I found that to be a rather odd, ironic intersection: bright dazzling lights and clouds involved with each event. I wondered if there might be some connection or relationship.

[2]

Ephesians Chapter 2 (Hindi)

Ephesians Chapter 2 (Arabic)

Both pages are taken from the HOLY BIBLE: EASY-TO-READ VERSION™ © 2006 by World Bible Translation Center, Inc. See: http://www.bibleleague.org/resources/bible-download/

[3] See: "Heavenly murals: 81-year-old nun may be painting her greatest work ever (slideshow and video) published October 9, 2014 in the Cleveland Plain Dealer by James Ewinger with pictures by Lisa DeJong (see samples below).

(Photo by Lisa DeJong/PD)

(Photo by Lisa DeJong/PD)

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Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes_Night
http://ricketwrite.blogspot.com/p/letters-from-fr-hattie.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerogram
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feast_of_the_Transfiguration
http://d1d7ektpm2nljo.cloudfront.net/PGauf_Qu-Swso_HKueoHLg/Hindi_Bible_49__Ephesians.pdf
http://d1d7ektpm2nljo.cloudfront.net/uwFa56z-3L4ppJ7lED3wuQ/Arabic_Bible_49__Ephesians.pdf
http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2014/10/cloistered_nuns_hosannas_are_p.html#incart_river


Written: Sunday 9 November 2014

Home Opener-SOUND TIGERS!

Magnet given to Home Opener attendees.

This year was not going to be a repeat of last year for me. Last year we missed the Sound Tigers home opener (actually, now that I think of it, I can't remember the last time we went to a Tigers home game). They give away a magnetic schedule at the Home Opener. It's not really a good schedule to use but it looks cool on the fridge.

I usually accompany my son and his mom (my former wife) to these games but this year they weren't interested; they had other plans. It was somewhat daunting (and depressing) to contemplate going alone. However, I was not going to let other people dictate my activities. I wanted to be at the Sound Tigers game and so I went. Ha!

My ticket.

I bought my ticket at the gate. Got a cheap seat at the end of the rink with a $2 TripleA discount. Section 100 is my favorite cheap seat section because it is right behind the goal (the other side of the rink is more expensive). To my surprise, I got a seat in Row B, which is below the net and just above the much more expensive seats at the glass. Standing in line to get in, I was glad to see that one of the ushers we always saw was still there. He is now sort of in-charge of those outside the arena who "wand" you before you can enter.

View from my seat.

I was somewhat surprised that the game was not a sellout. Another surprise was the singing of the Canadian National anthem first since the visiting team was from St. John, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada (look it up on the map, it's way out there). The USA national anthem was sung by the Fairfield County Children's Choir. Their rendition was the way it should be sung: lively & spirited at an exuberant pace. I was disappointed that there were no roster handouts nor programs. I was all set to buy a cap but there were too many people at the one souvenir stand. For a snack I bought our favorite: chicken tenders and fries combo (with a bottle of water). It still tasted good.

Action as seen from my cheap seat.

While the Tigers jumped off to a quick lead (2-0), the Icecaps were persistent and eventually prevailed 3-2. Although my team did not win, I was a winner because I overcame the fear of going alone. If you want to join me sometime, I'd love it. Let's go Tigers!

Links:

http://www.soundtigers.com/
https://www.google.com/maps/place/3+Queen+St,+St+John's,+NL+A1C+1J4,+Canada/@45.818368,-62.252008,5z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x4b0ca3a4d90aea15:0x785870f0175bb8ef?hl=en-US
http://www.singfccc.org/
http://theahl.com/stats/game-summary.php?game_id=1013467

Written: Sunday 2 November 2014

God's Not Dead (NOT!)

God's Not Dead is a movie that I recently watched. Since then, I have been meaning to write about my reaction. This is not a movie I would pay to see nor did I pay to see it. Somewhat miraculously, I was able to borrow it from the public library (for FREE) despite there being several holds on it by others who requested to borrow it. (A couple weeks later, there are still holds on it).

Although this movie was apparently released in the Spring, I was not aware of it until one of the blogs I follow (Catholicism on the rocks) posted an entry about it consisting of links to several reviews. I was intrigued by the premise of a (young) person being cornered to defend a core belief. At the time, I was reading the Books of the Maccabees (in the Bible) which centers on a similar premise of how far would you go to defend your beliefs.

I was delighted to find the DVD was available from the library. To my surprise, an email arrived a few days after my request to inform me that I could pick up the DVD. By then, my initial enthusiasm and curiosity had waned and I was hesitant about subjecting myself to 90-some minutes of modern Christian evangelicalism.

I watched it over two (2) weekday evenings (and even kept it overdue 1 day) in order to see the whole thing. The verdict? I enjoyed it tremendously! This is a movie similar to the western and war movie genres. The "good" people are clearly drawn and differentiated from the "bad" people. There is no doubt who is going to "win." It is not a spoiler to say that the Indians (or the Axis or the Blue Meanies, take your pick) do not win this battle. And there is a rousing, feel good ending. All mindless, campy entertainment.

One thing I like about these kinds of movies is that it stimulates the curious and probing mind. The arguments in the movie are shallow and inadequate to actually sway any person that has a firm belief. Initially, I was intrigued with several of the debates about God within the movie but this passed quickly. This subject is an endless debate with a myriad of perspectives and arguments.

Since I became a seeker/pilgrim/theist, I have been curious about the concept of God_is_dead and the Death of God movement. I don't know enough about these to really make an argument one way or another. My understanding about these is that they speak more about how society or culture views God rather than the actual divine existence.

There is a lot I could write about regarding this movie. A more title for the movie might be "gods not dead" since the lifestyles that the so called Christians in this movie espouse appear more like neo-paganism to me. But that is probably my overall criticism of modern western "Christianity": it has idea what Christ is truly about. I strongly reject a Christianity that is mere commercialism and supports secular lifestyles (e.g., concerts, tweeting, Disneyland, etc.). I don't think attending a Newsboys concert is a requirement of being a Christian. If so, I'm glad I don't belong to this tribe.

Finally (so I can stop writing), the movie was sadly lonely. All the main characters end up alone: Josh (the main character) breaks up with his supposedly "Christian" girlfriend, Kara; Ayisha is (literally) tossed out of her house for converting from Islam to "Christianity"; Professor Radisson and his girlfriend Mina split up; Amy's boyfriend, Mark drops her after she finds out she has terminal cancer; and Josh's classmate, Martin, is estranged from his (Chinese) father due to Martin's interest in "Christianity." The "happy" ending consists of several so called conversions to "Christianity." It's rather ironic that a movie supposedly about GOD rejects any belief in a divinity other than Jesus.

There is a also something of latent homosexuality churning underneath this movie. At the end, Josh ends up at the concert with Martin instead of Kara; Pastor Dave and Pastor Jude are together the whole movie; Ayisha is alone but the only solace and comfort she receives during the movie come from other females (I thought she might hook up with Josh at the end during the concert but he literally turns his back on her and continues with Martin).

When Amy announces her cancer to Mark, he shockingly and cruelly dumps her on the spot. However, his explanation regarding the transactional nature of relationships should be paid attention to since it essentially is how things are today (within marriage and employers/employees, etc.).

I could go on and on about the issues this movie has raised. Unfortunately, many so called Christians will cheer for the stereotypes and totally miss the deeper more important ideas because they are too busy celebrated the demise of the "bad" people while patting themselves on the back for being good "Christians." Don't get caught in that trap.

Faith, Hope, and Charity (Love). God is bigger than the boogie man..
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Links:
http://godsnotdeadthemovie.com/
http://catholicismontherocks.blogspot.com/2014/08/atheist-reviews-of-gods-not-dead.html
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09495a.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_is_dead
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_God_theology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newsboys
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Jd4qnxj7D0

Written Sunday 28 September 2014