Back in the ROKI arrived about eight hours ago, got some sleep, and am now wide awake. It was good to be united with my wife and children again. About fifty days from now I will return to the US and, God willing, we will never be separated like this again.
My visit to Northern California included an all-too-brief visit with
Hallowed Ground's Jeff Culbreath and his beautiful family. We had breakfast and enjoyed some stimulating conversation. This was the second time meeting the Culbreaths. I finer family would be hard to find.
Be sure to visit Mr. Culbreath's blog this week (and every week) and find posts about topics like women's pants, Catholic land use, dynastic families like the Bushes, the myth of the teenager, Portuguese bullfighting in California, and much, much more.
I managed to stay away from the Internet and the news. I did hear about the passing of Rosa Parks, may she rest in peace. [See
Rosa Parks dies marking end of an era .] It would be beyond me to add any profound statement about her Civil Rights legacy and her place in American history, but I will say that I've always admired her dignity, the way she carried herself. More elderly American men and women would do well to follow her example and not try to dress and act like teenagers.
On the flight to the US, I saw three movies:
After watching all three, a realized fatherhood was a common theme of
War of the Worlds (2005),
Marche de l'empereur, La (2005), and
In America (2002), very
apropos given the nature of my visit.
On the return flight, I devoted my attention to books, reading three:
The first I re-read, and have made up my mind to read this book at least once a decade. Reading it in high school, I missed much. Much more stuck me reading it almost two decades later, now that I am more familiar with the evils of industrialization, consumerism, and collectivism.
In the author's forward to the second edition of 1946, published 14 years after the first, he states, "For the last thirty years there have been no conservatives; there have been only nationalistic radicals of the right and nationalistic radicals of the left." Huxley calls for decentralization and cries out against the "standardization of the human product," which we are seeing taking place before our eyes with genetic engineering and cloning. About the gross sexual promiscuity in his book, which now seems almost commonplace, Huxley says this:
As political and economic freedom diminishes, sexual freedom tends compensatingly to increase. And the dictator (unless he needs cannon fodder and families with which to colonize empty or conquered territory) will do well to encourage that freedom. In conjunction with the freedom to daydream under the influence of dope and movies and the radio, it will help to reconcile his subjects to the servitude which is their fate.
One thing that caught my attention in this second reading was the dystopia's obsession with sports, something that has always struck me as a bit unhealthy about American society.
Thomas Merton's book, written before he went head over heels for Oriental religions, gives some good pointers on praying the
Divine Office.
Finally, the last book is one I found out about in this post by Tim Jones on Jimmy Akin's blog:
Holy Envy? From that post, here is a brief description:
It is the story of Karen Killilea, who was born with cerebral palsy. It was written by her mother, Marie Killlilea, in 1952. In the book we see how Karen fights both her physical disability and the sometimes callous response of the society around her. There is a bonus, in that the Killileas are a warmly devout Catholic family and the book touches on very relevent themes, such as the intrinsic value of all human life.
"Canada is a beautiful country, but it is not mine," says Elsie Lefebvre, 26, of the Parti Quebecois, quoted in Ten years later, Quebec again flirts with independence.
"Women are supposed to be the fairer sex, but Asian men are spending a lot of time and money on their looks. Why? Because the girls like them that way": Mirror, Mirror....
Last night I watched Tess (1979), Roman Polanki's adaptation of Thomas Hardy's tragedy Tess of the D'Urbervilles. The film is every bit as beautifully crafted as is its star, Nastassja Kinski, my favorite actress when I was a teenager. 
Redeemed by Our Savior, I work out my salvation with fear and trembling in Pohang, South Korea, where I live with my wife, daughter, and son and teach English at a science and technology university. Baptized a Methodist and raised a Missouri Synod Lutheran in Buffalo, NY, I spent six years as a guest of the Anglican Communion before being received by the Grace of God into the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church on the Feast of Saint Andrew, my patron, anno domini 2002.
