Author: Charles Dittmeier

Thanksgiving gratitude

On Thanksgiving Day it’s easy to be thankful for the material and economic benefits we have acquired but we need always to think beyond that, to the people and programs who promote better relationships among us sisters and brothers. Pope Francis did that in Fratelli Tutti, #191:

At a time when various forms of fundamentalist intolerance are damaging relationships between individuals, groups and peoples, let us be committed to living and teaching the value of respect for others, a love capable of welcoming differences, and the priority of the dignity of every human being over his or her ideas, opinions, practices and even sins. Even as forms of fanaticism, closedmindedness and social and cultural fragmentation proliferate in present-day society, a good politician will take the first step and insist that different voices be heard. Disagreements may well give rise to conflicts, but uniformity proves stifling and leads to cultural decay. May we not be content with being enclosed in one fragment of reality.

Pope Francis in Fratelli Tutti

I’ve been here before….

50+ years ago I used to have my hair cut at the Tri-City Barber College in Louisville. Then I went to Asia for 42 years, and for the last 20+years in Cambodia I had my own barber school, a job training program for deaf youth.

Today I returned to Tri-City after the long absence. It’s in a different location and the staff I knew are no longer there. The same could be said for a lot of my hair: it’s no longer there. But I got a cut from Eli, a delightful young man, eager to please, and he only charged me $7!

U.S. Holiday Culture

One of the differences I notice between U.S. culture and the culture of India, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, and Cambodia where I have lived is the way they celebrate holidays and festivals. In the Asian countries and in the United States, holidays are important, but in the U.S. our public holidays tend to be rather alike. Of course we do have seasonal aspects like Easter bunnies and Halloween costumes and Christmas trees, but festive days in the U.S. seem to me to be more time off from our regular work routine when we do fun things and less a celebration of the original origin and focus for the holiday. In the Asian countries people don’t just string up store-bought decorations like everyone else has, but the family, the church, the community come together to remember and enact the reason for the holiday.

A lack of focus on basic meanings and values appears in the American ignoring of special holiday times. Any holiday is noted not for its original meaning and special time but as an opportunity to sell decorations and trimmings. On my bike ride in southern Indiana yesterday this home displayed decorations for both Halloween and Thanksgiving although the holidays are a month apart.
And to further make my point, a house two doors away has its Christmas decorations up–a month before Christmas! That isn’t remembering, celebrating the reasons for having special times on the year and our lives but just commercialization.

False Alarm at Nazareth Home

Tonight about 8:35 PM, the Nazareth Home fire alarm went off. It is LOUD! Protocol here is if you call in any alarm, go out to meet the first responders. I didn’t know what was going on but went out to meet the fire trucks which arrived in three or four minutes and then showed them where the fire annunciator panel is located. Nazareth Home has three buildings and the alarm was going on in all of them. It took ten or fifteen minutes to find the annunciator panel in the main building because it was a Saturday night and staff were gone and offices locked up but finally they found it and were able stop the alarm. The firemen were a delightful group and while waiting, we taught each other about the organization of the fire department and about life with deaf people in Cambodia. An interesting evening! But we still don’t know why the alarm went off!?

Working on it…

In March I injured my shoulder in a freak occurrence. I thought it was just a bruise or a sprain but when I went for a medical exam on arrival in Louisville, my new doctor said that if it was still hurting seven months after the injury—it was, I should try therapy. I have been going to KORT therapy now for 9 or 10 sessions. Today Betsy was trying some pressure on muscles they say need to be strengthened to take pressure off the hurting shoulder area. There is progress but I’m getting resigned to the fact that there is going to be some pain the rest of my life.

Returning to Kentucky and the USA

My plan for re-establishing myself in the United States is to participate in different church and civic activities, find out what is and isn’t being done in Louisville and how I might help, and basically just trying get around so I can see what my future role(s) might be. One group I encountered is a theology discussion group that gathers to talk about a book on eco-spirituality by a theologian named O’Murchu. I met with them for the first time today and it was great group of people and a wise investment of interest and time.

Boxes galore…

I came back from Cambodia with just two suitcases so I’ve been replacing many things I couldn’t bring back with me–everything from a printer to LED clocks to a toilet brush. I try to buy local but because I was making so many short trips on my bicycle day after day, I finally got Walmart+ which provides free delivery even if the order is under $35. That has helped a LOT! One drawback is the large number of boxes I’ve accumulated. I can recycle them but have been saving some just because they’re really good boxes(!) and also too with limited storage space, I want to see if I need some boxes before I discard them. Right now they’re piling up in a corner. The big box on the wooden filing cabinet is a new (actually refurbished) desktop computer that arrived today. I hope to get it set up in the next day or two.

Liturgy Books to Cambodia

Every year I have asked the liturgy office of the Archdiocese of Louisville to get various liturgical books for the English Catholic Community in Cambodia. We had books for lectors and other ministers that were quite useful. Now that I am back in the U.S., I picked up the books in Louisville and yesterday shipped them to Phnom Penh via DHL. They have already arrived there, an amazing time since last year another service took 3+ weeks. But shipping the books cost 3 1/2 times their purchase price!