The Second Third

/ J. Thorp / 5 Comments

I turned 36 years old today. Last year on this date I joked that I was a third of the way through my life (not half, as some had suggested). 105 seemed like a reasonable age for which to aspire: far enough past the century mark so it doesn’t look like you were stretching for a milestone, yet not so far past that you appear to be going for the record. This year I thought about it again — 105 — and it seemed less like a joke.

Why not? I’ve got things to do. 105 then. That’s the plan.

First I informed Jodi, so if she wants to go first, or wants to try to outlast me, she can plan accordingly. Then I thought about this blog post. If 105 is the mark, at 36 I’ve officially entered the second third of my life — middle age — except lucky for me, middle age lasts until 70, at which point you may consider me an “older American.” I don’t intend to retire.

The second third. It’s appropriate, because throughout the past two years, I’ve had a handful of experiences that pushed me out of uncertainty and into a much clearer (if not yet crystalline) vision of who I am, and who I want to be (y’know, when I grow up). So maybe it’s time to move to the next stage…

I also noticed that so many things have sucked up my time in this past year that this is only the 30th blog post of the year (compared to about 158, year-to-date, in 2008, which was my peak year). Sad. So sad, in fact, that my good friend Jinglebob at the Dennis Ranch blog actually briefly cut me from his blog roll for several days prior to the election for insufficient presence. And since one of the things that has not changed as I enter the second third of my life is my desire to write, I figure I ought to remedy that right off the bat.

So…

Beginning today, and continuing each Wednesday for the next year (at least), I will post a Second Third entry, about where I think I came from, and where I think I’m headed. Navel-gazing? Perhaps. But I’ll try to make it worth your while — and hopefully as I get into the swing of a weekly post, others will follow.

Oh, and Yield and Overcome? Sounds to squishy for my second third. Gonna have to remedy that, too.

Welcome to my Second Third. I’m genuinely glad to be here, and thankful you came, too.

Last Roll Call

/ J. Thorp / 2 Comments

sarge calls the roll until —
once, twice, three times:
rank and last name
rank, first and last
rank, first, middle and last
louder each time.
the name echoes in the silence.
to a man, the same thought:
answer, dammit.
it’s the sun that makes
these young men squint;
the dust they blink away.
it’s sweat trailing down
their windburned cheeks
as the bugle cries.

Father Gabriel’s First Homily

/ J. Thorp / 2 Comments

We were driving home on Sunday from getting haircuts for me, Gabe, and Trevor. I ran my hand over my much lighter head, then rubbed my chin and said, “All I need to do is trim my beard, and I’ll be a new man!”

Jodi looked sideways at me and suggested that she, for one, could use a new man, and that my whiskers weren’t close to the first thing she’d change. We went back and forth a moment: I, lamenting the cruelty of my beloved; she, enumerating my shortcomings…until Gabe interjected: “You shouldn’t do that, Mom.”

“Gabe!” she protested. “You’re sticking up for HIM!?”

“The Ninth Commandment,” he said matter-of-factly. “‘You shall not covet” — he pronounced it “COVE-it” — “thy neighbor’s wife.'”

“Covet,” I corrected, laughing. “And how does that apply in this case, Gabe? I don’t think she wants someone else’s husband; she wants a different me.”

“Lust makes you…” He stopped for a moment, as if choosing his words carefully with the younger kids in the car. “Lust makes you want something different than what you have.”

Jodi and I looked at each other. I raised an eyebrow.

An aspiring priest’s first homily…

Pre-Election Rant-A-Day 8: VOTE!

/ J. Thorp / Leave a comment

Blogger’s Note: This will be my final rant, for awhile, at least. To tell the truth, I finding the Rant-A-Day format completely exhausting. Not sure I’ll even be able to muster a little righteous indignation tomorrow, which is a pity, especially when watching election returns. I don’t know how the cable pundits do it day after day…

I had another long, ranting rant planned on a whole other topic loosely related to the election. But no. Just vote tomorrow. Vote as if you life depended on it, because maybe one day it will. Vote because someone fought and died so you could. Vote because someone fought and died because they couldn’t. Vote because your kids need that example. Vote because they need a future only you can give them.

Don’t like the major-party candidates? Me neither. Vote third-party, then. Don’t want to throw your vote away (or don’t like the third-party folks either). Me neither. Pick one. Hold your nose and have an opinion. (And next time, consider running!)

Want to gripe about the sad state of politics and government. Vote. Want to change the direction of a nation? Vote. Don’t miss this opportunity. Don’t cede power. Don’t give up control. Read up, get up, line up, vote.

Or don’t come cryin’ to me.

Pre-Election Rant-A-Day 7: Most Politics Should Be Local

/ J. Thorp / Leave a comment

Blogger’s Note: One more rant after this one, If I can get it together. Feel free to look at the past six, as well, and comment if you like. Or not.

“Excessive intervention by the state can threaten personal freedom and initiative. The teaching of the Church has elaborated the principle of subsidiarity, according to which ‘a community of a higher order should not interfere in the internal life of a community of a lower order, depriving the latter of its functions, but rather should support it in case of need and help to coordinate its activity with the activities of the rest of society, always with a view to the common good.'”

— Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), 1883

It’s worth looking at the larger context of the quote above before Election Day — it’s food for thought whether you’re Catholic or not. Of particular interest is paragraph 1881 — “Each community is defined by its purpose and consequently obeys specific rules; but ‘the human person . . . is and ought to be the principle, the subject and the end of all social institutions.'” — and paragraph 1885: “The principle of subsidiarity is opposed to all forms of collectivism. It sets limits for state intervention. It aims at harmonizing the relationships between individuals and societies. It tends toward the establishment of true international order.”

Subsidiarity, according to Dictionary.com, means two things, both of which I am personally partial to:

  1. (in the Roman Catholic Church) a principle of social doctrine that all social bodies exist for the sake of the individual so that what individuals are able to do, society should not take over, and what small societies can do, larger societies should not take over
  2. (in political systems) the principle of devolving decisions to the lowest practical level

What we’re talking about, essentially, is local control. Who better than ourselves and our neighbors to solve the problems in our back yards? Who better to rally around the new mother, the unemployed father, the sick child, than friends and family, church and community? Why on earth should we send so much of our resources half a nation eastward to be reallocated when we have plenty to do here at home, and plenty of smart folks with similar goals to do it?

We waste so much time, energy, and money on the national campaigns and the race for governor, and too often can’t name our local reps, school board and city council members, or mayor. We want them to have our backs, but we vote for the state and national policymakers who pass the laws that tie their hands. Those in power take money out of local communities; local communities can either raise property taxes, cut services, or both; and we complain no matter what. Is it any wonder that our local officials who go on to state or national office mold themselves into professional politicians? It’s because that’s what we reward! We expect their service and support for local priorities, and are outraged when they fail or fall…but where are we the rest of the time? How many of us will go to the polls on Tuesday, look at the local races and vote for the two or three people we might know (or whose names we might recognize) and vote “incumbent” or party lines for the rest?

I’m as guilty as most: My big step forward in the last year or so was to cancel our once-a-week subscription to the Sunday edition of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and reinvest a portion of that money into our local weekly, the North Crow River News. I’m slowly beginning to know who’s who and to get involved in community service at home, instead of at work in the Twin Cities. But I still wouldn’t know our mayor by sight and couldn’t name a single city councilperson.

Former Speaker of House Tip O’Neil is credited with the adage, All politics is local. In truth, politics should be local — but these days, most of politics looks coastal and feels feudal. We need to take personal interest in our local elections and vote to keep as much control as we can here at home. We should take care of our own.