Farewell Miriam Mabeka

Miriam Makeba - Pata Pata

It was mind-boggling to read about the death of Miriam Makeba. She was the Mother of Africa, Queen Africa, Empress Africa. She had more titles than Haile Selassie!

Miriam was a South African singer, perhaps the most famous singer in all of Africa. She was also a person of incredible personal integrity. During apartied she spoke out about the regimes human rights violation at the United Nations. For that she was banned from her homeland for 31 years. She was not able to attend her mother’s funeral. She was cut off from her home and friends. However, this did not stop her.

Miriam toured the world singing and introducing the world to a music that sounds to me like a combination of jazz, blues and Africa. The music is moving and beautiful, at times almost haunting.

She sang with Harry Belafonte. She sang at President Kennedy’s birthday party. She sang with Paul Simon. She sang, and she sang and she sang. Two days ago she gave a concert in Italy in support of an author who had written about organized crime. The author had threats to his life, Miriam of course came to his support. She died shortly after the concert from a heart attack.

There are some people who walk this earth and you know the world is better because they were among us. You are sad at their leaving but grateful they spent time there. Miriam Makeba is on such soul. Thank you Empress of Africa.


Miriam Makeba 2007

Obama, Grant Park and History

Obama Wins The Presidency Countdown in Grant Park 11/04/2008

Well, I have to comment on election night. I don’t care what your party affiliation is, the night was history-making. However, for me it spurred memories of my hometown. The Grant Park of last week was a place I had been to many, many times. I have seen bagpipe bands march there, I have seen Taste of Chicago, concerts and Venetian Night. I remember weights being strategically placed around the park prior to John Paul IIs visit to make sure the park would not cave into the parking garage below it. However, never have I seen such excitement and such diversity at Grant Park.

It was not always easy to be a white Chicagoan in support of a black candidate in Chicago. During the first election of Harold Washington I was chased down the street because I wore a Harold Washington button. A friend of mine was beat up for wearing one. Our garbage can lids were taken away because they were a gift of the precinct and the precinct supported Jane Byrne. A lot has changed.

I remember the assassination of John Kennedy when I was in fourth grade. Two years later the city erupted in violence with the assassination of Martin Luther King. The city went up in flames and riots. A friend of mine who lived on North Avenue could see the flames south of her and she remembers feeling happy to see tanks and soldiers move down the street. It is indeed sad when you are happy to have an army take control of your city.

My oldest brother-in-law was married during the week of the 68 Democratic Convention. They gave their “Love Feast’ (it was the 60’s!) to the hippies staying in Lincoln Park. That convention nominated a peace candidate and Grant Park was also the focus of the world. However, that time there was a police riot. Not this week.

This week Senator McCain gave one of the most moving concessions speeches I have ever heard. This week Americans whose ancestors came from Europe and Africa and South America and Asia gathered together at the shores of Lake Michigan and listened to an American with roots from around the world give his acceptance speech. This week there was peace, change, sadness for many but there was also hope and honor. This week we showed the world what democracy is suppose to look like. This week I greatly missed my old home town and wished I had been a part of this historic event.


President-Elect Barack Obama in Chicago

Living Stones and St. John Lateran

Today was a special day at church. First of all I am always pleased when the bishop presides over the Mass. Today was the Dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran. I didn’t see it when I was in Rome. I had limited time to myself and the choice was the Basilica or the Sistine Chapel. It is nice to have such difficult choices! However, the pilgrims that were in Assisi and Rome this year did go to the Basilica. They loved it.

I wanted to go because this was the Rome of Francis. I wanted to go because the church is ancient, beautiful and established by Emperor Constantine.

The Bishop spoke of the importance of holy places and we know that space and time are part of any life of faith. In this case it is also the material aspects that count. Sacred architecture draws us up, out of ourselves, and connects us to others and to God. Bishop D’Arcy spoke of the Basilica being built of holy stones and that our internal cathedral needed to be built of “living stones”.

When I was at the St. Bonaventure University for the AFCU Symposium in 2006 I was introduced to the program, “Building with Living Stones”. It is a program of instruction and transformation for those desiring to learn about the Franciscan life. We now have that program at our school. In fact Kathleen Lotter completed the program the first year it was offered. Since then she has been one of our pilgrims to Assisi and Rome. She has incorporated Franciscan values into her life. Of course she was a natural, she talks to our ducks (and they talk back to her) and is an advocate for peace. I suspect she will end up being one of our Protestant Franciscan sisters and may join the Ecumenical Franciscan Order.

The cathedral was full today. The choir sang beautifully. The church reflected it’s universal mission. The faces looked like Grant Park on election Night. There were African Americans, whites, Latinos and about eight rows of Burmese Catholics. The Bishop asked us to consider helping our immigrant brothers and sisters with transportation and adjustment to Fort Wayne.

If we are to be “living stones” then we are to be servants to one another. We sing the Servant Song regularly at church. I love it. I was especially moved when it was sung at World Youth Day in Sydney Australia. If we are to be universal/Catholic, if we are to sustain and build our internal cathedral, if we are to nurture the Body of Christ than we will and we must be servants. Yep, it was a good day.

World Youth Day July 16-17, 2008 - Servant Song

The Church, the Congo and Prayers for Peace

The Vatican has called for an end to the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Catholic relief organization, Aid to the Church in Need has called for emergency aid to the area.

The United Nations has called for an immediate end to hostilities. The fear is that the conflict will spread beyond the vast borders of the Congo to the many neighboring nations.

The conflict is bloody and discouraging. Over 1.2 million citizens are refugees in their own country. In fact, the Vatican is so concern about the Congo and other African crisis that 2009 may be “The Year of Africa”. The pope will visit Angola and Cameroon in March. The Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar will meet in Rome in September. Finally there will be a Synod for Africa in October.

This is appropriate. Africa is a continent in which the conflicts between Islam and Christianity, between Christianity and traditional religion and between Catholicism and human rights violations by regimes has demanded greater involvement by the Catholic Church. The Church has been involved in the post-election conflict in Kenya, the conflict in Zimbabwe and in working with the conflicts in Somalia and Sudan. The problem is the need is great and the resources are few.

So how serious is the Vatican in regards to the Congo? Cardinal Renato Martino the current president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace stated, "The world cannot continue looking on without reacting to the death of innocent victims of acts of violence and barbarity, and with indifference toward the tens of thousands of refugees fleeing the war, who are exposed to the weather, sickness and hunger.” The council went on to call on the international community to “intervene with all its strength in resolving the conflict in question”. These are powerful words that reflect compassion, concern and frustration. Let us pray they are heard.

Ohio, Margo and Memories

Banks of the Ohio - by McWilliams Hardware & Friends

For me Thursday was one of those days that stand out in your mind, it was one of those days you always remember. I had to drive to Napoleon Ohio for a site supervision of one of my students. The last time I had been on those roads was 16 years ago. So I remembered how young my children were, what it was like to be forming a family and starting a new career. It was a day of memories.

As I drove I turned on the radio and listened to an interview with Joan Baez. We have many of her albums, Cathi and I love folk music. It reminded me of my first trip to Springfield Illinois. The music was loud, the crowds were enormous and the spirits were high as Cathi, my mother-in-law Margaret and I marched in favor of the Equal Rights Amendment. Yep, listening to Joan brought back memories.

The drive was beautiful. Napoleon is on the Maumee River. This is the river that starts in Fort Wayne and flows to Toledo. The city has a wonderful courthouse, mansions on the river and a quaint downtown. The site visit went very well.

On my drive home I drove down Highway 242. I drove next to the Erie-Wabash Canal, past locks, dams, and markers of the victories and struggles of Mad Anthony Wayne. The Indian Wars were easy to imagine.

I turned on the radio and classical music was playing. The car I was driving use to belong to my mother-in-law. The car had the faint scent of her cigarettes. Not enough to affect breathing, just enough to notice. With her scent in the car and her type of music playing on the radio (Bach and Peter and the Wolf) I smiled and thought of her. She has been part of my life since 1973 and I have many, many memories of her, almost all of them make me smile.

I continued through Defiance, another city that was founded by another Mad Anthony Wayne fort. I drove through the villages of Florida and Antwerp. It was a beautiful day full of blue skies, country roads, farmland, cows, rivers, Mohawk gravesites and pleasant memories.

I am a tourist of life and make no apologies for it. I know for instance that Napoleon is the Radish Capital of the World, that Antwerp is home to the Essen House and an A&W Shop. I know cannons mark the site of Anthony Wayne’s fort on the Maumee and Tiffin Rivers. I know the other canals that connect the many rivers of Ohio and I know the walking trail that circles the state.

Margaret has always been one of my favorite fellow travelers. We have been to England, Norway, Sweden, France and Scotland together. We traveled in Canada, New York, and Missouri. Because of her I know Springfield Illinois. We have sat on the shores of Lake Michigan and watched moon rises and we have sipped Cream Sherry together.

Margaret is a life long liberal. She was a British War Bride who came to America and then was astonished at our problems. She had a Chicago Red Squad file on her because she belonged to a community organization that promoted integration in Chicago. So she was very, very happy to see Obama win the election.

Friday night Cathi and I had ham, mashed potatoes and peas for dinner. No big deal except I made the ham gravy, a specialty of Margo’s and it was perfect. Clearly my memories are visual, tactile, kinesthetic, and gastronomic!

Margo is typically British. While she was in England meeting her future American husband during World War II her brother was a British soldier fighting in Burma. He was captured by the Japanese and forced to work on the building of the bridge over the River Kwai. After the war he was sent to South Africa for two years to be treated for tropical illnesses. Margo’s uncle was a vicar in the British Raj or India. She has a beautiful red porcelain elephant statue from there. It is from that family history that she learned to make curry. Tonight I will make lamb curry, also a specialty of Margo.

Margaret is not just a mother-in-law, she is a good friend and fellow traveler. I am glad I had to drive to Napoleon Thursday. Margo is a blessing.


Joan Baez We Shall Overcome

This Vote Counts

Today my youngest daughter voted in her first Presidential Election. She is a night person and yet awoke at 5 A.M. to get to the polling place by 6 A.M. I don't know who was more excited, my daughter or me.

I then went to school, taught and came home. Cathi and I said goodbye to a visiting friend and then together we voted. This is a special year, our votes in the Presidential election in Indiana finally count, the results are not a given.

At the polling station we waited in a long but cheerful line. Everyone knew that no matter the results we were all participating in history.

No matter who wins it is an end of an era in which two families run the nation. Both candidates are against torture and both seem to believe Americans should not be eavesdropped on without a warrant and just cause. Both care about the environment.

I know the very real differences between these two men. That is what made deciding who to vote for so easy for me. However, I am not one of those folks that will resent the other side if they win. I think both are intelligent, patriotic men who will lead this nation in a far wiser manner than the last eight years.

So, today America is making a choice. Today my family was making a choice. I don't take this for granted, democracy is wonderful, democracy in action is beyond words. So, go, vote and know you made a difference.

The New Indian Martyrs

Months ago I began writing about the plight of Christians in India. Sadly the situation has only gotten worse. The extremist Hindu attacks on Indian Christians have now continued almost unabated for the past three months. The reaction of the government has been tepid at best.

The targets of the violence are not foreigners but rather the citizens of India. This is especially sad since India has taken such pride in being a multi-cultural and multi-religious nation. The attacks have been at times brutal including destruction of property, assaults, rape, attack of religious and even murder.

Since October 22 there has been 60 people killed, over 18,000 people injured and over 4000 homes destroyed. This does not include the large number of people who are missing. The violence has spread to a number of states.

What is not clear is why people around the world are not crying out for the violence to end. Christians in India and Iraq are in a perilous position. Ancient cultures are facing extinction. Partners International has described the situation in India as no less than religious genocide. The Pope has called for religious leaders to come to the aid of the Christians in India and Iraq. We must pray for peace and we must demand that our leaders speak out in defense of our brothers and sisters in India. We must also remember that this violence is the work of Hindu extremist groups and does not reflect the behavior of Hindus or Indian in general.