World Religions Series: The Catholic Faith

Another submission to the World Religion Series!  This one is from my dear friend Jessica Harrison.  

Jessy and I have such an interesting history tying us together.  Jessy's father owns the company David worked for after Grad School.  David took me with him on the company retreat to Arizona that year (2008), and although we never met, Jessy and I have similar stories from the entire weekend and probably passed each other in the hallway a time or two.

Then, two summers ago Jessy came to work for me as an intern in my office which is where we learned of our connection.  She was not only an amazing intern, but she and I were fast friends.  At the end of the summer, Jessy left to go back to college in San Diego.  Although I was sad to see her go, I'm always so happy to see someone like Jessy do so well in life.  I wrangled her into interning for me again last summer too.  It was so fun to have her back in town!  And, now every time she's back she gives me a call and we hit a coffee shop for a quick catch up chat.

Our last catch-up was about 10 days ago, and I told her about my blog and my World Religion Series.  I knew about her family's strong Catholic Faith, and I also know that she is a fantastic writer, so I asked if she was up for participating.  She said, "Yes" immediately and I'm happy to say she got back to me with her responses quite quickly and I'm able to share them with you now.  Enjoy... and Thanks Jessy!

Jessy, GOP Chairman Michael Steel, and Me at an event
Jessy and I put together in Sun Valley in 2010

What religion do you practice, and how did you come to practice it?

My parents are both Roman Catholic and baptized me when I was a few months old. Since then, I have been to Catholic mass almost every Sunday morning (although I'm bad about going to church on my own when I'm at school). My parents put me through Catholic schools from kindergarten to college I am now a senior in college.

Tell me about your religion. Describe what the tenants of your religion are in your words.

I could go on and on about the tenants but I'll try to be short and clear. The Catholic Church is part of the Christian Church. We essentially believe everything that Christians believe. For example, like Christians, we believe that Jesus Christ is God's son, God is one in three divine persons (the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit), Jesus died for our sins, and we should live our lives how Jesus taught us to in order to make the world a better place and eventually go to heaven. The Bible is our sacred scripture and we look towards this faith text to guide our moral lives. This is a very brief summary of the shared Christian and Catholic beliefs.

Catholics, however, practice some rituals that Christians do not. The Catholic faith embraces transubstantiation - the act in which the Eucharist changes from bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. The "changed and blessed" bread and wine is handed out during communion in our mass and we eat what we believe is the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

The Catholic Faith has typically been viewed as more traditional than most Christian faiths, especially in regards to social issues, the interpretation of the Bible and the structure of the Catholic mass. Indeed, many masses around the world are still spoken in Latin (the Latin language dominated the Catholic Church centuries ago).  Furthermore, the Catholic Church does not allow women to become deacons or be ordained into priesthood. This naturally draws a lot of criticism in our day and age, when the fight for equality is stronger than ever.

What does your religion mean to you?

I am very grateful that I was raised Catholic. My faith has always been a part of my life and I hope it always will be. My love and respect for Jesus helps guide my moral life and I have truly seen it make a difference in many circumstances. However, I do believe that the Catholic Church is a bit too traditional in many aspects. I struggle with living my life how I believe Jesus wants me to and how the Catholic Church wants me to.

What are five things you love about your religion?

1) I love the traditional masses. The music, sacred images, prayers, incense,  moments of silence...I find it peaceful, fulfilling and inspiring.
2) Anyone can be a Catholic. I've met Catholics from all different backgrounds from around the world - it's a very universal religion that welcomes everyone.


3) The Catholic Church continues to impress me with its charity and donations for the less fortunate and those in need. The poor and suffering children of God certainly seem to be the Church's first priority.
4) I admire the Church's focus on family.


5) I think it is impressive that the Catholic Church has stuck by its traditions over the centuries, demonstrating its consistency and persistence.

What are five things you don’t particularly agree with about your religion?

1) I struggle with the Catholic Church's view on gay marriage, euthanasia, and abortion (all of which the Church opposes). My parents are convinced that I am merely going through a stage since I am studying at a liberal arts university in California, which, by the way, is Catholic but not seemingly so. We'll see if my opinions change over time, but as of now, I disagree with the Church on those three social issues. That is not to say that I disagree with the Bible, however. I simply interpret the Bible differently.


2) The Catholic Church understands moral issues in a very black and white manner - actions are either right or wrong. I don't believe that the morally permissible act is always so clear. Again, my parents think this is because I'm studying Literature and Philosophy. I'll let you know in ten years if my opinion has changed.


3) I firmly believe that a person will go to heaven as long as they treat others with love and respect while also loving and respecting themselves. Unlike the Catholic Church's understanding, I don't believe that faith is an important factor when one dies and is judged before God. I also believe that if a person made some horrible decisions in their life but genuinely felt bad about them, they have a chance of going to heaven. But of course this is all my humble opinion. The Catholic faith, from my understanding, believes that the forgiveness of sins is required to go to heaven. I don't necessarily hold this to be false, but the question of what is a sin and what isn't certainly comes into play here.


4) I don't like how the Catholic Church involves itself with politics.


5) I think that women should be able to be deacons and priests.

What are the most common misconceptions about your religion and how do you address them?

Many people believe that Catholics worship saints. This is not the case! We ask saints to pray FOR us.

Many people also believe that the Catholic faith is responsible for the tragic instances of sex abuse in the Church. This is absurd. We need to remember that there are sick people in every walk of life: politicians, teachers, doctors, lawyers, and even priests. This is not a justification but is a reflection of human nature and not the Catholic faith.

How does your religion affect your family life? Your work life?

When I'm home I attend mass with my family and pray regularly with my family. We often discuss religious issues and how they are prevalent in our every day lives. 

It hasn't affected my work life yet. I anticipate it will in the future as I pursue my career in criminal defense. 

If you could leave people with one idea that most closely describes the way you see and understand your religion, what would that be?

I wish people could see the exceptionally loving nature of the Catholic Church and its good intentions throughout the ever changing social issues that come to challenge.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

I am, in no way, attempting to represent the Catholic Church. Although I have a strong faith, I am still learning and growing.

To check out the rest of my World Religions Series, click on the links below:

The Story of Old Turtle

The Greek Orthodox Faith

The Christian Science Faith

The Episcopal Faith

This just in... SNOW!

Boise and the surrounding mountains are finally getting dumped on... I can't remember the last time I was this excited to see snow!  In fact there's so much snow, many offices are telling employees to work from home... snow day!

And, apparently McCall, Idaho is getting between 2-4 feet of snow in the next 24 hours... I can't wait to get my skis out of the closet and hit the slopes! Wahoo!

Adventures in Portland

Have you ever been to Portland, Oregon?  It's one of our favorite cities. Now that we are back home and settled in, I can gush properly about our weekend and the city that has worked its way so powerfully into our hearts. 

We were there to take advantage of the long weekend, the awesome post-holiday sales and, best of all did you know Oregon does not have a sales tax?  It's awesome.  And a round trip ticket from Boise to Portland is about $100 per person, which is even more awesome.  Plus the amazing restaurants combined with the delightful art and music scene make a weekend in Portland at the top of the list.  Awesome!

Our number one adventure on this particular weekend was a hike through the Portland Arboretum to the Japanese Gardens followed by Thai food and a cozy nap while watching the Packer football game.  The only bummer of the entire day was the Packers getting their butts handed to them by the Giants in a game they should have easily won, but I digress... Aren't the Japanese Gardens beautiful?!

You can't really tell from the picture... but David is looking out over the city... beautiful vista of the entire downtown.

We stayed at the Embassy Suites on Pine between 3rd and 4th which was very nice, however a local told us about this hotel called The Nines, so while walking past it, we checked it out.  It was amazing!  Next time we are planning to stay there.  Especially because they have two incredible restaurants inside, The Urban Farmer, where we had a delightful brunch, and Departure, a rooftop restaurant that, unfortunately we weren't able to enjoy on this trip due to it being closed on Sundays.  But its certainly making us look forward to next time!

Instead of Departure on Sunday night, we ate at this great Lebanese Restaurant called Habibi.  We love Mediterranean food, and this did not disappoint.  Everything was incredibly fresh and the food was amazing.  Plus the total including drinks and a tip was only about $40... which makes it even more appealing in my book.

Monday was our day to shop.  We hit up Nordstrom and my favorite, H&M, and then on the way back to the hotel we stopped at Nordstrom Rack.  So fun!  Plus wandering the streets with a cup of coffee in our hand while passing by all the colorful windows was just delightful.  Oh, and for all of you with IBD like me, the public bathroom situation in Portland is awesome.  They really go the extra mile to make going to the bathroom easy.

When Monday afternoon rolled around we had to pack up our belongings and head for the airport via the Max, Portland's incredible, inexpensive public light-rail train line, and we were both sad to go.  However, now our sense of adventure is perked... and we were starting to figure out our way around town... we'll be going back again soon!

Still Thinking...

After my proclamation last week about announcing our decision regarding adoption or gestational surrogacy after our dinner discussion on Saturday, I'm sure some of you are wondering what we decided... well we haven't officially decided either way yet.  We had our formal dinner discussion as planned and came to the conclusion that we just need more time and more information to make our next move.

My gut tells me that we're both leaning toward trying to find a gestational surrogate, because when it comes down to it, however narcissistic it sounds, we both want to look at our children and be reminded of our moms or dads or brothers or sisters or of each other.  I'm curious about what a child made by David and me would look like- I'm so fair and he's so dark it could make for something very special!

Surrogacy has a myriad of different challenges of which we are currently weighing the pros and cons.  The first of course is finding a person willing to give up their body for a year to give us a child.  This is no small task.  The challenge isn't so much finding a person willing to offer, but finding a person willing to offer who has really identified all the risks and potential problems involved (such as the high probability of multiples, forced bed rest, and the worst of all infertility after due to complications in labor- not to mention the postpartum) and still wants to do it for us.  I mean we could very easily end up with this:

The next major concern for us is cost.  Can we do this without breaking the bank?  I think with proper planning, discussion, and thought, this could be a really beautiful process, bringing us incredibly close to the person carrying our baby. But that said, we wouldn't want to destroy a valued relationship by rushing into something unprepared either.

And then, there is the option of Adoption.  I love the idea of creating a family with a child who needs a loving home.  I know if we make the decision to adopt, we will jump in head first without second guessing it, and be happy as can be.  And, I also know we'd be amazingly loving parents to any child. However, there is still something giving me pause with adoption at this point.

As for my own health, my doctor's concern is a valid one, if I can get the Ulcerative Colitis under control again would pregnancy (specifically hormones) set me off again?  And would the baby get all the nutrients it needs from me, considering I have malabsorption problems?  To answer some of these questions, I've made an appointment to go see a fertility specialist/high risk pregnancy doctor at the end of the month to discuss all of the above options and all of my concerns.  This way David and I can make the most educated decision possible.

Right now, I can safely say no decision about our family will be made on any front until after that appointment, and what this all comes down to is: we're still not sure.

Anglophiles

David and I are officially Anglophiles.  We can't stop watching British television... on Netflix and Hulu and PBS.  It's completely addictive.  Our favorites recently have been Downton Abbey, the new version of Sherlock Holmes set in modern day, The I.T. Crowd, Poirot, and our recent favorite, Kingdom.  Have you seen any of these?  Do you have any other recommendations for us?

The British have the very best sense of humor.  It's dry, witty, and intelligent.  And their sense of drama is understated and elegant.  We are utterly enchanted!

It's actually making me yearn to live in another country for a while.  Wouldn't it be grand to be a British aristocrat for a day?!  ;)  I'm not sure I could handle it for more than a day... having to be so proper all the time would drive me nuts.  Clearly, David and I aren't the only ones in love with British Tele though... check out this recent article in the New York Times.

It's amazing to me how many of our American television shows were created in the UK first.  The best example of this being Ricky Gervais' The Office, but I can think of about 4 or 5 others as well.  I was told by a work colleague that they were attempting to make an American version of The I.T. Crowd, but not sure it actually went anywhere... I'm kind of glad it didn't, because I'm a purist.  I'm furious that they re-made the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  What do you think of re-makes?    

Friday the 13th Unlucky? I don't think so...

Most people say Friday the 13th is an unlucky day.  I wonder why?  Actually, most people say the number 13 is unlucky in general.  In fact, my building doesn't even have a 13th floor.  I never thought 13 or Friday the 13th was so unlucky... I mean, I love Fridays, who doesn't?!  AND, my mom and her twin brother were born on January 13th, 1943 (a Wednesday).  So you can see why I've always thought this day was extra lucky.  Without my mom there wouldn't be me.

Today is my Mom, Julianne Kaeser Manchester's birthday.  

Happy Birthday Mamma!  

Thinking about my mom's birthday being on Friday the 13th this year made me wonder why the superstition came about in the first place... so I did a little google search and here's what I found:

From Wikipedia: According to folklorists, there is no written evidence for a "Friday the 13th" superstition before the 19th century.^[4][5][6] The earliest known documented reference in English occurs in Henry Sutherland Edwards' 1869 biography of Gioachino Rossini:

Rossini was surrounded to the last by admiring and affectionate friends; Why Friday the 13th Is Unlucky

Consequently, several theories have been proposed about the origin of the Friday the 13th superstition.

One theory states that it is a modern amalgamation of two older superstitions: that thirteen is an unlucky number and that Friday is an unlucky day.

• In numerology, the number twelve is considered the number of completeness, as reflected in the twelve months of the year, twelve hours of theclock, twelve gods of Olympus, twelve tribes of Israel, twelve Apostles of Jesus, the 12 Descendants of Muhammad Imams, etc., whereas the number thirteen was considered irregular, transgressing this completeness. There is also a superstition, thought by some to derive from the Last Supper or a Norse myth, that having thirteen people seated at a table will result in the death of one of the diners.
• Friday has been considered an unlucky day at least since the 14th century's The Canterbury Tales,^[3] and many other professions have regarded Friday as an unlucky day to undertake journeys or begin new projects. Black Friday has been associated with stock market crashes and other disasters since the 1800s.^[6][7] It has also been suggested that Friday has been considered an unlucky day because, according to Christianscripture and tradition, Jesus was crucified on a Friday.^[8]
• One author, noting that references are all but nonexistent before 1907 but frequently seen thereafter, has argued that its popularity derives from the publication that year of Thomas W. Lawson's popular novel Friday, the Thirteenth,^[9] in which an unscrupulous broker takes advantage of the superstition to create a Wall Street panic on a Friday the 13th.^[4] Records of the superstition are rarely found before the 20th century, when it became extremely common.

The connection between the Friday the 13th superstition and the Knights Templar was popularized in the 2003 novel The Da Vinci Code. However, experts agree that this is a relatively recent correlation, and most likely a modern-day invention. Although according to many Freemasons, this date corresponds with the slaughtering of the Knights Templar by the Church.

---

So, basically the superstition has its roots in the church.  Interesting... I'm not sure how I feel about that... hmmm?

Well, I think superstitions (like most things) only have power when we give them power, and I've always felt 13 was a lucky day because of my mom, and I'm going to keep on thinking that way.

I hope you'll all join me in wishing my mom a happy birthday and many more to come! 

Tears for a friend

This week, I've had a heavy heart.  My good friend Lisa's husband, Dave Allred passed away suddenly in the night.  He was only 54.  That's so young!  And, although Dave and Lisa have been together for about 4 years and have known each other for probably 20 years longer than that, they only just got married this summer- August 13, 2011 in a beautiful ceremony along the Boise River.  They were soul mates.

My heart is breaking for Lisa.

His memorial service yesterday was very nice.  It was at the Municipal Park near the Boise River.  The sun was shining and people told stories and played music.  It was the perfect celebration of his life.  He was a husband, a father, a step-father, a grandfather, a brother, an uncle, a cousin, a son, and a friend.  His two sisters Jamie and Jole are also good friends of mine, and my love went out to the whole family.

Lisa

Since we found out about his passing though, all I can think about is how fragile life is.  My sister lost her husband 4.5 years ago to cancer, and our whole family misses Eric every single day.  He's was part of my life as long as I can remember, and its hard for me to even write my sister's name without his beside it-when I think Katie, I think Eric.  I can't imagine how Katie feels.  What would I do if my husband David passed away tomorrow?  I honestly don't know, and frankly, I hate to even consider it.  David is my soul mate, my best friend, and my partner in crime.  I would be lost without him.

We have so many dreams together that haven't even been started yet.  Dreams of travel, dreams of children, dreams of doing creative projects together, dreams of growing very very old together, and dreams of creating more dreams together.  Our lives are just beginning, and yet unlike the generation before us, we all started this phase of our lives later.  Most of my friends parents had them before the age of 35, yet most of my friends also haven't started having their own children until at least 35.  Not that I think that's a bad thing, but when doing the math, it does give me pause.

Also, maybe it's the New Year, or the full moon or something all together different, but I'm not the only person feeling this way.  In the past few days, some of my very close friends from around the world have called to chat out of the blue, and all of them have mentioned a similar theme without my prompting the discussion.  On the one hand, its kind of cool to think we are all on a similar wavelength, but on the other it makes me realize how much I take my life for granted.  And how much I take my friends and family for granted.

We all talked about the fact that because it is so easy to communicate these days, and yet we can never seem to find the time, thinking, "I'll just call her/him later."  Only "later" gets pushed back further and further, because we're always so busy.  Wasn't technology created to make our lives easier?

This life we live in these days is so much more complicated than the life of our parents, our grandparents, etc.  Communication has been made easy and commonplace, and yet because its so easy, we hardly ever really communicate with each other.  That is, except to post a note on Facebook or Twitter... send a text message or drop someone a two sentence email... but is that really communicating?

What I know for sure is that no matter how exhausted we are at the end of the day, taking that extra five or even 60 minutes to touch base with a loved one is so important.  Our friends and family make up our world... without them, life is meaningless.  And, like a marriage, all relationships take a bit of effort to nurture and grow.  I know I need to make more of an effort to let my family and friends know I love them, to call them and to see them and be part of their lives.  

David always says, "You are the person you are becoming."  I'm sure he's quoting someone, but I'm not sure exactly who... Buddha maybe?  Anyway, what he means is to make something happen we have to start taking the steps to make it happen.  Just talking about it or dreaming about it or even praying about it won't do anything without some sort of action... we have to make our luck-- make our dreams a reality.

I'm off to start work on a few of mine before life passes me by...