Tag: Telegraph

Mid-Month Marvels: Commonweal

A recurring theme in this blog is the celebration of people and/or organizations that have a positive impact on their communities. What they do is not easy, but it’s inspirational, and we don’t hear enough about them. So I’ve decided to commit to singing their praises at least once a month. I’m calling it Mid-Month Marvels. If you have any suggestions for the focus of this monthly spotlight, let me know in the comments below!

During our recent vacation (which you can read about starting here), We found ourselves in the delightful little town of Bolinas, California. We had read in a guidebook that this stretch of the coast had gorgeous tide pools, so we set out to encounter them. More about them in another post.

For the purposes of today’s essay, suffice it to say that we got very lost. And it was the kind of fortuitous state of loss where you don’t even think about worrying, because the area is so beautiful, and you know you’re seeing things you wouldn’t have seen otherwise.

And so it was that we came around a curve and encountered this very interesting building. It seemed semi-industrial, but not. And it was in the middle of nowhere. We decided we wanted look at it up close.

We finally stopped when we saw a no trespassing sign that also urged us to be quiet as people were on retreat, and we should respect their solitude. What was this place? There were no signs to speak of, other than the warning ones. Was it a cult or something?

Fortunately there was a brochure at the gate, so I helped myself to a copy. From the brochure I discovered that this was a nonprofit organization called Commonweal. And it seems that the building itself has a very interesting history.

The site was “developed by Henry Marconi in 1912 as one of the last telegraph stops before he completed his vision for an ‘around the world’ telegraph system. The building was later purchased by RCA Communications, and then acquired by the National Parks Service.”

Fascinating. That would explain why there are still remnants of an antenna farm in the area, and why the building, which had been a transmitter station, looked so industrial in its own odd way.

It seems that Commonweal negotiated a 50-year lease from the Point Reyes National Seashore, and this 60 acre plot of land, near the beautiful ocean shore, became their headquarters. I was intrigued and wanted to learn more, so I headed to their website, here.

From the website I learned that Commonweal operates no fewer than 20 different programs, along three different themes: Health & Healing, Education & the Arts, and Environment & Justice. At first glance that may seem like kind of a wide net to cast for any NGO, but on closer inspection, the three themes intertwine in many ways.

I’m not going to describe all 20 programs, but here are a few examples.

The Commonweal Cancer Help Program hosts a week-long retreat for people with cancer. Just their location alone must provide healing, if only for the spirit. But while there, people get to explore the emotional and spiritual dimensions of cancer, and can commune with other people facing that terrifying diagnosis. It also includes therapy sessions, massage, yoga, meditation, and gourmet meals. They also help you explore your choices in various forms of healing. Due to the pandemic, they’re also offering online programs.

They also host the Power of Hope Youth Camp. I wish I were 14-18, because this sounds like a fun 8 day experience. You explore your creativity with artists. You learn from activists how to be the change. You’ll be impressed by the volunteers you get to be with. Naturalists, actors, storytellers, dancers, change makers. You’ll learn about yourself.

And then there’s the Collaborative on Health and the Environment which strengthens the scientific and public dialogue on how environmental factors can cause chronic disease. They are currently working on 18 different initiatives to reach their goals.

There are so many other amazing programs described on the Commonweal website that I encourage you to explore it in detail. While there, I hope you’ll consider supporting this unique organization so that they may continue their efforts to heal people and heal the planet.

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The Annihilation of Space

We can now talk to just about anyone on the planet any time that we want to.

I just finished a Pokemon Go battle with some friends I’ve made therein. They are from Guatemala, the Netherlands, Poland, and South Africa. Of course I don’t know them by name, and I don’t know what they look like, and I never will. That’s fine. But it makes me smile to think that for a few minutes there, five of us, from different parts of the planet, were focused on one task. I wish my mother were alive to see that. It’s truly miraculous.

In this internet age, not a day goes by when I’m not in communication with someone from another country. I administer several Facebook groups. I know people from all over in the virtual world of Second Life. I have friends that I talk to on Skype. I have relatives in many parts of the globe. The miles no longer matter.

On my drive home the other night, I heard an interview with Steve Inskeep. He was talking about his latest book, Imperfect Union. It sounds like a fascinating read. But one of the things he discussed was that moment when Samuel Morse sent the first telegraph message from Washington DC to Baltimore. “WHAT HATH GOD WROUGHT” indeed.

There’s no way to overstate what a big deal that was. It was also an election year, 1844, and soon news of the debates were being sent over those miles, in real time. That was unheard of. Inskeep says people were calling it the “annihilation of space” at the time.

We’ve been annihilating space ever since. We can now talk to just about anyone on the planet any time that we want to. News spreads around the globe in record time. (Unfortunately, drone strikes can also be done remotely. Every rose has its thorn.)

What I love most about this destruction of space is that evildoers have a lot less space in which to get away with things. We all have cell phones. You might have been able to anonymously kneel on someone’s neck in years past, but not anymore. There’s nowhere for scumbags to hide. We will see your face.

Perhaps someday we’ll be able to annihilate injustice, too. I’d like to think that’s coming. I wish it would hurry up.

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The Pope and Higgs Boson: Too Much God to Digest all at Once?

So, we have a new Pope. That’s a load off. Not that I’m Catholic, mind you, but I think it’s never a good thing to have a vacancy for the position of God’s representative on earth, do you? He’s from Argentina, he’s chosen the name Francis, and he’s a Jesuit. All of these things are firsts, and for the Catholic Church, firsts are usually avoided, so this impresses me. And the fact that he was never a Hitler Youth is a big fat plus in my book. He’s also the first Pope in 600 years to have to deal with a Pope Emeritus, which can’t be easy, but so far he seems to be handling it with aplomb (a word I don’t get the opportunity to use very often).

During the great outpouring of admiration that we’ve all witnessed, you learn that he is a man of the people. He’s humble. He cares about the poor. He has held mass for the homeless and the prostitutes of Buenos Aires. He wants to be a populist Pope. Again, all wonderful things.

But I’m having a bit of trouble reconciling all of the above with what the Christian News Service says about him:

“In 2010, when Argentina became the first Latin American country to legalize same-sex marriage, Cardinal Bergoglio encouraged clergy across the country to tell Catholics to protest against the legislation because, if enacted, it could ‘seriously injure the family,’ he said.

He also said adoption by same-sex couples would result in ‘depriving [children] of the human growth that God wanted them given by a father and a mother.’”

CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips says that until now, Pope Francis’ conservative views on birth control, homosexuality and women’s roles in the Church have not made him popular with his relatively progressive Jesuit brothers. That, to me, is a bad sign. If you are a steadfast conservative within a progressive group, what does this say about your ability to be a Pope who listens to Catholics in the modern world, particularly ones with diverging viewpoints?

How can you be a Pope of the people and shun homosexuals? These are our brothers, our sisters, our nieces, our nephews. Are you saying that pedophilia is more acceptable? It certainly seems to be in many areas of the church. And how can you view women as subordinate in the 21st century? Our mothers, our sisters, our daughters. And most important of all, how can you preach to prostitutes and yet believe that birth control is a sin? Isn’t that tantamount to a death sentence for them?

It will be interesting to see what message he brings to those countries in Africa where entire populations are on the verge of extinction due to AIDS. When it has been proven, time and time again, even by your own priests, that abstinence is not going to work, it’s time to wake up and move into the present. But that is probably way too much to ask of a man who is 76 years old, and a religion that is at least 1900 years old.

higgs

In other news, the very next day in CERN, they announced that they’re confident they’ve discovered the God particle, also known as the Higgs Boson. According to Hayley Dixon of the Telegraph, “Finding the Higgs plugs a gaping hole in the Standard Model of physics, the theory that describes all the particles, forces and interactions that make up the universe.” That, my friends, is HUGE. In my opinion, Higgs Boson is where God and science intersect. And I firmly believe that they can intersect, if you have an open mind.

According to CBS News, it is “the subatomic particle predicted nearly a half-century ago, which will go a long way toward explaining what gives electrons and all matter in the universe size and shape.”

WHY ISN’T EVERYONE TALKING ABOUT THIS? I’m stumped. I guess the building blocks of the universe got overwhelmed in the news cycle that is Pope Francis. And that’s a shame, because if you have any faith whatsoever, both of these events will have a sweeping impact upon you, whether you’re aware of it or not.

Or maybe it’s just that we mere mortals can only digest so much God in one sitting. Either way, hold on to your hats. This is going to be a bumpy, albeit fascinating, ride.