By the streams of the Missouri, we hung up our harps and wept (Ps. 51, modified)

Well folks, I'm settled again, and my thoughts once again return to my greatly neglected Blog. Well actually, it could be argued that I have not needlessly neglected said blog, even if my absence from cyberspace is, in itself, regretable. And, if it could be argued, you might presume that Matt will actually argue such a cause. And you would be right.

Realizing that the virtue of any being is the actualization of it's end, and the end of a blog is to serve continued communication between an individual and his or her family/friends, it would seem that in neglecting my blog there would be a lack of perfection in both the blog and the continued communication that it effects.

However, I answer that human communication has varying levels of perfection, corrisponding to the varying degrees of personal, physical, and temporal seperation involved. For example, sharing a conversation in person is more direct than by phone, which in turn is more direct than IMing, which is more direct than email, which is more direct than blogging. And when the possibility of more direct communication is possible, it is an imperfection to utilize a more distant form of communication. Thus, in the event that a high concentration of more direct contact is available, that which is normally good and worthy (i.e. blogging) ought to be bypassed in favor of the more perfect forms available.

Consequently, I need only to list the ways in which I have been occupied these past days and weeks and point out within them the many and varied ways I've been more directly connected to my dear family and friends.

After escaping from seminary and the city of Houston, I was heartily welcomed back into the home(s) of my parents and siblings. Brian and I even got to hang out together for a while--no girlfriend, no other siblings; how long has it's been since that happened? Too long anyway. And so began a happy set of weeks alternating between jamming with the band, cooking/eating/clean-up in the kitchen several times a day, and Star Wars cardgames lasting late into the night. Oh, and packing. I'm in Omaha right now so I had to get ready for that too.

Tht's right, Omaha NE. So, let's go ahead and let everybody get it out of their system; Yes I'm in Omaha; Yes, I've seen a lot of corn; No, I don't spend my summers in Nebraska just for kicks; and No, my Bishop is not punishing me. OK, now that that is taken care of, I'll get back to the story. The Institute of Priestly Formation (IPF) runs a set of summer classes for seminarians. Being a nationwide program, Omaha is a perfect compromise: it is equidistant for Californians, New Englanders, and Texans, and we all feel equally uncomfortable being this freeking close to Iowa. (btw, Texas has the biggest contigency of seminarians--naturally)

I arrived in Omaha 5/28, but I'm going to skip those first few days and get right to the part where I ditched the silent retreat in favor of partying with my Ave freinds.

My dear friend Stephenie got married on 6/3 in Cincinatti, OH. Sadly, this conflicted
with the first three days of the IPF week-long silent retreat. So, while all my classmates in Omaha were entering into the holy silence with God, I was entering into a profound series of parties, celebrating, among other things, the holy sacrament of matrimony. Now, this may seem like cheating, but as St. Ignatius liked to say, ad majorem Deo gloriam (roughly translated: "it's all for the greater glory of God"). I mean, if God is a good Father (which he is) then he was excited about his daughter's wedding (which he was) and would bless the happy event with good weather, awesome italian food, music, wine, dancing, and much laughter (which he did). The sacraments were celebrated with all due formality, and, being of proper form, they formed a union of the two, who, now conformed to each other, formed a fair and happy pair. And we, the uniformed wedding party, did party,/ in confirmation of the newly conformed couple.

The Egan's were kind enough to offer me a place to stay for the weekend. The bed they had prepared for me, however, was sparcely used, as playing music and/or Nerts always seemed to last till early in the morn.

Which brings me back to Omaha and the silent retreat, three days late and two nights short of sleep. Not a problem--we homeschoolers are used to doing our program outside the system. And looking back, I'd say that whatever God didn't have in time he made up for in intensity. Without exageration that this week has changed my life. Simply said, the last two years have been my transition from being a college student to being an adult and seminarian, a time containing it's share of trials and deep questions. And then, just like that, ten-for-ten, God met me and answered my desolations. Years worth of heartache consoled in six days. Those of you who have been closest to me have some sense of how profound this is for me, though even I do not know how profound it is yet. O God, beyond all praising... My thanks to all of you who have been praying for me these days (and for so long beforehand)! Do not stop the prayers, but turn some of them into praise and thanksgiving.

And that brings me up to today. And now I should update my blog. Q.E.D.

[Of course, I really doubt that Angel is going to buy this, which means that I'm going to have to go through that blasted Ritual of Re-acceptance into the Court of Her Goddesship. The fact that she is sponsering me as part-time muse is not going to make anything easier. Well, stay tuned. I don't have Corwin's impressive presence, so I think I'll have to aim for a snappy song and dance routine.]