Blessings and More

Because The Villages, our community here in central Florida, is so very large and still expanding, our parish receives many new parishioners every month. Part of our welcoming process includes an offer to bless each family's new home. Many folks accept this offer.  

The Church actually has a specific rite for the blessing of a new home; indeed, it has rites for the blessing of people, homes, businesses, religious articles, vehicles, pets...you name it. And here in our parish, we permanent deacons are often called on to perform many of them...sort of a "Blessings are Us" kind of thing. 

October 4th is the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, a saint who was particularly fond of all God's creatures. And so, on that morning, shortly after morning Mass, two of us, Deacon Greg and I, spent some time blessing a large gathering of family pets our parishioners had brought to the parish. We conducted the blessing rite outside, under a portico, so we would all remain dry in the event of rain. As it turned out the day was perfect. After the readings, prayers, and general blessing, we then blessed each animal individually, while sprinkling it with holy water. Given the circumstances, and the large number of animals, I'm amazed at how placid most of these wonderful creatures remained.    

As I recall, the animals that morning were all dogs and cats, nothing too odd or too wild, so this year was fairly normal. In the past I've been asked to bless snakes, tarantulas, lizards, and a few other of God's not very domestic critters. A few of our local farmers and ranchers have also asked me to bless cattle, goats, and horses. Yep, we do it all.

One of our parishioners, Maria, had asked if I would go to her house that morning and bless her two birds. She didn't want to take them to the parish blessing rite because it would probably upset them, being surrounded by dozens of noisy dogs and cats. Of course I agreed.

My experience with birds as pets is limited to a single bird. When I was a child, our family had a parakeet named Heinz, a clever little bird with a fondness for learning new words. Heinz had developed a close relationship with our female Weimaraner, Heidi. Heidi, a very tolerant dog, readily accepted her new flying friend. Heinz often landed on her back, then made his way across her head, and down to her nose. There he would stand, sometimes for ten or fifteen minutes, just looking at her. Heidi accepted all this and seemed to enjoy his walking on her back. Perhaps she appreciated the massage delivered by his little bird feet.

I won't go into the details of Heinz' sad and premature demise in which Heidi played no part. Although accidental and certainly unintentional, it was all my doing, a truth I have tried to repress for the past 70 years.

Anyway, when I arrived at Maria's home, she, her husband, and their little dog greeted me. I was then introduced to their two birds who were enjoying themselves out of their cages. Other than the limited knowledge I picked up from my childhood experience with Heinz, I know very little about tropical birds. Parrots, cockatiels, cockatoos, mynahs, and others are mysteries to me. They're very attractive birds, are long-lived, and seem quite intelligent. I'm also intrigued by their remarkable ability to imitate human speech and other sounds. 

I can't recall the names of Maria's two birds, although given the state of my aging brain, that's not unusual. But both birds, and the dog, seemed very interested in this man who had invaded their home, at least until I blessed them and sprinkled them with holy water. That led to some confusion. One bird, I believe it's a cockatoo (?), stood on my hand as I blessed it, and Maria captured the moment with her phone's camera. The bird, however, was eyeing my ear, so it was probably wise that I handed it back to Maria.

So, there you have a few hours in the life of a deacon, extending God's blessings to His people and His creatures. It's a small but enjoyable part of my ministry, and I'm always overwhelmed by the joy it brings to His people.

Right-handed Privilege?

Did you catch the news about the presentation at UNC Chapel Hill that stressed the horrors resulting from our right-handed society? Apparently Christina Parle, who has an MS in something and works for the university’s Social Responsibility office, gave the lecture on behalf of the school’s Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life. Now, supposing that those fraternity and sorority members who attended the lecture were actually sober, I expect they were shocked by Ms. Parle’s comments. After all, at least a few of those students who specialize in the Greek alphabet are probably left-handed. 

Ms. Parle, we are told, was explicit. Being right-handed enables one to use tools designed specifically for them. Life, therefore, is much easier for righties, an advantage that provides them with for more opportunity than those sinister lefties can ever hope to receive. She also implied that all those dexterous righties also possess a “sense of belonging” that the lefties lack. I guess there was a lot more, but I’ll openly confess I didn’t have the patience to sit there and watch it all. I have no idea if Ms. Parle is a physical lefty or righty, although we can all guess which side she’s on politically. 

Left-handers make up about 10% of the world’s population. The numbers, though, seem to be changing, if only slightly. In recent years the number of male lefties has increased by 2%, while females have remained about the same. No one knows why, although scientists who study such things (likely funded by government grants) believe it might be caused by hormonal, genetic, cultural, or societal factors. This explains a lot and we thank the scientists for publishing these guesses and the other results of their exhaustive research. Scientists, though, don’t limit their investigations to humans, but have also studied cats, dogs, and other of God’s creatures. Did you know that about 40% of cats and dogs are left-pawed? Why are almost half of our pets lefties while the vast majority of humans are righties? Once again, no one knows for sure. More research is surely called for here. There’s so much more to share with you, but I’ll let you examine the research yourselves. Here’s a link that will lead you the fascinating results of all these left-right studies: New Scientific Findings on Left-handedness.

As for me, I am completely left-handed. In fact, the only thing I do right-handed is shoot a rifle. As a ten-year-old I spent much of a summer at Camp Adahi in Union, Maine. Part of this highly traditional camp experience included learning to shoot a .22 bolt-action rifle. Because the bolt handle is on the right side, we all were told to shoot right-handed, and so I obeyed. It obviously didn’t cause me any real problems because I always managed to shoot well, and as a midshipman at the Naval Academy qualified as “expert” with both the formidable M1 garand and the .45 semiautomatic pistol. Anyway, I do everything else left-handed, except where right-handed tools and equipment force me to do otherwise. Unlike Ms. Parle, though, I have found this to be a real advantage. 

Because I am forced to use my right hand on so many occasions, I have actually become somewhat ambidextrous. For example, I spent many years as a Navy pilot, and the “stick” that controls an aircraft’s attitude is designed to be operated by the right hand. The left hand must be free to control many critical operations such as engine power, other control surfaces (flaps, etc.), radio communications, and navigation. At first, I found it odd to rely on my less dominant hand for the most critical part of flying, but I quickly learned to do so. Over time I saw this as a real benefit because I became increasingly comfortable using either hand for many daily activities. 

I also disagree with Ms. Parle’s belief that righties enjoy a sense of belonging not experienced by lefties. I believe exactly the opposite. Because we are a relatively small minority, we lefties tend to notice each other more readily and actually form a kind of bond unavailable to righties. I’ve never heard anyone, while watching another sign his name, say, “Oh, you’re right-handed!” Never happens, because rght-handed people are such a large majority, they rarely even notice each other. But just this morning, when visiting a neighbor in our local hospice facility, I had to sign in at the front desk when I arrived. As I began to write, the receptionist said, “Another lefty, like me. You’re the third this morning!” Trust me, right-handed people never say that about each other. Maybe this means we lefties are more likely to visit the sick — another area begging for research. 

It’s now pouring rain, accompanied by much lightning and thunder, and I have to leave in 20 minutes to conduct a graveside service at a cemetery in a neighboring town. Keep me in your prayers.

Blessings and God’s peace, to both the right-handed and left-handed.

Is Older Better?

It’s an interesting question, and I suppose the only acceptable answer is, “It depends.” So often we assume that with age comes wisdom. Have you ever noticed how centenarians respond when asked to reveal the secret of their longevity? Their answers vary widely, but only rarely display signs of wisdom. I’ve heard everything from “coffee and grits every morning” to “a glass of whiskey every night.” I’ve never heard anybody say, “I really didn’t do anything special. I suppose I was blessed and have good genes.” This would probably be the most honest response, one that likely reflects true humanity and some degree of scientific validity.

My dad used to say, “Yes, indeed, some older people are truly wise and have gained wisdom through a lifetime of both education and experience. But I’ve also known a lot of stupid, old jerks.” As someone who is now, at age 77, in the midst of my seniority, I agree with my dad’s observation, although into which category I fall has yet to be determined. I’m sure most of us can agree, when it comes to people, wisdom is likely distributed sparsely but randomly among most age groups, with the possible exception of teenagers.

As for lifespans, God has allotted His human creatures a reasonable number of years. How did the psalmist put it?

For all our days pass away under thy wrath,

our years come to an end like a sigh.

The years of our life are threescore and ten,

or even by reason of strength fourscore;

yet their span is but toil and trouble;

they are soon gone, and we fly away [Ps 90:9-10].

I’ve always liked that “fly away” metaphor, and as someone who is well past this biblical span, I expect I’ll be boarding that flight and departing all this toil and trouble in the not too distant future. But until that final sigh I’ll just continue doing what I trust God wills for me.

The average healthy person might make it into the 80s or 90s, but such lifespans are negligible when we look at others of God’s creations. The longest-lived of all living creatures, however, are plants. Among the oldest are trees, particularly those categorized as “clonal colonies.” Some of these date back many thousands of years to some original plant of which they are descendant clones. I’m sorry, but I don’t consider these natural clones individually ancient. When it comes to old plants, I want to know about a tree or some other plant that is itself very, very old. There are a few. Among the oldest — and as you might expect there’s a lot of controversy surrounding these claims — is a tree rooted in California, a 5,000-year-old Great Basin bristlecone pine. It’s truly an interesting looking tree, although it’s small size belies it’s extreme age. (See the photo below.)

California’s Bristlecone Pine

If you’re interested in reading about others among these aged plants, here’s a link: Oldest Living Things

As for animals, a long life is probably the result of genetic advantages aided by a kind of learned and instinctive wisdom. A long-lived animal in the wild has likely learned how to survive any number of perils that could have taken its life in a literal heartbeat. Others, perhaps, enjoy rather sedentary lives in a relatively protective environment. If they survive the threats of their first years, some species often live quite long lives. Giant tortoises, for example, are known to live upwards of 200 years, making them the longest living land animals. I don’t believe they’re particularly active creatures and I know nothing of their intelligence, but they look wise enough as they plod along quietly munching vegetation.

Ancient Tortoise

I once read of a Macaw 🦜 that outlived three generations of owners. A man in his sixties purchased the newly hatched bird from a pet shop. Although the man died just a few years later, he willed the bird to his daughter, a wife and mother in her 40s. When she died 30 years later, the bird, at the age of 35, was adopted by her eldest son, who by then was in his 50s. He, too, died in his 70s, and by then the bird was only a middle-aged 56. The family decided to donate the bird to a local zoo where he still lives today in his early 70s. I guess there’s a lesson here: If you want a Macaw as a pet, get it when you’re young.  

There are many other long-lived animals. Elephants often survive into their 70s, but the longest lived creatures tend to make their homes in the ocean. Like those old tortoises, bowhead whales can live to be 200. And a Japanese koi named Hanako died a few years ago at the ripe old age of 226. Greenland sharks can swim around for hundreds of years, some thought to live past 500, making them the longest-lived vertebrate. It must be the cold water and the seafood diet. Presumably, though, these sharks don’t eat ocean quahogs, a nice edible clam that is also known to live to be 500. 

Greenland Shark

 Most animals, though, have relatively short lives. I often think of the dogs that have joined our family. As a child I grew up with four different dogs, but the longest-lived only made it to 13. And during our 53 years of marriage Diane and I have also shared our lives with four dogs. Our current dog, Maddie, is actually quite spry for a canine who will be 14 in January. Because she is a Bichon Frise, she is genetically stubborn and a certified brat. That’s right, we should have suspected as much when we adopted her from a Bichon rescue group that called itself, “The Brat Pack.” Both we and the dog have, however, adjusted to this reality and come to a kind of understanding: Maddie obeys us when it suits her to do so. But she also offers great affection. We hope she stays with us for a few more years.

Maddie Sleeping As I Write

I’m not a PETA supporter because they believe and say some extremely stupid and very wrong things about people and animals. But I do enjoy all of God’s creatures, even the seemingly nasty ones, and believe we have an obligation to treat them humanely. God gave us responsibility for the creatures of the earth: 

“And God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth" [Gen 1:28].

Of course, based on recent news reports, Dr. Fauci seems to disagree with the humane treatment of animals. The sad news describes horribly cruel and deadly experiments on dogs which he apparently supported. I won’t repeat the details here, but you can read them at this link: Fauci’s Puppy Experiments. Almost as bad is a story out of the now openly totalitarian nation of Australia. It seems officials ordered that the dogs held at a dog pound had to be shot dead. Why? Because rescuers were due to pick up the dogs from the shelter and the officials were concerned that the rescuers might possibly have COVID. Here’s that link: Aussies Shoot the Dogs. 

These are just a couple of the problems that arise when governments decide to exert control over all aspects of the lives of citizens. Power misused begets cruelty, hatred, persecution of opponents, and usually death. Just consider the thousands of nursing home deaths in New York and other states caused by the thoughtless decisions of governors addicted to near absolute power.

God bless the earth and all its creatures, the young and the old, the wise and the not so wise.