About me, Answered

Well thank you, Reader-land, for responding to my inquiry!  I shall lay out the questions and answer in order!

Do you name your other cars? Did you name your Others (first/past and what were they?

You know I never named my cars.  I always thought Glenn naming the Mustang the Antichrist was funny, but I wasn’t creative enough to do it.  With Lively though, it is such an investment of thought, time, some money, and labor, that it NEEDED a name, like the ships of old.  It crossed the line from practical into the fantastical, and no vehicles I owned before ever had that.

how did you know your vocation and when? (This question was longer, but I am summarizing)

Ok, so let me break this down into bits.  First, I was in seminary, but God graced me with a definite answer by kicking me out. Expelled.  And the realization that came after wasn’t one of being lost, just angry, and that went away quickly.  Well, as quick as a teenager can.  I still talk to the priests today, I am still friends with them, and honestly, if it weren’t for them I would be in a very different place.  I felt loss to a much greater extent when Mel and I were dating, and it felt like half of me was gone, a crisis and loss I never felt when leaving seminary.  I felt a call to be close to the church but not the priesthood.  It’s different for everyone though, but for me how I knew, even if I didn’t know it at the time, was a deeper crisis of self vs feelings.  Feelings are human, but what we are to do is a completion of God’s plan.

As for career, I still haven’t gotten that straight. The real trick in life is that you realize AFTER the fact that you were saved or blessed or whatever.  For career or jobs, I follow what Mike Rowe says. But I also say, work to live, not live to work.  Never let work take precedence over family or God, and if it is, get out, it’s not healthy.  I know, I’ve done it.  It is great to love what you do, but career isn’t vocation.

To summarize, pray every day, go to mass, and don’t worry. Take baby steps.  Listen to the entire catalog of Catholic Stuff You Should Know, no I’m not kidding, and don’t be afraid to talk about it.  And ask for help.  And try, and fail!  I did, just ask Mel!

What is your favorite book/author? Also, have you read Tuesdays with Morrie?

I have never read Morrie.  I know the premise, and I have heard of the author, but I haven’t had an interest in picking it up.  My favorite author, bar none, is JRR Tolkien. 

this is something we played with our family. if you could invite any 10 people to dinner who would it be? Any 10 people throughout history. you cannot pick Jesus or Mary.

Well, assuming Mel is there, and with the restrictions you put in place…

1. St Joseph – got around that little restriction, Ha!
2. St Paul – to explain what he wrote so it doesn’t sound so “preachy”
3. St Mary Magdalen – She’s seen some THINGS!  And the apostle to the apostles, the first to have the Good News!
4. Fr John Nepil – I need to meet him, hear his thoughts, and be with a holy priest who has seen the other side of holiness, admires and can speak to Augustin and Von Balthasar and St Bruno.
5. GK Chesterton – the saint of common sense, larger than life, and insightful
6. JRR Tolkien – he wrote an inspired world that reflects the beauty of the world and the gospel without being heavy-handed
7. Scott Hahn – to translate what St Paul says.  Plus to engage in discourse.
8. Napoleon – a mysterious historical figure, one most people forget or dislike. I want to know what he really was like, and if he did repent of it all.
9. Michael Schumacher  – my favorite racer, who is injured.
10. St Peter – the Holy Spirit directly influenced his decisions, as seen in Acts 10. I want to know what it’s like, and what it’s like to go from denying Christ to dying for him.