A Prayer to Share for 2019

-- Photo by Greg Conderacci

Before the holidays vanish behind a mountain of used wrapping paper, Amazon boxes and post-Christmas sales, I wanted to share one of the most moving experiences of the season.

A good friend and all-around great guy, Buddy Emerson, read this reflection at a meeting at Catholic Charities of Baltimore, where he has long served on the board:

As I write this prayer at this very special time of the year, I can’t help but think back so many years ago when I used to write a letter to a very famous individual who lived in the North Pole and who was so very important to me at Christmas time. The letter would be done again and again to perfection to make sure my requests were just right. They were so specific and yet appreciative to insure my requests would be  honored.

The years went on and the requests for skis, books, toys  (occasionally clothes) and so many things I thought I could not live without were sought and fortunately for me -- often rewarded. I have to admit it was not until I was much older -- maybe 10 or 11 -- that I began to even ask for gifts for others.  Mostly, I must confess -- it was all about me.

So as I prepared for today, I thought I would use the same approach and work just as hard to create the perfect prayer just as I did when I wrote those all-important letters to the North Pole. 

Dear Lord,

·      Please encourage me to be a member of society who seeks to be a peacemaker and a healer in times of contempt and confusion.

·      Please grant me the wonderful gifts of empathy and compassion that can be quickly put into action no matter what the circumstances.    

·      Please help me to be a caring friend who knows how to say and do the right things when needed by others.

·      Please allow me to be the stranger who comes around at the perfect time for someone in need.   

·      Please counsel me on how to be a better Board Member ever giving of myself in spirit as well as financially.

·      Please endorse me as a person who is known for what he stands for as opposed to being recognized primarily by whom he works for.

·      Please encourage me to be a coworker known for his trustworthiness, loyalty and support of my fellow coworkers.  

·      Please guide me to be a spouse who is always aware of how very fortunate I really am and help me to be truly loving and supportive of my partner. 

·      Please instruct me to be a parent who is patient and understanding and who always listens first and holds judgment for a long, long, long time. 

·      Please support me as a grandparent who truly enjoys and relishes one of the greatest gifts we will ever receive – grandchildren - and imbues the future generation with unbridled love.

·      And lastly, I would ask to always be a child of God who realizes we are all gifts of God, with purpose, a right to dignity and respect  -- and all so very equal and important in his eyes.

Well, as I look back at this and mentally compare it to my earlier letters, I sadly note one thing that is so very apparent. It is still all for and about me.              

I guess some things never change.  Amen.

— Ralph W. Emerson Jr.

The Energy for Change – Then and Now

Princeton President Goheen Confronts Student Demonstrators in 1968*

It was a daunting challenge: roll back the clock a half century to look at the forces that changed a great university…and almost everybody in it. But that’s what Princeton Alumni Weekly asked me to do in an article in its current issue.   

The spring of 1968 was a time of turmoil, much like today. Tragedy, anxiety, elation and struggle swept across the globe, generating massive amounts of energy.  Then, I was a college freshman, awash in an ivy-covered bubble in a vast sea of emotion.

This year, I interviewed several of my college peers to get their perspective then and now. It was an eye-opening experience that I had the privilege to share with PAW readers (and you!). 

In researching the story, I interviewed Robert Durkee, who was the student Managing Editor of The Daily Princetonian then and is Secretary of Princeton University now.  I asked him if he could think of anything that was better at Princeton then than now.

“No,” he said simply.  It reminded me about all the ways the world is better now – and gave me the hope that, eventually, today’s energy will go to making it even better tomorrow. 

* Photo: Princeton Alumni Weekly

Saving Lives…Millions at Time

             

-- Source: Global Polio Eradication Initiative

            Do you know someone who would like to change the world?

            One of the most powerful ways to do that is through public health policy.  And one of the best places in the world to study that is Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The school motto, “Protecting Health, Saving Lives – Millions at a Time,”  has been demonstrated over and over again since its founding in 1916.

            The school has just produced this great video on its Department of Health Policy and Management, which is the largest in the country.  If you or someone you know would be interested in learning more about public health policy, I invite you to share this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31t2itUi4bc​

            Full disclosure: I’ve had the privilege of teaching there for several years and you might see a glimpse or two of me in the video!

Women’s Voices…And a “Blue Tick Hound”

           

Lee Conderacci getting "unstuck" in "Blue Tick Hound"

             At a time when national attention focuses on women and power, a key question arises: where do women get the energy to overcome the inertia that traps them in the old, male-dominated models?

            Playwright Audrey Cefaly explores this dilemma in “Love Is a Blue Tick Hound and Other Remedies for the Common Ache,” her award-winning collection of four short plays making their local debut in Baltimore and Washington.  It’s a refreshing part of the 2018 Women’s Voices Theater Festival, a cooperative effort of 30 theaters in the area.

            Although the plays are about women, it’s easy for both genders to identify with “stuck.” All too often, even when our “comfort” zones are very uncomfortable, we back away from the challenge of moving beyond them.  “Blue Tick Hound” tenderly treats the fear and pain – and the fun and love – involved in the journey.

            Offered by Rapid Lemon Productions, “Blue Tick Hound” is appearing at Baltimore's Theatre Project January 12-21 and at Washington's Trinidad Theatre (Capital Fringe) February 9-17.  For more information and tickets, click here.

            And, speaking of good energy, my talented daughter Lee directed one of the short plays and acts in another!