DAY 25: THE MASK

DAY 25:  THE  MASK

Face it. When you enjoy taking pictures, you can easily get on peoples’ nerves. Those around you often tire of being subjected to your whims - and they sometimes rebel.

I wanted a photo of my sister-in-law, sitting at my kitchen table perusing one of her beloved fashion magazines.

Totally disinterested in cooperating, she shielded her face with her magazine to foil my shot – and this was the happy accident.

DAY 24: A JOYFUL MEDLEY

DAY 24: A JOYFUL MEDLEY

Father Billy Medley returned home to celebrate Mass this morning at St. Francis of Assisi Church with family and life-long friends before embarking on his new assignment as Bishop of the Owensboro Diocese.

The Gospel just so happened to be reflective of his appointment and today’s occasion. It was from Luke – about Jesus returning to his home town after word of his ministry had spread through the whole countryside. On that Sabbath, Jesus read from the prophet Isaiah:

                “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor...

…The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, ‘Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing’.”

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Lucky for today the Gospel reading ended there, because that’s where the similarities end; next we would be reading of how Jesus was not accepted in his hometown. Father Bill Medley is loved and embraced by his hometown. The community is simply ecstatic.

Father Medley is considered by many to be the best homilist in our Archdiocese, and today he did not disappoint.  

The church was absolutely full, so to find a seat I tip-toed upstairs to the choir loft. It was really the best place for me to be. As Father Billy delivered his spirited remarks about the extraordinary history of St. Francis Church and the people in this special place we call “The Holyland of Kentucky”, I was very moved not only by his words and the momentous occasion, but also by the sea of people gathered there – especially Dorothy Medley, his dear mother - and members of his immediate and extended family.  I felt so proud for our community, but especially so for his mother.

My “good deed” for the morning was meeting up with my old friend Jimmy Yates at communion and making him “switch lines” with me so we could receive communion from Father Medley (his first cousin).  He laughed, but I KNOW he’s glad I made him to that!

DAY 23: ROBBED of INNOCENCE

“Rape is the only crime in which the victim becomes the accused.”

---Freda Adler

“Traumatized people suffer damage to the basic structures of the self. They lose trust in themselves, in other people, in God...The identity they have formed prior to the trauma is irrevocably destroyed.”

---Judith Lewis Herman, Trauma and Recovery, 1992

“Most commonly, rape is a crime of opportunity; the victim is chosen not because of her looks or behavior, but because she is there.”

---Helen Benedict, Virgin or Vamp, 1992

DAY 22: COLOR MY WORLD

DAY 22: COLOR MY WORLD

A young fellow in my neighborhood used to stop by with his wife and children a lot and would ask me to take their pictures, which I gladly did.

Once, I thought it would be fun for the kids if I turned some of their family pictures into coloring book pages.

Was I surprised when the Dad said, "Uh UH! I'M gonna color them!"

He was full of surprises for me. I'd known him a long time and had no idea he could play guitar. He saw mine sitting in a corner one day and asked if he could see it. I said, "Sure"...

He sat down on the couch and belted out a song and he really was GOOD on the guitar! He said his mother had taught him to play.

You just never know. These little surprises color my world.

DAY 21: ABOVE THE FRAY

What a rainy day we’ve had.

I usually feel kind of cozy being inside at home when the rain is falling. But today for some reason I felt a bit down in the dumps and closed in.

It always helps me feel better to count my blessings. So, I started counting. 

In doing so, my thoughts turned to the flash flood of a few years ago here in Marion County that – in an instant -swept away a mobile home and the young girl who lived there.

Her home was at the foot of several hills and next to a creek – a beautiful location, and rather isolated.

It had rained for days, and the ground all around had become saturated. It could hold no more water. But the rain kept coming and the hills gave up the excess, sending it streaming down to converge in her valley and the creek beside her home.

As darkness fell, that meandering creek suddenly became a raging river. Her home was ripped from its foundation and shattered, and the girl was swept up in a violent soupy cauldron of debris – shards of glass, ragged sheets of metal, giant uprooted trees, old cars…  what a terrifying journey on a dark, rainy night that must have been for her!

As word spread of this tragedy, rescue crews and volunteers assembled and worked tirelessly through the night, hoping to find her alive.

It was a miracle. The young girl was found – alive! Very injured, but alive…

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After it was all over, I went down there and took a lot of pictures of the aftermath – the dog house and clothing and contents of that home high in the treetops, the old cars and household appliances that had been moved miles away in the current, the huge uprooted trees…

It was horrifying to see – but when I came upon this scene, I had to smile.

Kitty Cat had found a safe perch high above the fray.

I don’t know how long she’d been there or how long the dog had been barking at her, but I think it must have been a long time.  I was there for over two hours, and the scene was the same when I got there and when I left.

Kitty had found a safe place on high ground, and wasn’t budging.