One month before Christmas at the dawn of the millennium, a child came to us. Having come from an atheistic nation, his baptism probably came in the salt water on that day when his mother gave her life trying to raise her son in a free land. That child was Elián González, and ten years ago this week he was returned to live with his father in Cuba. It seems so simple at a glance. The convolutions of his story may not make any sense to most people, but that winds up being the point of it after all.
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Monthly Archives: April 2010
Multiple Intelligences
Today the kids have to be roused early and move themselves through the morning with purpose because Spring Break is over. It cuts many ways. The weight of routine is lightened for them by a sunny green day with a crisp snap to it, as lively as we can expect in early April – but they’ll have to spend the day inside. They’ll get to see their friends again and tell stories about what they’ve been up to, but there will also be work. For all the different seasons mixing in their heads and around them what it always comes down to is that they really like to learn, they really like their school.
Good Friday
Holy Week. As our lives become more secular and separated, the name doesn’t seem to have as much meaning as it once did. Not long ago all of Saint Paul shut down on Good Friday to celebrate the holiday that is central to Christian faith. The passing of this holiday into another optional day off for those who can afford it may be disturbing to people who value the old ways, but a little perspective shows that the time itself was always defined by others even before we learned how important it is to get along in a diverse world.
Barataria - The work of Erik Hare 