Charlie Dittmeier's Home Page
Love springs from new life, love springs from death. Love acts like Gandhi and our pets and Jesus and Mr. Bean and Mr. Rogers and Bette Midler. Love won’t be pinned down.
Love is often hard, ignored, or hilarious. But one thing is certain: Love is our only hope.
I had a meeting at Nazareth Home Highlands today (the sister home to Nazareth Home Clifton where I live) and arrived early so I explored their chapel. It is quite nice for a space for liturgy–well lit, spacious, flexible, and well appointed. It would be great for liturgies with deaf people because of its good, unobstructed sight lines.
In May, 1958 the eighth-grade class of St. Columba School in Louisville’s West End graduated and we all moved on to high school and the rest of our lives. That didn’t end all contact, though, and some of those classmates have continued to meet through the ensuing 68 years. Today 12 classmates and their spouses got together at an Italian restaurant, continuing bi-monthly lunches together. Because I just came back from Cambodia, it was the first time I had seen some of them since graduation. It was great! [Notice the restaurant ambiance! It is quite exotic with all sorts of Italian memorabilia and photos. Of special notice: a bust of Pope John XXIII on the table and his picture on the wall.]
We often joke about “It must be something in the water,” but, really, would there be anything in the water in Portland that would tempt people to drink it from this hotel urinal, prompting the placement of this warning notice?
When my brothers and sisters and cousins decided to buy me an e-bike for commuting around Louisville, they chose a brand-name, high-end model for me. I became more aware of that when I received a recall notice from the manufacturer about a defective part, just like what happens for cars. The notice said that a bolt holding the back wheel can fracture because of a faulty casting process for the bolt and that I need to bring in the bike for a replacement bolt. It turns out they have to order the replacement bolt but won’t do it until I bring in the bike and leave it for the three days required for the bolt to arrive. I asked them to order the bolt and let me know when it arrives but they said they had to have the bike first. For legal liability reasons, they don’t want to appear to be supporting my continuing riding of the bike while there is risk of the back wheel falling off.
One powerful realization for me when I was wandering in the forested area of The Grotto in Portland, Oregon was how much I had missed forests of large hardwood trees while I was in Asia. From my days in the Boy Scouts and from our Dittmeier family camping trips (the only vacations we could afford), I have loved being out in the forests. At The Grotto I was able to be with huge, old trees that brought back good memories and renewed my love of nature.
In a recent interview about Christianity in society, Fr. James Martin commented about traditional Christians always wanting to post the Ten Commandments in schools and public places.
I often wonder why we don’t put the Beatitudes in classrooms since it’s always the 10 Commandments. What about “Blessed are the poor?” It’s amazing to me that mostly Christians want the Old Testament in the classrooms and put on signs, but what about “Blessed are the poor, blessed are those who mourn, blessed are the meek, blessed are the peacemakers?” Why is there never a push for that attitude? It’s a very strange thing to me. It is because [the Beatitudes] are hard and it’s stuff that we want to avoid.
Whether it is people in Gaza or Ukraine or Nigeria or Iran or Minneapolis, or LGBTQ or migrants or death row inmates, we are all beloved children of God.
And all of us deserve to be treated with dignity. I think the church has been very clear about that, and I’m grateful for that. That’s not a political message; that’s the Gospel.
~ Fr. James Martin, in his book Work in Progress