The Rambler, Vol. 12 No 3. How The Liberal Arts Will Save The World

the

March 1, 2015 - Vol. 12, No.3

Rambler: Pronunciation: \ram-bler\ Function: noun Date: c. 2002 1. A student organization determined to present truth and withhold nothing, discussing a

An Independent Student Journal Christendom College

variety of subjects such as administration, morality, literature, politics, and faith.

Veritas Ensis Noster

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Austin Leavitt

DESERTION FOR DUMMIES: 5 THE BLIND MISLEADING THE BLIND 20 CRAZY LOVE

by Gabrielle Cintorino

by Bridget Handy

LAYOUT EDITOR Maggie Ostrowski Colleen McCrum

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NEWS & POLITICS EDITOR Rachel Hoover

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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR Sean Shanahan FAITH & REASON EDITOR Peter Deucher ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR Monica Burke POETRY AND PROSE Luke Williams ILLUSTRATIONS/PHOTOGRAPHY Madeleine Deighan

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WHEN MOM IS HOME: THE VALUE OF WORK

by K.T. Brizek

ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE

by The Philanthropy Board

SUFISM AND CATHOLIC MYSTICSM

25 by Peter Deucher

26 THE WAY OF A TREE

by Luke Williams

AMERICAN ROYALTY: America’s 6 Kings and 3 Queens

by Nicholas L. Jaroma

10 THE REAL COST OF FASHION

by Monica Burke

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COPY EDITOR Melody Wood

HOW THE LIBERAL ARTS WILL SAVE THE WORLD

by Bradley M. Torline

FRONT COVER

SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER Angela Townsend FACULTY ADVISOR Dr. Patrick Keats CONTRIBUTORS Peter Deucher, Bradley M. Torline, KT Brizek, Monica Burke, Bridget Handy, Nicholas L. Jaroma, Gabrielle Cintorino.

Our Mission Statement

The Rambler and its staff are dedicated to training the next generation of Catholic journalists and intellectuals.

We prize the liberal arts education received from Christendom College and write about the news, arts, culture, faith, and reason from this gained perspective. We believe we will play an essential part in a renaissance of new leaders, journalists, and communicators for the 21st century.

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To Contact The Rambler:

134 Christendom Drive Front Royal, VA 22630 E-mail: rambler.editor@gmail.com Web: www.therambleronline.org Follow The Rambler on Facebook!

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An eight issue subscription to The Rambler may be obtained through a donation of $25 or more. All contributions go to support The Rambler.

editor’s corner

It just occurred to me how many times I have said and heard the word “Rambler” in the past few weeks. It’s been sitting on the tip of my tongue. I’ve heard it in my sleep, contemplated it in class and even seen it pop up in my assigned reading. It’s been shouted at me across large expanses of campus, I’ve gotten countless texts asking “Where’s the Rambler?” and have even been threatened with random acts of vehicular damage if certain pieces didn’t end up in this issue. One friend remarked that about every third word to come out of my mouth has been “Rambler”. And that’s probably accurate, considering the immeasurable enthusiasm with which I assume the helm here at The Rambler. I still have no real idea how I ended up leading a team that far surpasses me in talent, and walking in the proverbial footsteps of some almost-legendary figures.

And yet, despite hearing and speaking the word an incalculable number of times, I didn’t ponder until recently exactly what it is the word “rambler” means. Look it up in the dictionary and you’ll find a definition about someone who likes to take long walks in the woods for pleasure, or who writes and talks at length without purpose or direction. I now realize the irony behind this magazine’s title. We at The Rambler admit that we may talk and write at endless length, but we don’t do so without any purpose or direction in mind. In fact, every writer who contributed to this issue had something they wanted to share with you and a message they wanted to relay. That sounds eerily reminiscent of what my middle school lit teacher tried to tell me about writers in general(I didn’t buy it then), but it’s true nonetheless. Whether it’s about an issue occurring on the political scene, a cautionary warning against something seriously sinister pervading pop culture, or even a little drama playing out right here on Christendom’s stage, every contributor felt what they had to say was worth your time and attention.

So what does the word “rambler” really mean, then? To most of us on campus it is something akin to the definition found on the opposite page - “A student organization determined to present truth and withhold nothing, discussing a variety of subjects such as administration, morality, literature, politics, and faith.” The Rambler is an avenue through which anybody can voice their opinion, inform their peers, share a story, and even show off their artistic talent. If that interests you, I encourage you to not only read what your friends have to say, but, if inspired, to even share something yourself.

Anyway, enough rambling. It is with great excitement and a little fanfare that we bring you the first issue of the semester. It’s a bit late, but hey, good things come to those who wait. We had a lot of fun putting it together, and hope you’ll have as much fun reading it. Maybe you will find it worth sharing with those around you. Maybe you’ll read something new and exciting. Maybe it’ll even change your mind about something. In any case, we’re glad you’re along for the ride.

Cheers, Austin Leavitt ‘16

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NEWS FLASH

14%Tax

On February 2, President Obama unveiled his new budget plan, which contains a one-time tax on overseas earnings. The funds from this tax will be used to upgrade highways, bridges, etc., in the unlikely event that the new Republican-run Congress passes the bill.

THE REPUBLICAN RUN HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES voted to REPEAL OBAMACARE on February 3rd. President Obama says he will veto any law that would cause people to lose the insurance they now have due to the Affordable Care Act.

NEWLY ELECTED FINANCE MINISTER OF GREECE, Yanis Varoufakis, says he will not accept more bailout money for his country, and plans to end Greece’s “addiction” to loans.

Greece’s debts to other European countries have been renegotiated in the past, but creditors have stated their unwillingness to cancel any more of the debt.

Photo: Yorgos Karahalis/Bloomberg via Getty Images

LENT is a time “to decisively lose ourselves

on the path of Jesus” said POPE FRANCIS (pictured here taking his first selfie) at his Angelus on the First Sunday of Lent.

CUBAN THAW NAME given to the normalization of international relations with Cuba, for the first time in over half a century. On December 17, President Obama announced that, after several months of secret negotiations held in Canada and in Vatican City, the US would begin lifting travel and trade restrictions, and establish an embassy in Havana.

2.5 GPA required for a student to qualify for a 2-year “free community college” program announced by President Obama on January 9th.

BIRDMAN took home the Oscar gold for Best Picture on February 22, beating out worthy contenders such as AMERICAN SNIPER and THE IMITATION GAME.

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HARPER LEE will publish a sequel to the classic TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. GO SET A WATCHMAN is only Lee’s second novel, and hits shelves July 14th.

0.

The number of under-inflated footballs needed for the New England Patriots to win their 4th Super Bowl title in 14 seasons on February 2nd.

DESERTION FOR DUMMIES opinion

The Blind misleading the blinD by

Here’s some news for you: the American “POW” President Obama traded for in exchange for five Taliban detainees back in May 2014 was a deserter, plain and simple. In 2009, Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl of a 25-man Army platoon stationed in southeastern Afghanistan abandoned his unit one night, leaving a goodbye letter and a heap of gear. Though his story screamed across headlines and teleprompters all summer long, media outlets, true to their mantra, chose to beat about the bush - or rather - tiptoe around it. They presented an obvious case of desertion as a mere hypothesis and almost entirely overlooked any evidence pointing to the possibility that Bergdahl may have even defected to the enemy. Meanwhile, an ill-informed America, in her numb and dumb state, has neither questioned nor doubted this nonsense and has since moved on to more serious national issues, such as Kim Kardashian and her baby’s matching thousand-dollar outfits.

The purpose here isn’t to propose the next conspiracy theory, but rather to point out an alarming ignorance in our country. The Bergdahl case is just one of countless examples in our era where the media has neglected to report the “whole truth and nothing but the truth,” thereby downright manipulating storylines (such as the Benghazi scandal and Obamacare, to name a couple topics of national concern).

Of course, this has been a major issue for a while with the continuing rise of liberal ideologies and the constant need to cover up the current administration’s boo-boos. Our focus has always been on the ignorance and passivity of the American polity (with good reason), but rarely on the pure stupidity of mainstream media.

Who are the mainstream media after all? They’re people just like you and me, working their nine to five jobs, who happen to be decent enough at writing or

speaking or investigating that they land a gig at some place or another. And when we wake up in the morning and turn on the TV to watch the 11 o’clock news with our Daily Times crossword puzzle, a piece of stale toast and some lukewarm coffee, theirs are the faces we see. Fundamentally, they are self-absorbed human beings who at the end of the day are looking out for their personal interests above all else. So if that means that a liberal administration promises them more goodies in exchange for their biased reporting, than you can just about guarantee that “slight governmental malfunctions” can and will be overlooked.

It’s a vicious cycle of media-funded and protected politicians enacting the liberal legislation demanded by the media and apparently brainwashed American citizens, in exchange for campaign funding and reputation protection. In other words, a bunch of selfish individuals running the government and running the press, helping each other help themselves to whatever they can get their sticky fingers on.

The irony behind all of this, of course, is that this very mindset is the epitome of ignorance. It’s an approach that is centered essentially on damage control and lacks foundation, foresight, and prudence.

The ignorance lies not so much in what members of the media do or do not know, but rather in their role in covering up that which, for both our sakes and theirs, is best exposed and published. Are the personal benefits granted to the liberal media-members really worth risking their security and their children’s security for? How is turning the blind eye time and time again to harmful and unconstitutional acts, by the government or by man, at all justifiable or even safe? Have the media no fear for the day when the inevitable ramifications of these crimes which they now get paid by the hour or the word to cover up and ignore,

Bridget Handy‘17

will come back like a blow to the face? As Martin Luther King, Jr. put it, “Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”

In the case of the Bergdahl controversy, there were a lot of details that, if covered at all, were barely touched upon.

Did people hear, for instance, that Obama’s decision to set a new and unquestionably dangerous war precedent was unilateral and made without the consent of Congress or the strategic input of the military? Do they know that almost every member of Bergdahl’s unit who spoke with journalists claimed he had deserted? That radio signals came in suggesting he had defected to the Taliban? That some of his comrades died trying to find and retrieve him? Did it strike anyone as odd that Bob Bergdahl, the sergeant’s father, had on several occasions posted on his Twitter account things like “working to free all Guantanamo prisoners,” and, in the Rose Garden on the day of the national press conference concerning his son’s release, opened his spiel by reciting a Pillar of Islam in Arabic? Even periodicals or stations that mentioned such facts did not seem interested in delving into these issues, stating them matter-of-factly and leaving them grossly unquestioned.

What will come of this case is yet to be learned. As of early October, the military had completed their investigation on Bergdahl and his questionable military career, but were withholding any information from the public. Some speculate that the verdict will eventually be released to the media, but who knows if they will even choose to cover it? Maybe America will never hear about it again; either way, will she even remember enough to care?

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opinion

When Mom is Home The Value of Work

by K.T. Brizek ‘15

A few months ago, President Obama gave an address about women and the economy. He described his plan for improved preschool programs and lowered tuitions so that every family can afford to put their child in a preschool with programs that are essential to their development. However, the premise of his argument for the necessity of early education hasn’t been well received, because the main thrust of it seems to be that ‘stay-at-home mom’ is not a desirable or good occupation. “Sometimes,” Obama said, “someone, usually mom, leaves the workplace to stay home with the kids, which then leaves her earning a lower wage for the rest of her life as a result. And that’s not a choice we want Americans to make.”

A number of conservative journalists have picked apart the nuances of his statement. The interpretations have certainly been avaried on this passing remark some are calling a Freudian slip.

But with any attempt at objectivity, Obama’s drift seems to be that the government doesn’t want American women to stay in the home because that entails them leaving the office.

Obama’s words aren’t surprising in a consumer culture which is preoccupied with its material wealth.

Western civilization has been trumpeting women in the workplace for decades.

Almost a decade and a half into the 21st century, it seems like the gender gap is finally shrinking. But what about what women really want?

Forbes recently did a survey of over 1,000 women on precisely this issue.

And the results would probably surprise the president. According to the results, the vast majority of women would choose to stay at home with their children.

Those who aren’t stay-at-home moms see it as a financial luxury they wish they had.

This corroborates with a poll done by The Daily Mail in the UK, which asked mothers to rate their happiness and life 6

value. Stay-at-home moms consistently and summarily rated their quality of life more highly than working mothers.

Additionally, Obama’s claim that it is the cost of childcare which forces women to remain at home has very little basis.

According to the Forbes survey, less than 15% of American women see the cost of childcare as a factor in their decision to remain at home.

Yet the core of the issue is much more than statistics. The real question is, what is the true value of work? For

it would be ludicrous to deny that fulltime mothers work. The fundamental difference between the work of a full-time mother and the work of a professional woman boils down to one thing: a salary.

Women who stay at home don’t get paid to do so. They take on a monumentally challenging occupation, with fullknowledge that they will be working pro bono. Stay-at-home moms are the most affordable childcare there is. So what is Obama saying? Can he really think that stay-at-home moms don’t contribute to society, or that their life is hollow and valueless because they aren’t paid for their work?

We live in a post-Marxist world.

Karl Marx was one of the most influential

men who ever lived and to this day the world is shaped by his philosophy. He said that man is what he produces. This idea, in conjunction with Capitalism and the Protestant work ethic on which our country is founded, can have only one conclusion: our value as humans is entirely dependent on the value of what we are able to make. And that evaluation must be made in dollars and cents.

Even if society at large agreed with that conclusion, it can’t be true. If it were, no woman would ever consent to remain in the home and perform valueless labor.

She certainly wouldn’t choose it. All humanitarian efforts would be a waste of time and community service would be worthless. Yet no one in their right mind would say that volunteers working at a blood drive or reading to children in a hospital are anything but valuable.

Many of the crucial organizations in America today, which seek cures for cancer and Christmas presents for the impoverished, wouldn’t exist without the people who donate their time and energy. The people who put value on life aren’t selling a Kindle. They aren’t selling anything. They’re giving happiness and basic human needs. And they can do that because volunteers will work for free.

The same is true of mothers.

They are laboring for what Americans will almost unanimously agree is our most valuable commodity: children, the future. They donate their entire lives to raising and molding the next generation, in a more comprehensive way than early preschool ever could. Even using Obama’s apparent Marxist mindset towards work and production, stay-at-home moms are still the most valuable members of society. After all, what they produce are the human beings who will be the heroes, geniuses, world powers and lifesavers of tomorrow. What is more valuable than that?

special announcement

ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE.

by The

Philanthropy Board

•

What is the Philanthropy Board?

The Philanthropy Board is a group of students formed two years ago with the help of Paul Jalsevac. He noted that Christendom’s alumni giving rates were especially low in comparison to fellow Catholic schools, such as TAC which has the third best rates in the country, with 60% of alumni giving back. This discovery was alarming for the future of the school’s growth because colleges and universities greatly rely on alumni funds. In response to this, a group of students was formed for the purpose of educating the student body, particularly seniors who are about to graduate and thus become alumni themselves, on the importance of giving back to the school and promoting an attitude of gratitude.

• Why is it important to give?

Christendom does not accept federal funding, which allows it to maintain its truly Catholic identity because it is not restricted by the strangling bureaucracy of the government. This means that Christendom is dependent on alternative fundraising, namely the generosity of its donors, to remain a thriving institution. The education and formation one receives from Christendom is extremely unique. The community, from students to teachers, is comprised of like-minded individuals who are invested in the integration of faith, academics and recreation. For many of us, four years at Christendom would not be possible without the financial aid that we receive. That financial aid comes from benefactors, who make an investment in the formation of the whole person. Christendom gives us so much, and it is so important for us to reciprocate this generosity by giving back to the school. Giving back allows others to follow in our footsteps, continuing to reform the society in which we live.

• Why give with debt?

Many of us graduate from Christendom with debt, believing that giving back is not an option. However, even small gifts make a huge difference. Think of what you can do with $5 dollars a month. $5 a month can buy a cup of coffee or a pack of cigarettes. If you give $5 a month, after five years you will have donated $300. $5 might seem so small that it’s pointless, but in the grand scheme of things it makes a difference. Right after graduation, we can always come up with a reason not to give: debt, starting a family, grad school. But there are so many reasons to give back. God is never outdone in generosity and when you give to others God will give back to you. When you give back to the place that formed you, you are building up Christendom for future students, making

their growth and formation possible and expanding the effect that Christendom can have on the world. You are helping to continue the mission of restoring all things in Christ, not only through your own work, but by enabling others to share in that mission too.

• The Impact of Having an Attitude of Gratitude It impacts Christendom in the future: When outside donors look into giving to a school like Christendom, they want to know what percent of alumni give back to their alma mater, as this is a strong indicator of how satisfied people were with their experience. Currently Christendom’s alumni giving rate is about 12%.

Because Christendom started out so small there have only been 1,730 graduates.

This means that as classes grow, the impact that they have on the whole percentage is very great. By the time the class of 2015 graduates there will have been almost 100 more graduates in the three years the Philanthropy board has existed then there were in the first decade of Christendom grads! That means that if everyone currently at Christendom gave even even just $5 every month upon graduation, our alumni giving percentage will jump up to about 36%.

It impacts your friends: When people see their friends and those around them demonstrating a grateful attitude, it spreads. This can often seem insignificant, but as Mother Teresa once said, “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” An atmosphere of gratitude is truly contagious. It encourages greater charity, joy and hard work, which benefit everyone.

It impacts you: A truly grateful attitude helps you realize that so many people have given up their time, money and personal talent in order for you to succeed here at Christendom. Many people are counting on you to contribute your talents to bring order into the world, and have invested in your experience here.

The most fitting response to their sacrifice is that of gratitude. You will be more receptive to all that Christendom has to offer with this attitude in mind.

Cultivating a spirit of gratitude and generosity not only allows for the expansion of opportunities for the future but it empowers the giver to fulfill the formation he received at Christendom.

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Politics

AMERICAN

ROYALTY

America’s 6 Kings and 3 Queens Nicholas L. Jaroma

A merica

w a s f oun ded upon t he m os t b a s ic an d fu nda m ental principles of indi v idua l l ibe rt y, l i m it e d feder al gove rn m e n t, a n d f r e e d om .

When looking at the United States Constitution, it doesn’t take a degree in Constitutional Law to see that separation of powers and a limited federal government were essential to the vision of the Founding Fathers. They created a constitutional republic that had three distinct branches, strong enough, yet limited so as to not infringe upon the rights of both the states and the people. Thomas Jefferson wrote that “The Constitution . . . meant that its coordinate branches should be checks on each other.”

Yet, that is not what we have today.

The contrast between Thomas Jefferson’s vision and our reality today is like night and day. The federal government today is involved in almost every aspect of our lives, from dictating what insurance one can have to which light bulbs you can buy. Look at where America, the “moral light of the world” and land of the free has ended up today. The American Founders foresaw the 8

danger of placing power in the hands of a select few.

Most of these men worried about the executive branch, yet Jefferson saw an even more dangerous abuse of power.

He noted that giving “to the judges the right to decide what laws are constitutional and what are not, not only for themselves in their own sphere of action but for the Legislature and Executive also in their spheres, would make the Judiciary a despotic branch.”

In other words – judicial activism.

Over Christmas break, between decking the halls and eating Santa shaped cookies, I picked up the book Men in Black, by Mark R. Levin. Levin believes that in the past couple of decades, Supreme Court Justices have gone far beyond their constitutional reach and effected many issues which have helped coax our country to where it is today. He points out that activist judges have taken control of our schools, limited our freedom

politics corner of speech, taken God out of the classrooms and public constitution is not a constitution at all.” With the way places, supported partial-birth abortions, and allowed these appointed judges perform their duties, we may as flag burning. The list of travesties goes on. This is not the well not even have a Constitution. Levin has also said America that Jefferson envisioned. Four famous Suthat with “each day [that] the Supreme Court is in sespreme Court cases of judicial activism stand out and set a sion, the Constitution is threatened.” precedent for so many future rulings. In the case of Dred

I will go further than that. Nothing we hold Scott v. Standford. the Court ruled in support of slavery; dear is safe. We now live under the rule of Judges, and Plessy v. Ferguson upheld segregation and forced separathat is a very dangerous thing. tion based on race; Korematsu v. United States support So how do we end this great danger to our ed FDR’s orders for military confinement of American freedom? We fight. The first and foremost step is to citizens in World War II; and the infamous Roe v. Wade be informed. In this over-connected age, there is no made it illegal for states to outlaw abortion. Since then, reason why anyone can’t know what is happening in the Court has upheld the ‘right’ to our country. Pick up a newspaper partial birth abortions. All these the next time you go to the gas cases have had terrible and lasting WE NOW LIVE UNDER THE station to purchase your highconsequences.

RULE OF JUDGES, AND THAT IS taxed cigarettes. between checking

The federal courts conwhat your 1200 “friends” have tinually take power from the other A VERY DANGEROUS THING. been up to since the last time you two branches of government, and logged into Facebook five minutes the system of checks and balances ago and tweeting about brushing is hardly kept in check. The justices act as if they are your teeth, navigate your web browser to a news source. not bound by the Constitution, and do not perform Before uploading a picture of your #lunch#christendomtheir duties subjectively and without sway from personal college on Instagram, check out any of the millions of opinion or belief. In a constitutional republic, the people blogs or news providers on the Internet. Even if you read just a few headlines a day, you will be more informed.

Do yourself and everyone else around you a huge favor, and stop being ignorant.

Next step? Write. Write to your representatives and congressmen, officials that you elected into power either with your vote and efforts, or lack thereof. Tell them what you think. Get involved in governing yourself. Suggest solutions. Enact change. Levin recommends a reasonable solution in his book, The Liberty Amendments: pass an amendment to the Constitution that puts term limits on the Supreme Court Justices. He suggests a twelve-year term, and a three-fifths approval vote from the House and Senate, so Congress can overturn a ruling by the Supreme Court.

The danger judicial activism poses to freedom and limited government is real. No one branch is meant elect to possess the unchecked power the Supreme Court does. representatives to write and determine our laws. Yet With a few checks and balances, it can be reined in. But Supreme Court judges are not elected. If people are upset in a government by the People and for the People, it will with the direction in which this country is headed, they take some effort on the part of We the People. can have their voice heard at the ballot box and elect new

Benjamin Franklin reminded us of this responrepresentatives with new ideas - but not so with Supreme sibility when, after the Constitutional Convention of Court Justices. They are not held accountable to the peo1787, he was asked “Well, Doctor, have we a Republic or ple. They are hand-picked by the President himself, and a Monarchy?” sit on the bench for life! They amend and interpret the

He replied, “A republic, madam, if you can keep Constitution at will, and we the people have no direct it.” way to remove these tyrants from the bench.

Thomas Paine once said that “[a]n unwritten 9

The Real Cost of Fashion

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arts & culture

T

o a college student observing professional dress code on a shoestring budget, a large and affordable chain store such as H&M, Forever21, or Zara appears to be a godsend. Trendy and cheap, these places promise economy and style in equal measure. However, these dirt cheap garments harbor a dirty little secret. Such clothes are products of the emerging fast fashion industry, which is dominated by large chain retailers that constantly update trends and introduce new novelties in store and online on a weekly basis. In order to make this constant turnover of fads feasible, companies utilize low quality textiles and cheap foreign labor, then create inexpensive products to be sold in bulk. The end result is wardrobes brimming with poorly crafted clothing specifically designed to fall apart after a few washes.

While dwelling on the topic of fashion may seem trivial, the stakes are higher than they initially seem. The fast fashion industry is dangerous for the environment, the poor, and potentially even for our own formation in virtue.

Unless we take action, the unsustainable and destructive path of fast fashion may have disastrous consequences.

First of all, the prevalence of disposable clothing puts undue burden on the environment, violating God’s intention for Mother Nature. The fast fashion industry rips through resources at an alarming rate while paying minimal attention to environmental ramifications. Pounds upon pounds of clothing are thrown into landfills every year instead of being donated. Garments are made of synthetic materials instead of organic fibers like cotton, and so they do not degrade even when left in dumps to rot. These materials often contain toxins which threaten local ecosys-

tems and water supplies. This overview does not even take into account all of the materials needed to package and ship these products, nor the resources it takes to transport them around the world. While the effects of pollution may seem remote to most Americans, one need only turn his attention to smog-ridden cities like Mexico City or Beijing to realize the ramifications. It is difficult to estimate the exact damage of the fashion industry on the environment. Neither the media nor consumers are very interested in what goes into making clothing so cheap, and the foreign countries where most garment factories are located end up bearing the burden. Retailers lack transparency about such matters, making it difficult even for interested persons to find information; yet, the damage is no less real.

This lack of concern for environmental factors in the end only harms mankind. Lead, for example, is commonly used to color inexpensive vinyl and plastic. These are the same non-biodegradable materials that line shelves in the form of cheap handbags and belts. According to The New York Times in an article titled “Fashion at a Very High Price”, the Center for Environmental Health found that retailers like Forever 21, Charlotte Russe, and Wet Seal had been selling accessories with levels of lead above the legal limit. No amount of lead exposure is healthy, and even low levels have been linked to a variety of health complications, from nervous system damage to kidney failure. Yet quality control regarding chemicals is just the tip of the iceberg of fast fashion’s environmental implications. When it comes to the fashion industry, nature is used and abused rather than ruled and cultivated. If left unchecked, damage to the natural world may be permanent.

Fast fashion requires that the poor accept outlandishly low wages and work in horrific conditions. This industry relies heavily on factories overseas in countries such as China and Bangladesh where poverty enables suppliers to offer minimal compensation for hard labor. The awful state of foreign garment factories was brought to international attention after the Rana Plaza fire in 2013 in Bangladesh, which killed 1,129 people and injured 2,515. In the aftermath, no substantial change occurred. There was no overhaul of the system. Factories continue to be staffed by extremely poor, overworked people, sometimes even slaves. Companies have since scrambled to touch up their public In Savar, an industrial suburb of Dhaka, Bangladesh, and the site of the deadly Rana Plaza building images and portray an aura of social awarecollapse, many factories do not treat their wastewater, as the purple canal makes clear. The building to the left partly hidden by trees is an elementary school, where the stench of the water sometimes makes ness and political activism, but continue to do business in places like Bangladesh, where the students ill. Credit: Khaled Hasan for The New York Times 11

arts & culture minimum wage has only recently been raised from $38 to $68 a month.

Take H&M, for example. The company has dedicated publicity to its sustainability policy, which includes both environmental and social issues.

Included in the fashion giant’s goals is a fair living wage for factory workers. However, since H&M does not pay workers directly, it can only try to exert its influence on suppliers and governments. The Guardian tried to untangle the jargon of H&M’s 2013 Sustainability Report in an article titled “H&M: how does the fashion retailer’s sustainability report stack up?” Concerning H&M CEO Karl Johan Persson’s visit with the government of Bangladesh concerning wages, author Lucy Siegle notes, “The activists remain clear: only when

the industry’s success still hinges on the existence of a large, uneducated labor force willing to work for almost nothing.

Turning our focus a little closer to home, we find that the constant pursuit of the latest trend can undermine the values of gratitude and stewardship. While purchasing from fast fashion chains is morally permissible as a case of remote material cooperation, buying in to the disposable mentality of the industry poses a threat to our moral formation. By introducing trend upon trend on a monthly, even weekly basis, fast fashion fosters a sense of “need”. This perpetual desire to refresh our closets causes us to forget to be thankful for the plenitude God has given us.

Instead of cherishing poverty as Christ did or even practicing basic practicality, we become distracted by constantly acquiring and replacing our belongings.

We are forever looking forward to the next purchase rather than caring for the gifts God has given us. Seem trivial? A few minutes spent viewing YouTube “haul videos” ought to reveal the temptation to overconsumption raised by the low price tags of fast fashion. Such overconsumption has moral consequences; subtle ones, perhaps, but consequences nonetheless.

The most practical way to combat the pitfalls of the fast fashion industry is to take our business elsewhere. Corporations are forced to respond if consumers demand higher quality products made with environmentally sustainable resources and better wages for workers. Possible alternatives include companies like Everlane, which is transparent about its prices and production, offers high quality clothing, and keeps prices as low as possible Fast fashion companies like H&M claim social and environmental consciousness, but by cutting out the middleman. Of course, given change cannot come fast enough for countries bearing the brunt of pollution and poor the constraints of a college budget, it may not be working conditions. possible to boycott chains known for their poor factory conditions in favor of more conscientious all retailers move together to raise wages, absorbing an inbusinesses. One solution is to opt for a smaller wardrobe and crease of a few cents per item, can a living wage be achieved. invest in quality, classic, and versatile pieces from reputable Devolving this to host governments is just a pretense.” H&M companies, finances permitting. These clothes tend to last cannot achieve change alone; it would need to ally itself with longer and encourage us to treasure each piece. Workers its competitors to actually improve working conditions. Siereceive a decent wage and fewer clothes end up being thrown gle also reminds the reader that “fashion brands are peculiarly away. It’s important to foster a sense of conscious consumergood at constructing their own reality and narrative” and ism and make informed choices. A good rule of thumb: If a hence, the buyer beware. It takes more than a few glorified price tag looks too good to be true, it probably is. Even small lobbying attempts and eloquent press releases to bring about decisions have the potential to impact the social and environconcrete change. Companies like H&M are ever expandmental policies of the fashion industry and to foster our own ing, and however admirable their effort for transparency, attitude of gratitude. the reality is that the low cost, high quantity policy of fast fashion is incompatible with fair wages for workers. Although certain players are taking great pains to appear conscientious,

the latest trend can undermine the values of gratitude and stewardship.

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Education should foster a child’s wonder, not murder it.

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WHEN I SAY SAVE THE WORLD , I DON’T MEAN FROM THE

ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE. I mean from sin. I mean the whole “Jesus Saves” bumper sticker sort of thing. I mean Evangelization. I was going to entitle this article, “Christendom College and the New Evangelization,” but if the general readership is anything like me, that title would immediately scare away almost everyone who picks it up. Pope St. John Paul II first coined the phrase in 1983, and the Catholic populace has felt the need to relate the New Evangelization to every topic under the sun. Consequently, we now have a plethora of articles, lectures, conferences, etc., boasting titles such as “Modern Media and the New Evangelization,” “Pope Benedict XVI and the New Evangelization,” “Chinese Restaurants and the New Evangelization,” “Bottle-nosed Dolphins and the New Evangelization,” ad nauseum.

The result is a phrase uttered so frequently that we begin to question its actual meaning.

That which is precisely so “new” about the New Evangelization is that this time around we have to evangelize those who’ve already been evangelized.

Some of the newness also comes from utilizing new methods, modern tools like the internet etc., but the heart of the matter is that western civilization, which has collapsed into spiritual and intellectual amnesia, must be reminded of the Gospel it once knew and loved. But one cannot give what one does not have. Therefore those who have never truly heard the Gospel cannot be evangelized in the old sense, until those of us who possess the Gospel, but have forgotten it, are evangelized in the new.

And what do the Liberal Arts have to do with world-saving? I realize that no mere educational philosophy, not even the Liberal Arts can really save the world all on its own. The Son of God, alone, is capable of this. Moreover, even He cannot (or will not) save those who do not possess a willing openness to Him. Thus, it is Christ, and men of upright moral character, i.e. saints, which the world

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needs above all else. That being said, a true Liberal Arts revolution would play a vital role in the New Evangelization. Why? Because it is education, more than almost anything else, that molds a culture.

Plato and Aristotle would agree. The Philosopher himself considered education so important he dedicated a decent chunk of his Politics to it.

He asserts that the habits and rationale of a society (the culture) are the fruit of education. The word “culture” even shares an etymological origin with the word, “cultivate”, with Latin roots concerning growing and tending. A society’s culture, then, is metaphorically speaking a garden, in which its people are cultivated. And just as a bad garden produces a bad crop so too a bad culture cultivates a bad people. #parableofthesower, anyone?

The Parable of the Sower does not apply merely to individuals, but also to entire cultures, which are, as Plato insinuates in his Republic, “man writ large.” Just as every individual has a disposition which is either receptive or closed off to the Gospel, so too does every society have a culture which is either fertile soil or desolate bedrock for the seeds of the good news. Would a culture, which has totally abandoned the quest for the True, the Good and the Beautiful, be able to see Jesus even if He was standing in front of it, slapping it in the face with loaves and fishes? Can a culture that rejects objective truth, that has cut out the rational from its very nature, that which makes men more than mere beasts, even begin to approach the Divine Logos? What about beauty? It takes five minutes in a modern art museum to realize that we have become blind to it. And goodness? It’s been reduced to sex, drugs, and rock and roll - anything but what it actually is.

Jesus could sow all day in this garden and not plant a seed.

So what do we do?

feature Philosophia et septem artes liberales as illustrated in the 12th century

by Herrard of Landsberg.

If a culture is the fruit of education, then we clearly have some poor instruction. So let’s replace it. If this educational system is stifling its people’s inherent desire for the true, the good, and the beautiful, then let’s annihilate it and build a better system on its ashes, one which has the true, the good, and the beautiful as its end. In other words, the Liberal Arts.

Millions of our culture’s children are

sitting in classrooms, day in, and day out, having their souls stifled, the fires within them smothered, by the educational system. An educational system that is more interested in the pragmatic construction of little cogs in an economic machine, than in the proper formation of young human beings. Education should foster a child’s wonder, not murder it. It is natural for a child to pursue the truth, to desire to be good, to marvel 17

feature

at the beautiful, but it is all too common for the western world’s notion of “education” to extinguish these natural sparks, to tell them that there is no truth, to ignore questions of ethics, goodness, to neglect attention to beauty and the arts.[1]

Even John Dewey, unarguably one of the most influential persons behind this modern philosophy of education, stated that education should not “isolate vocational training on any of its levels from a continuous education in social, moral, and scientific contexts.”

Yet this is precisely what has been done on a large scale. Renowned educational philosopher Robert M. Hutchens observes in his work, The Great Conversation, that the most popular view among American philosophies of schooling is “that the object of education is to adjust the young to their environment and in particular to teach them to make a living.”

Thus the United States, the land of the free, has for whatever reason created an educational system that effectively reduces her citizens into what Aristotle calls natural slaves —human beings incapable of conversing about the great ideas, whose sole purpose are as tools, utilized for the good of the state. America places herself before the world as a paragon of liberty, yet refuses her children a liberal education. What nation more than ours should be educating its citizens in the arts of free men, the arts which make a man free?

Instead, obsessed with practicality and the pursuit of wealth, we prepare our people to be nothing more than a labor force. Herein lies the principle fault with contemporary educational philosophy; it asserts that the end of education is merely to “get a good job.” And by confusing the end of education, we confuse the end of man. This reductionist and utilitarian system convinces man that he is little more than an ox, free to gratify himself as he pleases so long as he works towards the prosperity of the state.

Yet (as we have been told a thousand times) the Liberal Arts sees the student as an end in himself. He is trained in Logic, that his reason may be strengthened. He is encouraged to master Rhetoric and Grammar that he may communicate himself well.

He is supposed to master Mathematics and deductive reasoning. He is encouraged, to read the Great Books, to enter into the Great Conversation, to entertain

the greatest ideas which have perennially beset man.

He is demanded to seek the True, the Good, and the Beautiful. And through all this, the Liberal Arts emphasize and strengthen the humanity of their students – something rarely accomplished in the modern educational system. Don’t believe me? Check out the Wikipedia article on Common Core and see for yourself.

All across the nation kids raise their hands in classrooms and ask, what is the point of this? They’re not getting good answers, and they’re tired of it.

In fact, often they’re discouraged from asking such “useless” questions. Why? Because a slave need not use logic well. A specialist sees in the Great Books no relevance to his tasks at hand. A mere laborer has no need to partake in the Great Conversation, to even think about the True, the Good, or the Beautiful. Indeed, he cannot do so effectively. Yet ignoring his natural curiosity reduces his humanity, and increases his deafness to the Gospel.

Among the hordes of people out there, thrust-

[1] Its important to here note that the problem is not with the average public school teacher. Most of them are just as frustrated as we are that the “light” in their students eyes is so difficult to sustain. There are many well intentioned, passionate, competent teachers in the system. They are not the problem.

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An example of an overcomplicated Common Core problem. Credit/Twitchy.com

ing needles into their veins, binge drinking, and serial fornicating, many are simply trying to escape the meaninglessness and hopelessness that they’ve been made to think of which the world consists.

They’re just trying to forget for a minute that life apparently has no meaning past getting a good job.

We must realize that it’s not just the “stupid” kids that are wasting away in hedonistic recklessness.

In fact, it’s very often the opposite. It’s the ones who are intelligent enough to realize the system is faulty, that there must be something more, but aren’t smart enough to figure out how to find it.

Consequently, they struggle with despair. As St. Thomas says, natural unaided knowledge of God can be achieved only by a very few - and only then through much effort and mixed with much error.

We Catholics sometimes have a tendency to be condescending, to whine about how the world never listens to us. But do we ever ask ourselves why? Maybe we should take a bold look in the mirror and ask ourselves if we’re doing all we can to help them listen. When the Lord said, “For him who has ears, let him hear” he certainly implied that some men do not “have ears.” It’s wrong for us to assume, however, that all of said men are guilty of their deafness. Perhaps their ears have been cut off by someone else. Perhaps they’ve been cut off by this educational system.

And if this is the case, then the most Christian thing for us to do is to first help them sew back on their “ears” so we can tell them about Christ.

The Liberal Arts can serve as a sort of Proto-Evangelium. With them we can sew the ears back on people so they can begin to hear the Gospel. It can re-cultivate the culture, so it might actually be fertile and receptive to the Word of God. If you can get people to start talking about the True, the Good and the Beautiful, you can get them to start taking the Church seriously again.

Here’s a plan I propose: live a life of radical holiness and try to start a liberal arts revolution. It doesn’t even have to be a Catholic liberal arts revolution. Imagine a culture filled with liberal arts high schools and colleges, institutions across the country that introduced their students to the great books, trained them in the exercise of reason, instructed them in music and poetry, and inspired them to try to live ethically. That would be a culture more likely “to have ears that it might hear.” That would be a fertile garden.

This liberal arts revolution is achievable.

Not only is it achievable, it’s the first step we need to take if we actually plan on reconstructing a new and even better Christendom. And while our society may be totally disillusioned with Catholicism, it may be tired of talking about Jesus, it’s not tired of talking about education reform. The world still loves someone willing to “stick it to the man” and “rebel against the system.” The time for the Catholic hippie has arrived. We’ll get them listening. We’ll get them building schools and colleges. We’ll start the revolution. People are tired of pointless education. Liberal Arts hipsters should right now be filling coffee shops all across the world and proclaiming the good news that necessarily precedes The Good News - “Truth Exists.”

We need to help them see this part first. Then, a little on down the road, when the time is right, we’ll get to the “The Incarnation Happened” part.

That will knock their socks off.

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Crazy

Love

Photo/Madeleine Deighan

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LOVE IS A SERIOUS

MENTAL ILLNESS -PLATO

by Gabrielle Cintorino ‘15

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arts & culture

Photo/Madeleine Deighan

While it is true

that we are all human beings who have a choice to control our actions, some feelings are uncontrollable. These beautiful and sometimes dangerous feelings are the ones experienced while in love. Love results in emotions that sometimes prompt us to say things we normally wouldn’t say and do things we normally wouldn’t do, without any fear of the outcome. In other words, love, I suppose, makes us . . . crazy? Yes, “crazy in love” is not just some fun exaggeration that people use to represent how the feel about their significant other. Love actually makes you crazy, and there are scientific studies to prove it. According to psychologists and scientists, there are three stages to love: first sight, attraction, and love.

From a scientific standpoint, love at first sight does happen often, even if both parties don’t talk to each other. According to scientific studies done on the subject, initial attraction is “55% through body language, 38% through the tone 22

and speed of their voice and only 7% through what they say.” From the level of simple attraction, the process of falling in love is sometimes unexplainable. In fact, psychologists have determined that it only takes between ninety seconds and four minutes to fall in love! The stakes are even higher if you spend time together revealing intimate details about your life, since vulnerability creates a sense of connection with someone you may not even know. Long talks, eye contact, and some form of physical contact create a connection which most of us have felt during at least a few times in our lives.

While this initial connection can appear quite superficial, scientists have proven otherwise.

The hormones released during the attraction stage are Adrenaline, Dopamine, and Serotonin.

Adrenaline is the hormone that makes one sweaty or anxious before seeing the person he or she is attracted to. This would explain why men’s hands shake at the beginning of a special date, or why a girl might spend hours tearing through her closet to find the perfect outfit in order to impress her

arts & culture

prospective suitor. One might think that the term “adrenaline rush” only applies to the feeling one has before bungee jumping or skydiving. However, love is the ultimate adrenaline rush, and it is this feeling which creates sayings such as “diving too deep” or “falling too far.”

The second hormone, Dopamine, gives a feeling of pleasure or euphoria that is released when one is truly falling in love. This hormone can generally blind one’s vision to anything else in life besides the person he is in love with. In fact, this hormone makes the feeling of being in love similar to that of being a drug addict.

“Scientists have the MRI scans to prove it.

When you fall in love, the same neural system in your brain linked to cocaine addiction becomes active, giving you that feeling of euphoria,” Dr. Lucy Brown, a professor of neurology and neuroscience at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, told CNN. ‘You can feel intense elation when you’re in love. You can feel intense elation when you’re high on cocaine.”

As a result, Dopamine can also make one less susceptible to pain. Dr. Arthur Aron, a psychology professor at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, says: “It turns out that some of the areas of the brain activated by feelings of intense love are the same areas that drugs use to reduce pain.”

This hormone can be released by holding hands or a kiss, or even something as simple as physical presence with your significant other.

The last hormone to consider is Serotonin.

Although it is not often mentioned, this hormone is the cause of sleepless nights and constant thoughts of the other which often can plague one’s mind.

While it is easy for outsiders to look at a couple and think, “they are OBSESSED with each other!” it is important to remember that they actually are, in fact, obsessed with each other. Jacqueline Howard, a journalist, interviewed a doctor who spoke of the effects of this hormone. Her results were as follows: “Dr Donatella Marazziti, a psychiatrist at the University of Pisa advertised for twenty couples who’d been madly in love for less than six months.

She wanted to see if the brain mechanisms that cause you to constantly think about your lover were

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related to the brain mechanisms of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. By analyzing blood samples from the lovers, Dr Marazitti discovered that serotonin levels of new lovers were equivalent to the low serotonin levels of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder patients.”

This evidence can adequately explain the need most couples feel to be together all the time. Love, like a drug, has a powerful impact on the subjects in love. Kesha’s catchy song “Your Love is My Drug” is not only a stereotypical love-crazed anthem, but, ironically enough, based on the real effects of Serotonin upon the two parties in love.

It would seem that once a break up occurs and distance is established, these feelings would go away. However, scientists have found that the opposite is true. Since the examples previously mentioned prove the great effects of love, these feelings fail to vanish, and sometimes never do.

“When we get dumped, for a period of time we love the person who rejected us even more,” says Dr. Helen Fisher of Rutgers University. “The brain regions that lit up when we were in a happy union continue to be active.” This would explain

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why, in most cases, break-ups result in uncommon and ridiculous behavior. (“Time can heal all things” is the only sufficient antidote)

So, if you’ve ever been “madly, crazily in love” with someone, and then two years later you find yourself sobbing on the bathroom floor, burning sweatshirts in a fire to the tune of Taylor Swift’s ever-growing catalogue of breakup anthems, while desperately attempting to reach out to the person who once loved you, you are definitely crazy. And that’s okay. Crazy is normal; crazy is how the human body was made. We were made to love, and love is worthy of giving everything we have, regardless of the outcome. Sure, we have a choice as far as how we react to things and how we view things in relation to our end, but there are some things that can’t always be thought out. There are some things you just can’t plan. Sometimes you just go crazy.

Sometimes, you just fall in love.

faith and reason

SUFISM AND CATHOLIC MYSTICISM

Mysticism is a fascinating topic that has captured people’s attention more than ever now, thanks to the progress made within interreligious studies.

Inquiries into Islam and Catholicism, for instance, have traced many striking similarities between Sufi mystics and Catholic spiritual masters such as St. Theresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Bernard of Clairveaux and St. Bonaventure. Such similarities, which are catalogued extensively online and in any number of books or articles, might lead one and probably have led some to think that Islam and Catholicism are essentially the same.

Despite the differences Islam and Catholicism bear in other fields, such as their social teachings, the heart of the two religions, mystic prayer, is quite similar. Granting for the time being that mystical union with God is the height of prayer, this line of reasoning clearly rests on a second premise, that Sufism and Catholic forms of mysticism, medieval Catholic in particular, are so similar as to be virtually identical. What this argument overlooks is the fact that Islam and Catholicism have two very different theologies that affect their respective forms of mysticism.

Because Catholics believe in a God incarnate while Muslims do not, Sufism and Catholic mysticism bear a fundamental difference that must not be forgotten amid their many legitimate similarities. According to Catholic theology, God communicated with man by becoming a man. Allah, on the other hand, while still communicating with man, did so indirectly through His prophets, primarily through Mohammed.

This difference in the divinity on whom Islamic and Catholic mystics gaze results in a visible difference in the tendencies of Catholic and Islamic mysticism. As Naji B. Ouijan wrote in 1999, “One of the basic differences between Catholic mysticism and Sufism is that the first adheres to the authority of the established church while the second

by Peter Deucher ‘15

places the mystical experience above the authorities of traditional dogmas or doctrines. . . Thus unlike the Sufi mystics, the Catholic mystics almost never become heretics prosecuted by the Catholic Church.” I would argue that one of the main reasons why Sufis have often placed personal mystic experience

above Islamic religious authorities, adhering to the former when the two are at odds, is that Allah is not a man.

To clarify, consider the sacramental nature of the Catholic Church.

Generally speaking, the Church’s sacramentality flows from Christ’s Incarnation. Christ taking on a body is, in a broad sense, the reason why God’s grace comes to man through bodily means.

The Sacraments are a logical extension of what the Logos has done. Since the Sacraments are administered only by the Church, they are one of the primary reasons why Catholic mystics remain faithful members of the Church.

While the Islamic “church,” if one may use the term, also claims to be

divine in origin, it makes no pretentions of being sacramental in character.

Muslims have no theological let alone historical foundation on which to base any sacramental practice. Allah did not become man nor did Muhammed say go ye into the world, baptizing all nations. Muhammed was not Allah but merely his prophet, and as such bequeathed the divine message to man in writing, not in Sacraments. Allah is not a man, therefore Islam is not sacramental and Muslims, especially mystic Muslims, have less reason than do Catholics to remain obedient and faithful to the instituted authorities within their religion.

To summarize, one might say that mysticism without the Incarnation is in danger of individualism. The nature of the mystic enterprise is such that those who enter it are liable to forget, disregard or simply not care about anything other than God as found, known and loved through direct mystic experience. The problem is, mystics are thus predisposed to discard and disregard established religious authorities along with everything else. Although more extensive research should be done to substantiate the theory, it seems as though the doctrine of the Incarnation and the Sacraments, in particular, served to knit medieval Catholic mystics more closely to the Church than early Sufi’s were to their respective religious authorities. If this theory is correct, Catholic mysticism is similar but not identical to Sufism because, founded on Catholic theology and ecclesiology, which are inherently interconnected, it more assuredly avoids the kind of individualism that separates one from religious authority.

The mystic empties himself, denies himself, is mindful of God, both at day and at night, seeks Him, loves Him, praises Him, and in short preoccupies every moment with Him. God is his all and nothing else matters.

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prose and poetry

The Way of a Tree

By Luke Williams The way a tree I once knew well was brightly robed a week ago and in my absence went and fell beneath a sudden wintry spell and left its leaves lost to and fro has made me wonder well and hard on what firm thread of life we hold.

What kind of body brightly starred is ours if it can be so marred and leaves with little effort told?

Madeleine Deighan

The Man from Cork There once was a man from Cork Who always ate with a fork Soup would fall through And land on his shoe So he started to eat with a spork

Madeleine Deighan

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the last word

thumbs opinions from the less wordy on campus

Dorm Wars The Housing Games have begun. This year's Hunger Games theme and pick-your-ownteam option ought to make things extra interesting. May the odds be ever in your favor!

Speaking of The Housing Games, the Swing and Dance Competition and the A Capella and Choir Competition, were a huge hit! Can teams keep up the momentum?

Another successful Sadie Hawkins dance! This year's theme looked especially glamorous -- "A Night Out in Hollywood" made for great decorations and even more creative costumes! Also, the Shirley Temples were as delicious as they were ironic.

New WiFi in the Library is coming!!!

Stay tuned for Wifi in the dorms.....

Unlike last year, Christendom was able to attend the March for Life this year, and made quite an impression! (Think juggling.)

Just a gentle reminder that midterms week is upon us. Stock up on coffee, comfort food, and sleep while you still can.

The Sunday Brunch lines are confusing....Where is the omelet line?

THE LAST WORD

Providence, the one word that could be used to describe every day of existence, is a word that became real for me last semester. Maybe it was the fact that my classmates and I were in Rome, that we had to rely on public transportation, that we had to live without fully functional cellphones for three months, or all of the above. In any case, we found ourselves vulnerable, our schedule often out of our control, and yet every day was amazing.

Each day held a small perfect, unplanned moment of recognition that Someone else had set the schedule for the day. We all had those instances when the bus came just in the knick of time, we met a new saint or discovered an artistic masterpiece in the random church we visited, or we found a family friend in a crowded piazza. Too many wonderful moments occurred that were more than just chance, and I like to think of them as miracles.

Granted, not everything in Rome went perfectly. Sometimes there were misread schedules, churches inexplicably closed, and long waits for the bus that never came. Yet even those moments were full of grace, friendship, and memories not to be forgotten.

Being back on campus, though, is just different. Returning from a semester of living poetry to the prosaic structure of college life is an adjustment.

With our own cars, our full-texting and data plans, and our greater control over our schedules, the miracles that marked everyday in Bella Roma seem to fade.

At the same time, though, something has changed. I have noticed that even life on the Front Royal campus is brushed with moments that bear an unmistakeable divine touch. An offhand conversation, a chocolate bar gifted by a roommate, sunshine on a cloudy day, or a spontaneous gathering of friends, is just as much evidence of the workings of God’s providence as were our adventures in Rome.

The obstacle to perceiving these instances as miracles is the fact that they appear so ordinary, which could just be an indication of how blessed we are at Christendom, where the practice of Christian charity is the norm. However, I am sure if we could see God’s orchestration of these miracles, we would be amazed by His care for us. Imagine the complexity of grace working to synthesize the words of encouragement candidly offered to us by a classmate with our experience of various trials they do not know we face. Such an act seems so simple to us and yet it is so beautiful in the details of its accomplishment.

While these ordinary miracles are not the same as those of Rome, they differ only in degree and not in kind. We do not have the opportunity to encounter the relics of the many canonized and blesseds, but we brush shoulders with living, breathing saints-in-the-making every day on our way to class. Rather seeking friends among strangers, we are surrounded by friends and classmates from across the country, which is surely a miracle in itself.

Perhaps one of the greatest graces is to recognize the miracles that everyday surround us.

Amy Marter ’16

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