Monday Morning Confessional

I confess that I’m on vacation for the next few weeks. I think I really need a little time off, so I might be a little neglectful of the blog.

I confess that my rule of life says that I will spend somewhere around 22 days a year at Conception Abbey on retreat. I get 6 days at the abbey each year with the Associated Ministerial Order retreats. I’m supposed to take four study leave retreats, each around 3 days. On the months when I don’t have a retreat I am supposed to spend one 24 hour “abbey day” on retreat, for another 7 days. If I made all of those dates I would spend 25 days total in retreat at the abbey. I never get all of those in, usually close to 20. I think I made about half that this year, hence the status of my soul is weary. A vacation seems like a good idea.

I confess that rest is not my strong suit. I have productivity sickness, so vacation doesn’t always come easily for me either. “I am what I do,” is never a recipe for soul-health so I’m going to attempt to stay away from anything that feels like work for two weeks. Anybody think I can actually do it?

I confess that I’m watching the news in Salina and keep seeing commercials for the Charles Koch foundation. I confess that I think the Koch brothers are two of the most dangerous people on the planet. I think that Citizen’s United has given these men and others like them far too much power in our society. When power concentrates in the hands of a few, and the few are the uber-wealthy, then we are no longer talking about a democracy – we are talking about an oligarchy.

I confess that I have not watched a Major League All-star game in over a decade.

I confess that I haven’t played golf for almost 2 years.

I confess that I haven’t run in almost 2 weeks.

I confess that I think George Zimmerman should have stayed in his car. I think he should have to serve some kind of punishment for his role in the death of Trayvon Martin. Manslaughter seems appropriate to me. If he would have just waited on the police, if he would have followed the direction of the dispatcher, if he would have acted like a responsible adult, this wouldn’t have happened. The 911 call alone warrants that he should bear some sort of responsibility.

I confess that I believe much of the blame for what happened goes to the neighbors who stayed locked inside their houses and did absolutely nothing. They heard the cries, they called the police, and yet they did nothing. Why did they not go outside and help? Why did they not intervene and stop whatever was happening? I think Mr. Zimmerman failed to love his brother when he went after Trayvon Martin with a gun. I think it’s very possible that Martin failed to love his brother when/if he became violent with Zimmerman. I think the neighbors failed to do their part to stop it when they hid behind closed doors and didn’t intervene to stop what transpired.