Surviving enemy territory

Otherwise known as Stanfurd. I had the happy opportunity on Thursday to meet Mr. Jeff Culbreath, who graciously invited me to lunch. It's always a pleasure, becoming better acquainted with serious Catholics. In life I have been fortunate to have met many Catholics who are senior not just with respect to age, but possess the maturity, gravitas, and virtue that should go with age. Mr. Culbreath is one of them. The world needs their witness. And for someone like me, who still needs to grow in many ways, their example is invaluable.

As you might think, we talked about our respective stories and common interests, things pertaining to paleoconservatism, agrarianism, community, localism, going off the grid, and traditional Catholicism.

Mr. Culbreath also said I'm enigmatic. I suppose that is so, since I do not write much about myself on the blog. Brother B gets a laugh calling me 'inscrutable.' CB used to think I was a mystery; I hope that is not the case any longer. Haha.

Thank you very much Mr. Culbreath for lunch and the conversation! I look forward to visiting your part of California one day.

Here is a photo of someone with Mr. Culbreath:


Edit: Mr. Culbreath has posted some of his thoughts on his week spent at Stanfurd. Thank you for the compliments and the prayers (and for including the prayer intention on your blog)!

A post by the Deliberate Agrarian on making birdhouses: Room & Board For The Birds
(I thought I had come across a post recently talking about local health regulations and such, but couldn't find anything. I was probably thinking of your post on jam and gotten the two blogs confused.)

While we were at the outdoor tables talking, we were asked to fill out a survey about same-sex marriage. That was "interesting." The survey, as most surveys are, was poorly written, and the questions did not offer a valid dichotomy, one option being exclusive of the other. I am guessing that we were probably the only people opposed to same-sex marriage, or giving people with same-sex attraction all 'rights,' which I interpreted to include the so-called right to marry and the right to adopt. I was a bit hesitant to fill out the survey; do I need one more piece of evidence to go in a file somewhere for enemies of "liberal democracy"?

After lunch we took a short stroll and dropped by the Stanford Memorial Church, which was opportune, since I had wanted to see it while I was visiting the campus. A friend had mentioned how beautiful it was and recommended that I take a look. Here are some photos:


I think... something is missing from the sanctuary... like an iconostasis. And a baldachin.





Next time I visit, I'll have to take some more photos.

Mr. Culbreath remarked that the Stanford Memorial Church actually looked like a church. (We had discussed the new Oakland cathedral earlier during lunch. Was the drafting of this Strategic Plan really necessary? Domiane Forte's proposed design and an Adoremus article on his design. How big of an earthquake can the glass of the new cathedral withstand?)

Mass in the EF is now said by priests of the Sacramento diocese at St. John the Baptist Church in Chico. Mr. Culbreath noted that the FSSP priests at St. Stephen in Sacramento are kept very busy. It's too bad they couldn't start an apostolate down here. The IVE priests @ OLP could begin celebrating a Mass in the EF on Sundays, but they would be 'prevented' from doing so, despite what Summorum Pontificum says. I hope more IVE priests come to San Jose. I went to OLP yesterday afternoon for the Assumption, instead of driving all the way to Palo Alto. There were, of course, a lot of Filipinos at the 5:00 Mass; there were a few Vietnamese Catholics, too. (Plus some robins for a visitor, Sarge.) After Mass, some Vietnamese people were having a quick rehearsal for an early wedding Saturday morning (10:00!). It was hot today, but still, the clothing would probably be considered somewhat immodest. (Alas, some women don't have a clue!)

Still, I might try my luck finding a Vietnamese Catholic wife as Clemens suggested. He should be getting married soon.

Here is a photo of Stanford's Hoover Tower:

More impressive than Cal's Campanile?


Or are both really different from the following tower, in terms of what they represent, only in degree?

(source: Robert Alexander)


I don't really nurse the Cal grudge against Stanford. I would consider most universities, public or private, to be enemy territory, participating in a scam and fleecing students (or their parents) of money. Mr. Culbreath thinks that what is needed is a reform of secondary education, and I agree. I am hoping someone to start a real Catholic high school around here... I've looked at what already exists, and haven't been impressed by the curricula so far. (And I do not think anyone is going to reform the various Catholic high schools any time soon.) Perhaps the Fraternity will aid in the creation of a school on the West coast.

I picked Isengard instead of Barad-dûr, because what was once an fortress of civilization is now occupied by the enemy. The medieval intellectual project is dead.

Mr. Culbreath talked about Orland and the sense of community that he found there, along with some of the good and bad things associated with living in a real community. One of the good things is that after you get to know people and start seeing them regularly, they will miss you if you disappear for a while. In contrast, it is likely that no one in a big city (or the suburbs) will notice you're dead. (I would add, unless you have a pile of unpaid bills or your body starts to stink.)

Yes, it's hyperbole--people at work may notice when you stop showing up, but they may not make the effort find out what happened to you.

I decided to come back to California, even though I dislike the coastal region because I decided to make a stand, for stability and community, and to stake out a place. But as Mr. Culbreath pointed out, what's the point of making one's stand in suburbia, if everyone else is moving and there is a periodic turnover in one's neighbors?

Hence, the importance of focusing on one's family, even if there is heartbreak and disappointment waiting around the corner. (How can there not be, if one invests too much of one's identity in one's children and does not have some detachment?) And if it is possible, one should find like-minded people and try to create something stable and long-lasting. It's understandable that people who join the military to get away from gangs are looking not only for order and discipline, but a better sort of brotherhood.

If something were to happen to me here, my family would know soon. As for my friends from HS, they would have a reaction, but they wouldn't find out about it for quite some time, since they don't keep in touch. Those who are married may have a ready excuse, but really, they've just made other things a priority, instead of doing what is needed in order to have a more human(e) sort of life as much as possible. Money and other things are a priority, and whatever is left over is for family, usually spent in such a way as to compensate for what has been lost. (The nonsense that it's the quality of time spent, not quantity that matters.) Friendship seems to be a distant priority, and the activities proper to friendship are possible only because of the automobile. Without that convenience, how many people would make an effort to maintain friendships with those who live somewhat at a distance?

Then again, we don't have much to talk about, having nothing but the most quotidian matters in common. And so what real basis is there now for friendship?

The only one who calls regularly is xiao Jimmy, who rang me at dinner at Carl's Jr. (I was trying the 6 dollar burger again--they were rather dry... don't think I'll be going to a Carl's Jr. again, even if I have some more coupons. heh.) He and his gf put down a deposit for a house; the owner accepted their offer this week. I asked him if he had proposed, and he replied, "What do you mean? Formally? Like going down on one knee? Who does that? You only see that on TV." Apparently they have had an 'understanding' for a while, and he gave her the ring, but no ceremony or ritual, nothing. That's xiao Jimmy for you. I told him I was going to reveal this to the OD's wife so she could have some words with him. They are thinking of having the wedding early next year, perhaps in January. They are thinking of having the banquet at a restaurant in Milpitas... he was complaining that ABC was being too snobbish, since they wouldn't accept anything less than 20 tables for Saturday. (Otherwise, "It's too much work.")

We do discuss what is probably his impending marriage, so it's no mundane affair. But he doesn't share the same attitudes about the meaning of marriage and its purposes, so...

When I first returned to CA, I thought that it would be pathetic if the frequency of seeing my HS friends didn't really change, regardless of whether I was in California or not. That's pretty much what has happened with most of the married ones; I do manage to see the single ones more often, if they are free and I initiate the contact. That the burden would be uneven seems attributable to the female-male dynamic. Rarely will there be an strict equality in reciprocity between males and females. (With the exception of JLP and perhaps one or two others.) Is it really easier for married couples to associate with other married people than with singles? Even if it were, life isn't about following the easiest path... The desire to call people up for meetings used to be strong, when it produced results, but once it starts to seem futile, the desire will fade, and that is what has happened to me.

JPL was very offended when a college friend said she wasn't interested in keeping in contact, because she had her own life and JPL had hers. I had the same reaction. We both put a lot of value on fidelity to friends...

The standard advice is to let fading friendships continue to wither away "on their own," if the other side isn't willing to make an effort to maintain it. But the lack of reciprocity or the absence of consideration and thoughtfulness (or the basic etiquette of responding to inquiries!) in the past can still provoke an emotional reaction. Just gotta let go, not make phone calls or send e-mails (but maybe an occasional card for short time?), and continue living life. High school has come and gone.

That's how things seem to me. I'd like to think that I would handle things differently if I ever got married, and I think my sister the MD probably does a better job of keeping in touch with her friends.

I definitely need to break out of this rut, and the real solution is obvious. I was thinking though that I should have postponed coming back to California, though it is nice that the immediate family is somewhat in the area now. Attempting to sustain things from the past as a part of the transition isn't really working out, but that's as expected. There are days when I am tempted to just leave things behind and start anew. But how is that possible in this economy? Running off to become a hobbit isn't feasible at the moment; the more realistic dream is to drop everything, get a temporary job at Costco, and preparing for one of several alternate plans, so I can "get serious" about life. KK, when I say quitting I mean the 'big paper.'

Several hours after I started writing that complaint, I don't feel the need to post it on the blog, but I'll leave it as it is... The only antidote to excessive self-love and narcissism is growth in true charity.

Watcher is coming to town next week. Br. B will be back by the end of the month. I don't think escaping to the Dominicans is a solution. I should write back to CB this weekend... so in the area of friendship, things are not that bleak. I just need to redirect my attention towards those valuable friendships that remain and trying to meet new people.

It's a good thing someone hasn't been presumptuous enough to start writing messages with the fake airport code HVN (for Heaven, though it is the real airport code for New Haven).

As I wrote in an earlier post I've been thinking of shutting down the blog. At the very least I should take a break from it and focus on the 'big paper.' Sure, the blog serves its purpose as a diversion and a way of avoiding the painful. I'll try to wrap up some long unfinished posts soon. Maybe. We'll see if I can also reduce the posting of links.

I should install Arcsoft PhotoStudio to see if that is better than the Nero program. I will try to upload some more photos, but resizing is a chore.

Links:
History of the Iconostasis
Byzantine Icons: The Iconostasis
Iconostasis - OrthodoxWiki
The Iconostasis
Youtube: The Iconostasis

Cathedrals of California (no recent updates)
The New Liturgical Movement: The Order and Symbolism of the Iconostasis

Misc:
Home-Based Agrarian Enterprises & Garlic Powder Profits
LOTR Movies website