It starts to sink in...

One of my favorite topics that the West Wing discusses is the politics of nominating a justice for the supreme court. In the fifth season (generally far more dramatic than the other seasons) the gang really tries to grapple with the fact that the current political struggle between the power of the President and the power of Congress leans that for the most part we will be stuck with moderate and centrist judges who will interpret the law with only what is written and not necessarily considering a bigger picture or a greater responsibility to the living document that is our Constitution. The characters really hope for, and eventually get, the possibility to appoint justices who aren't simply interpreters of the law, but scholars of the law. Justices who will explore the limits and expression of our Constitution and assuring that the law fully protects all whom it governs.

I making this point as an analogy to the Catholic Church. Many priests today are simply interpreters of the Bible, looking only as far as they've been taught to look and not being scholars of a living faith. Today may have been my last day celebrating mass with a man who is quite possibly the best priest I have had the opportunity of knowing. He is truly a scholar of the Catholic Faith and strives to challenge all that we've been told, daring us to look beyond where we've been told to look. Fr. Tom Bonnachi is the kind of priest who doesn't stand at the pulpit and preach, but stands amidst the congregation to . I can still remember a certain mass in which the gospel reading was Luke 15, known in certain circles as the "lost and found" portion of the bible where Jesus tells the parable of the lost sheep, the woman with the lost coin and the prodigal son. Fr. Tom's homily on this particular day had almost everyone attending in tears because it was so powerful.

He is a kind and gentle soul whom I will miss terribly and who I'd hope to see at Dignity every time I came back to SF over a Sunday.

Its official

I have officially been accepted to the Mental Health Counseling graduate program at Plymouth State University in Plymouth, New Hampshire. Sometime in August I will move to a new town, in a new state and test my wills in a very new environment. To say I'm scared would be an understatement. I would still say I'm excited as well, though I feel like most of my emotions have been beaten back by the rational side of me that knows there are some things that absolutely must get done before I move (like find a new place to live) so that's where my focus is. On the other hand, there are goodbyes to be made, or at least so-long-for-now's...even with the advent of facebook, I know there are a lot of relationships I've made that won't last. There are some that I know can take the distance and there are some that I've already made my peace with letting go of. This is going to be a tough one and I know I can't back myself out of it, but for someone who hasn't strayed far from his family or a close group of friends, this is going to be a big move for me.


So it has come down to a rematch of last year. The Wings and the Penguins for the cup. Chicago and Carolina just couldn't quite compete at their level, and really it appears that the two best teams are playing each other. I watched the first game and was impressed by both teams. Quite seriously one of the best hockey games I've watched in a long time, though I'm really not a big Penguins fan so I'm rooting for Detroit, who I do actually like. They're up two games to none, I don't think Pittsburgh is going to be swept, but I'm thinking that Hockeytown will keep the cup and have at least one thing going for it. So there's my call. Detroit Red Wings repeat this year.

My official record for the playoffs is: 10-4...I didn't pick overly well in the first round only going 5-3, but I have a 5-1 record since.