From February 28, 2020
Looking back on my week in Florida, I thought for sure on this trip there we would be at least a day or two for actual relaxation. My hope was that on one day my “to do” list would have just one word on it: nothing. Ah, how I longed for a day to do nothing. Didn’t happen.
From February 27, 2020
I had intended to write a detailed description of my computer problems, but I decided against it. It isn’t important and I’m too tired. In broad terms, my big desktop computer had run out of memory. I needed to have a new two-terabyte solid state drive installed.
From February 26, 2020
The gift of new life that the Resurrection of Christ gives to each of us should dramatically change the way we view the world and the way we live life. But the reality of the end of death quickly fades into a dream. Yes, we will die, but Christ forever changed the nature of death. It is no longer an ending, but a passage—a Passover—to eternal life.
From February 25, 2020
On Monday morning, I received an email from Billy. He wrote: “I don’t really know why but lately when I looked at the conditions in which the babies were sleeping it bothered me a lot….” Most of the toddlers sleep on the floor. This has bothered me for months.
From February 24, 2020
For Roman Catholics and the rest of Protestant Christianity Lent begins in two days, on Ash Wednesday. But for Byzantine Catholics, Lent begins today with the Great Fast. Yesterday was known as Forgiveness Sunday. After the 10:30am Divine Liturgy, the entire congregation entered the small hall and we lined up for lunch. People had brought a great variety of food…all of it very good.
From February 23, 2020
Since I’ve been back in Ft. Pierce, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about Fr. Dumarsais Perre-Louis, the big Haitian priest I met at the airport in Port-au-Prince and sat next to on the flight to Florida. I felt we were going to become friends, and I had a hunch he felt the same way about me.
From February 22, 2020
A few days ago, I shared the dreadful news that a fire in an orphanage in Haiti that killed 15 kids. It was known that the orphanage was unsanitary, that the kids lived like animals, and that the fire was started by candles used by kids at night because the generator at the orphanage was not functioning. But the backstory to the preventable tragedy deepens the culpability of the operators of the orphanage.
From February 21, 2020
On Wednesday evening around 7:30pm, I received an e-mail from Billy in which he shared the news that his drive home was hampered by a new round of protests…this time by the police. He wrote they were protesting because “of the poor working conditions, treatment and a salary which cannot in any case meet their needs, and the government wants to prevent them from forming a union to defend their rights while they risk their lives every day.”
From February 20, 2020
In a few hours, I’ll be looking down on Port-au-Prince as the plane climbs over any clouds. It will be another day of jarring transitions from extreme disorder and constant uncertainty to unmistakable stability and relative confidence. Behind me will be the constant noise; ahead of me will be virtual silence.
From February 19, 2020
Home is perhaps the sweetest word there is. But not so for many poor Haitians. Their home more like a box. The woman in this photo works at Santa Chiara. This is her home. The photo was taken by her younger sister, probably on an old cell phone.
