The Beat Goes On

Writing the Foreword to the YOUCAT (2011), the Catholic Church's condensed catechism on Church teaching written especially for youth, Pope Benedict XVI challenges his young friends: "Today I recommend for your reading an unusual book. It is unusual both because of its content and because of the way it came to be. I would like to tell you a little about how it was written, because then it will be clear why it is so unusual."

Our Pope explains, in a nutshell, after Vatican II (an official meeting of the Catholic Church in Rome lasting from 1962-1965) and a changing culture, many people in society and the Church were left confused.

What's a Christian to believe? Can we believe anything the Church teaches, is it even reasonable to be a believer? Then came the bold and decisive decision of Pope John Paul II to write a book that would answer these questions. "...a real book, " writes Pope Benedict XVI, "not just a haphazard collection of all sorts of documents…..something entirely new and exciting…..It would show what the Catholic Church believes today and how one can with good reason believe."

In December 2009, during the spring time of my own reversion, having been plodding along all these years, sort of lost in an agnostic, moral relativism, making room at times for a non-denominational New-Age way of thinking, I had now found a sudden spark of light in, who would have guessed, that traditional 'old fashioned' Catholicism of my youth. I bought a used version (the Pope's vision having already manifested into reality nearly 15 years before) with the 'old-fashioned' title: Catechism of the Catholic Church (1994) and proceeded to read it cover to cover.

Wow, I was floored and blown away even though much of it was way to deep, theologically and philosophically. I had received nothing at all like this before. Well at least now I could partly understand the underlying causes of my departure from the Catholic Church.

IGNORANCE. There, swallowing my pride, I have spoken the truth. Now since I have publicly admitted it - how about you? What do you REALLY know about the CHURCH, your faith? What is your hope grounded in? Superstition? The world?

Having been born in 1964, I had been poorly "formed" in the Church during the 30 year period prior to 1994 where, even today, the Church admits its existence was punctuated by a drought of religious education, a catechetical vacuum of sorts.

Now here's some great news. Motivated by the success and enthusiasm of the World Youth Days started during the pontificate of John Paul II, "- young people from all over the world have come together, young people who want to believe, who are seeking God, who love Christ, and who want fellowship on their journey." - Pope Benedict VXI

Seventeen years from its original 1994 publishing date, the Catechism of the Catholic Church has been translated into the much more approachable and fascinating version called YOUCAT. This little yellow paperback book with mostly cartoon stick figure illustrations scattered throughout it's pages is fun; see for yourself.

Pope Benedict XVI (now our Pope Emeritus) continues his Foreword with a fervent challenge: "Study this Catechism! That is my heartfelt desire. This Catechism was not written to please you. It will not make life easy for you, because it demands of you a new life. It places before you the Gospel message as the 'pearl of great value' (Mt. 13:46) for which you must give everything. So I beg you: Study this Catechism with passion and perseverance. Make a sacrifice of your time for it! Study it in the quiet of your room; read it with a friend; form study groups and networks; share with each other on the Internet. By all means continue to talk with each other about your faith. You need to know what you believe. You need to know your faith with that same precision with which an IT specialist knows the inner workings of a computer. You need to understand it like a good musician knows the piece he is playing." [emphasis is mine]

Bingo! The principles taught in the YOUCAT make all that follow it better. So if you're a soccer camp founded on YOUCAT teachings then you're a better soccer team; a choral group founded on YOUCAT teachings then you're a better choral group; a cooking club, a couple of auto mechanics swapping tips, a hunting and fishing group - all better communities when grounded in these truth principals.

How about Internet based hand percussion lessons, short video segments free of charge, presenting multi-cultural rhythms from around the world along with YOUCAT teachings? Why not. I think you'd be a better percussion community because of it.

My imagination kicks into gear and I can even envision a parish or similar community level YOUCAT Conga Camp (study group) complete with yellow YOUCAT paperbacks and matching yellow t-shirts: "St. Luke's YOUCAT Conga Cats" emblazoned across the front or back; you substitute in the name of your own parish or community group.

One could easily work in at least one YOUCAT point while facilitating a world rhythm circle or percussion lesson. How about a YouTube channel for the group to access; Google + page to post the sheet music and Google Hangouts sessions to interact with those community members located across the country or world?

YOUCAT enthusiasts can join international, online groups for fellowship and where pictures and photos of all the fun can be uploaded. I can see the photo now: a conga under one arm and a YOUCAT paperback in the other hand. Call me a romantic, call me a dreamer- no, call me a Christian following the call to a New Evangelization!

Convinced but not yet sure how to integrate your hobby with our new YOUCAT?

Why not follow me for now with my new "Time for the Table" series where I really stretch out on a limb and try a lot of new, (fortunately very low cost or free) technology. We'll find out together what works and what can be improved upon.

Saint Mother Theresa [updated 2/4/2017] encourages Christians to be faithful and not to worry about whether or not we are successful in the process; God takes care of that part. If just a small handful of people follow your work, more than likely friends and family members; great, you've wonderfully succeeded! Then teach these people how to use these same tools so that a handful of people follow each of them; and so on….

Christianity has changed the world and will continue to do so; we can change the world too. "Do not be afraid!" exclaims Pope Saint John Paul II [updated 2/4/2017].

Do not be afraid!

Monday, July 8, 2013

Community Drumming 101

During late 2003, an opportunity to share my love for the conga drums in a paid teaching effort came about by way of the new Brushy Creek Community Center scheduled to open in the spring of 2004 (Round Rock, Texas).

About a year after leaving the band Stones Throw in 2000, I had been tinkering around with ways to apply my collection of percussion books, videos, and personal playing experience into "on-the-side" lessons, in addition to my regular employment, a little business of my own.

Over the next several years, I developed a lesson plan that in it's advancement paralleled the way one progresses in a karate class through the qualification of colored belts. In my early twenties, I had personally progressed from a white belt in karate to a green belt, just falling short of obtaining a blue belt after suffering a third degree sprain in my neck.

To summarize, my entire percussion course would consist of ten colored levels, from gray through maroon; the first level gray being for beginners and the tenth and final maroon level for "seasoned pros;" having of course already studied and practiced the eight color levels in-between and now finding themselves capable and equipped with the skills to perform with percussion instruments during a live show.

In my zeal I placed ads in the local community newsletter and I stapled flyers on community boards and I waited…...and waited.

Unfortunately but predictably, despite my best efforts at self promotion, I managed to acquire just one paid student, Sahel, a nice and patient man from Persia. What a good time we had even though we transacted just about a month's worth of classes.

When Sahel called me back for more lessons a few months later, I had already given up - I had taken a new job that required me to be on the road several nights a week and so I no longer had the same availability as I had had before but this job would not last much longer; fortunately!

So when the Brushy Creek Community Center opportunity arrived in 2003 you can probably imagine my enthusiasm going before the Board of Directors and promoting one hour community drumming classes- and finding they were all in -and that they loved it!

I even attended the grand opening event with a table full of instruments and an exciting "looped" video of a community drum circle. When the full colored, Spring 2004 Grand Opening catalogue was mailed out to all the residents of the Brushy Creek Municipal Utility District (MUD) my class was in it!

"Community Drumming 101" Saturdays 5-6pm. Only $80 for all eight Saturdays. My class was mixed together with classes and workshops and educational offerings in topics ranging from fitness, dancercise, crafts, sewing, stitching, quilts, ceramics, cooking, nutrition, gardening, parenting, art, first-aid, spring-camps & events, tots programs, after school programs, senior activities, etc.; most of the classes fee based. However, on-top of the individual class fee there was a hefty annual family membership fee of $300.

Still, the Center thrives to this day, a wonderful community asset, and so the up-front fees couldn't have been the problem. Maybe it was the day, Saturdays, or the time slot between 5 and 6 pm?

Despite doing my homework, neither one of my two advertised 8 week sessions drew any interest. I had either overpriced the session, picked a bad time slot, or simply people were not interested in community drumming as an activity.

When the MUD called me to offer reassurance and to extend the class offering into the fall, I declined explaining I had started my own appraisal practice and would no longer have time to offer the classes.

And so my great foray into percussion education came to a close.

What is it about music that so excites the soul? Or sewing? Or reading? Or cooking? Or gardening? Or computing? Or playing soccer? Or any other wholesome hobby for that matter?

I didn't quite see it then but in reality, they are all gifts, God given gifts.

The joys and advantages one finds say in the varying rhythms and hand patterns, the passion for learning and playing new world rhythms; all are simply graces; graces that have been given FREE of charge.

The desire to teach and share with others are graces from God too.

Musical talents in my case, maybe sewing, reading, cooking, gardening, computing, or playing soccer in your case.

Maybe all along, I'd simply taken the wrong approach.

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Second Chances

In the spirit of second chances, 2012- 2013 has been a good one for me.

I attended my first silent retreat, in fact, my first Christian retreat ever, a Catholic retreat, an Opus Dei sponsored retreat spanning three nights and approximately three days.

Opus Dei is a personal prelature of the Catholic Church and for me, has provided a way to live life in order to have a winning chance of beating the world's allurements and "pull" towards the kinds of addictions that plagued me in the past. A way to live 'in the world' yet in a way that can't easily be put into words, a way to live that's 'out of this world.'

In a nutshell, one lives daily norms conceived by the founder, Josemaria Escriva, now a canonized Saint of the Catholic Church. These daily norms, more than anything else, ground me in a way of life that includes prayer, reflection, and aligning oneself with the truth. The daily norms perpetuate and reinforce the second chance, the conversion I have been given in life and keep me from sliding back, loosing my hold, surrendering the ability to persevere against all odds.

"The work," as it is appropriately called, consists of programs or apostolates run by men and women who have dedicated their lives to Jesus Christ and to bettering the world through programs of education, mentoring and character development.

One such work that I recently learned of focuses on those in high school, a program for young men, between 9th through 11th grade. It's called "The Grade Seminars: A Leadership Program for College-Bound Young Men Grades 9-11."

Here, during a series of monthly Saturday meetings, the young men are introduced to positive male role models from the local community; recognized leaders in the fields of medicine, education, engineering, psychology, dentistry, etc.

The young men are taught through a series of talks under the general heading of "The Big Picture:" (for Freshmen)

Making the Most of High School

Character and Maturity,

Culture: The World of Books, Music and Art,

True Manliness: Father and Family Man,

What makes You Happy?

And other topics

Later, for Sophomores and Juniors, the young men are offered "The Professional Seminar" including presentations such as:

IT Services: Data, Clouds and Websites

Engineering/Academia/Social Sciences/Medicine/Dentistry career talks

Becoming a Lifelong Reader

Planning for a Productive Summer

Citizenship and the Common Good

And other professional development talks

In addition to the seminars and talks, each student is assigned a mentor who will meet individually with him between the monthly sessions. The mentor will guide the student in setting important and practical goals and help him apply the information learned.

Despite the many negatives in the world, other like minded people ARE engaging others to make the world a better place. A new high-gloss, high-fashion magazine called Verily publishes it's first magazine in June; a magazine that "promotes true femininity" without the half-naked, sexualized headlines that many women find offensive and assaulting.

And there are others;

many others.

In my own, "second chance" effort, I have organized an ecumenical, faith at work Intranet community, utilizing the United States Department of Agriculture's IBM Connect Intranet platform. The community called "Faith at Work," is available to some 100,00 plus USDA employees, is the only faith based community of its kind, will celebrate its one year anniversary June 26, the feast day of St Josemaria Escriva, and as of a few days ago, welcomed its 127th member (310 as of December, 2016)! Our members come from all over the USA, attend religious services under many diverse denominations, and are united through common devotion to Jesus Christ and the compelling desire and need to bring faith based principles into the workplace.

Long ago, aging men were actually sought out and respected for their wisdom and counsel. Given my second chance, I too should strive to be this; to be it now, in the modern day. "This generation of older men did not become elders, they just became elderly. This has to stop. You have a God-given responsibility to mentor younger men." - Jonathon E. Doyle

There's a calling for this today, men and women alike, especially to those like minded in Jesus Christ, those striving to live Christ-like lives; continuing to challenge oneself, becoming worthy mentors to our youth, to our coworkers, becoming leaders, encouraging and optimistic, faith-filled, a beacon to positive and lasting cultural transformation.

In the world of second chances, my efforts have only just begun.

Sunday, December 23, 2012

One Wooden Conga

Playing percussion live meant sometimes being invited out somewhere and for the economy of fitting a multi-piece band onto limited space, being asked to bring just one conga to the performance, instead of my customary, four drum set-up.

One conga drum, simply to keep time or to spice up the trap drum set with well placed conga tones, delivered with a bit of creativity, indeed, will suffice.

But what beauty and depth is brought to the performance with the addition of three more conga drums, each tuned up or down from the one primary, wood drum, the conga. A stage set-up with four, individually tuned conga drums, shakers, tambourines, and bells played in some order, sometimes more, sometimes less, never overbearing, works to magnify the intensity of "spice" a percussionist adds to an ensemble or rock group.

Everything can be gained by praying and worshiping Jesus Christ alone, though God Himself is a Trinity, a great spiraling and swirling love affair between a Father, a Son, and a Holy Spirit. We learn to pray to God through his Son, Jesus Christ.

For Catholic believers, there's also an extra dimension if you will; beauty, efficacy, and consolation in thinking about all the other characters and creation of the great story of our salvation, especially Mary, the mother of God, all the angels, and those human beings throughout history behind the growth of Christianity, many even dying for the Christian faith, the saints.

The more I study and adore the life of Jesus Christ the man, God having become human flesh, the more apt I become in trying to imitate the 24/7 of his sacred humanity. Inevitably this means recognizing as a fact Jesus Christ, from the very first day of his life on earth, interacted with and loved ALL of his creation, but beyond measure, loved especially human kind in ALL of its dimensions. Jesus prayed to the Father every chance he had but he also interacted with ALL of creation to teach, pray, and make known the Kingdom of God.

The Bible account of Jesus' birth illustrates this grandly. Mother Mary, Saint Joseph and the Holy family have a Son, Jesus Christ born in a manger with a donkey, a cow, and a host of visitors from poor shepherds to rich and generous Kings. In our own families we have a mother, a father, brothers, and sisters. ALL there to love and to ask things. A family might even bring in a dog to love or a cat to love. Oh, don't forget about one's uncles, aunts, cousins and best friends; you can love and ask them things too. Ask what? How do I look today? Can I borrow some money? Will you cook me something? How does this sound? Can we visit? Will you pray for me? Just like Jesus did, the One all Christians are called to imitate.

And there's more. We learn about (and try to imitate) the great love for and obedience Jesus showed his mother and his friends growing up into adulthood. We witness the help his apostles gave him, we witness the intercessory pleas he responded to from people representing other people who couldn't quite reach him. We see his love and concern for family members of the deceased.

I'm telling you, Jesus, in all of his sacred humanity, just wouldn't be satisfied with one wooden conga!

Fast forward. Creation, His and ours, speaks of diversity too. We have incredible choices of foods, wines, paintings, music, careers, automobiles, and homes to enjoy. Many different houses of worship too: the Lutherans on the corner, the Methodists down the road, the Baptists across town, the Catholics downtown, etc., ALL having a fervent devotion to Jesus Christ. And many more, ALL worshiping a transcendental God. And still more, All believing in multiple gods, and another group, All believing in no god what-so-ever.

There's not just one bird, one cat; but scores and scores of bird species and house-cats, bobcats, cheetahs, leopards, lions, tigers, jaguars, etc.

Creation shouts loudly regarding depth and diversity and God calls it ALL good.

I feel the tide of finger pointing and cries of "relativist" beginning to descend upon me and so I will remind the reader once again our primary Christian goal, the caveat: the imitation of Christ.

I believe we all benefit when we can contemplate ALL of Christ, using our God given imagination, imploring the Holy Spirit, the traditions of our fathers, the Bible, church teaching, etc. Coming to know ALL dimensions of Jesus Christ's sacred humanity rather than merely confining one's perspective to something sterile and wooden, perhaps defined by a view narrowly drawn from a strictly literal interpretation of the Bible. It's like playing one wooden conga instead of four melodic conga drums, beautifully tuned, played proportionately and at proper volume levels. Sure, it can be done, even to some benefit and profit, when space constraints exist, but there's a cost in beauty and depth.

Diversity magnifies the Lord, Mother Mary tells us: My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. (Luke 1:44)

"The virtue of humility, so evident in Our Lady's life, is truth, (cf St. Teresa of Avila, Sixth Mansion, ch 106) the true recognition of what we are and are worth in the eyes of God and of our fellow men. It is also an emptying of ourselves to allow God to work in us with his grace. It is the rejection of appearances and of superficiality; it is the expression of the depth of the human spirit; it is a condition for its greatness (John Paul II, Angelus, 4 March 1979). ….[W]e come before God as debtors who do not know how to discharge our debts, (cf Matt 18:23-35) and for this reason we go to Mary as the Mediatrix of all graces, to the Mother of mercy and tenderness to whom no one has had recourse in vain." (In Conversation with God, Volume One, Advent and Christmastide, Francis Fernandez)

God isn't myopic. We discover great diversity in this, the whole entire economy of salvation that God has revealed to us: in tradition, in scripture, and in nature. "The written law kills, but the Spirit gives life" says St. Paul in his letter to the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 3:6). "The letter kills." repeats St. Ambrose "it is the Spirit which gives life" a spiritual a reflection of reality, of what is observed all around us.

Yes, one can play with just one wooden conga but the voices, the melodic possibilities off all four played together is much more pleasing and robust. I'll make the extra work to show up with all four drums any day. Real life is much more interesting, full of depth, meaning, and unfathomable diversity, accordingly, this is the way God created it.

Following the real life of Jesus Christ, shouldn't our faith and prayer life be equally deep and robust?