This past weekend saw the glorious end to my and my wife's "funemployment tour" of 2009 as we traveled down to Dallas to visit dear friends Chris and Stephanie. Previously, my wife and I traveled to Kentucky to volunteer for 2 days repairing homes, then to Wisconsin with college friends to camp and eat cheese. The first two trips were exciting and fulfilling in many ways, but this trip was relaxing and calming to say the very least.
Things have been a bit stressful as of late what with the job search going... not as productively as we might like. So a retreat to Big D was a special mercy. Most especially moving and calming was the large, orthodox, and faithful Catholic presence surrounding our good friends and including our good friends. Multiple dinners with these young scholars, PhD hopefuls and "right wing radicals"of hearty food and ample amounts of Austin home brew made for wonderful conversation about matters both troubling and merry. We were also privileged to attend Mass both at the University of Dallas' beautiful chapel and also a nearby monastery which is so special a place I would rather not talk of it here but can only describe it as timeless and transcendent.
The main purpose of our trip, to visit our great friends, was calming and reassuring. Many great conversations and merry making culminated in a 96 degree game of ultimate frisbee Sunday night (in which a Gaffer team could not be stopped). And though I have added to the massive data set that I am not made to run, it was fun none-the-less.
We were blessed to have this trip. And it left us rejuvenated and strengthened to face our coming challenges (most specifically finding a job)....
I wish I could share with you more, more specifics of the conversations regarding faith, politics, the future, our aspirations, our adrift culture, and the like, but alas those details are reserved for the special times of human experience beyond the reach of a blog post or a twitter post or text abreevs.
Cheers!
The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater.
-Lord of the Rings
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4 comments:
Thanks for coming down, my friend. It was a great blessing for us to have you guys!
Speaking of trips, I would love to see you & Panda again. =)
Please reserve your monastery memory for the next time you see your parents.
One thing I am having trouble visualizing though....two old GAFFERS who could not be stopped??
The best way I remember to stop a team of GAFFERS is with ice cold lemonade!!
That or the ice cream truck...
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