It seems only yesterday, rather than Christmass Day a year ago, that I flew out of Boston for a moon-lit swim that night on Waikiki Beach. Anyone turned on by the Miami Beach atmosphere would find Waikiki appealing; but the Outer Islands much better present the Hawaii of Michener. After a few days there, down to Papeete in Tahiti. The moment I stepped off the plane, I was enveloped with the aroma of the lush vegetation which gives the island its unique atmosphere. As I would not have believed such beauty - objective in the land, the sea, and the climate; and subjective in the people - possible before my time there, I shan't attempt to communicate it to you in detail. However, never have I been so overwhelmed with the magnificence of Creation as when, coming into Cook's Bay and hearing "South Pacific" in my mind's ear, I saw the Bali H'ai soaring upward. It's the first time I've felt a mountain to be successful in its attempt to reach Heaven; and the personality and character of the many native Tahitians with whom I spent all of my time there convince me that they, too, have an unique contact with the Source of the best elements in human nature.
Like others, I have often fantasized about the possibility of living in some dream location. For the first time, however, this seems a concrete option rather than an impossible ideal: the Princess Pomare who entertained me in her home, the native UTAirline employees who welcomed me to their three-day New Year Celebration, the Foreign Legion family who showed me military life among a people who have no recorded history of warfare, the waitress who ran half-a-mile to return a few coins I had left on her table (tipping is illegal in Tahiti) - all of these people made me aware that "you have to be carefully taught to hate and fear." Having touched such goodness, I'm now bound to try to assist it to greater fruition.
One characteristic incident: when visiting the Bali H'ai, I asked my Tahitian guide if it would be difficult to climb it. He replied with a common-sense question: "Why climb it? There's nothing but rock at the top. "
Back to our culture in mid-January, recruiting for my company in Los Angeles. Finished that at 9:00 one evening, back to the office in Boston at 10:00 the next morning, a half hour later on the street: it turns out that my employer decided to assist me to a deeper perception of the radical difference between the idyllic life of Tahiti and our business world's savage amorality by giving me my walking papers. That began a six-month course in increasing awareness of the meaning of loyalty, integrity, true friendship, help, despair, business realism, etc. Once the course was over, I'm pleased to have experienced it. Although I doubt there were fundamental changes in my character or spirit, I now have a more realistic perception of the probable effects of my activities.
A similarly negative experience which proved ultimately to be valuable happened at 9:00 one evening in July, just down the street from my apartment. As I was walking home, six young men - apparently out for kicks rather than robbery - assaulted and battered me. I repeatedly yelled "Help'" louder than one would imagine. Though most of the passers-by fled the scene, one young man ran to my assistance and flagged a passing police car, thereby saving me from critical damage. Here's the education: the police, the ambulance attendants, the admitting officer at the hospital, and all others who heard of the incident asked a variation of the question, "They were black, weren't they?" In fact, the six were white, but the one person who helped me was black. When I asked for his name, he answered, "You don't need my name; I just did what anyone would have done." What would you or I have done?
As this was a year of worldly education for me, it was perhaps fitting that I had to have four impacted wisdom teeth removed this summer.
My new secular employment represents quite a new departure for me: whereas my last two personnel jobs were with firms of 500 employees, all relatively local, I'm now working with the national personnel office of a company with 30,000 employees in 38 states. Having started in their group health insurance unit in June, I'm now in the unemployment compensation unit. Perhaps my six-month education gave me a first-hand sensitivity to the unemployed person's point of view; I'm now learning about the 38 states' and the employing, unit's point of view. Never a dull moment!
Because her mother was going to spend the summer in intensive preparation for her impending doctoral comprehensives, Jessica went alone to Belgium for the summer. So fun-filled and eventful were her visits with her grandparents in Brussels and with her cousins on the Belgian sea-side that she only with difficulty could be made to write us or to notice our absence. She returned in September to her art, ballet, and swimming lessons. We recently saw a performance of Little Women (wherein she identified with Meg, who she saw as a women's liberationist 100 years ahead of time); now we're looking forward to the annual Fiedler/Boston Ballet performance or the Nutcracker Suite.
Due particularly to the Attica tragedy, my Chaplaincy at the Jail has seen some critical moments. Although I recognize that our correctional/judicial systems need fundamental reforms, my four years at the jail have given me an insight that I fear is missing in most of the media presentations of the situation of our inmates. While I grant that our justice-delivery system is terribly imperfect, I take umbrage that the media are delivering blanket condemnations of all people currently involved in correctional work. Frankly, I feel that is we the public, through our elected representatives, who deserve the major blame for not making adequate resources available for creative habilitation and training of our law-breaking brothers. I recently read a line which should give us all food for thought. The gist of it: "Illegal harm (Crime) is, after all, the main justification for legal harm (Punishment) and it is as dangerous to separate them forever as it is to lie to ourselves about their relationships with each other "
In September, participation in a telephone fund-raising campaign for Brown gave me a chance to talk with hundreds of our alumni; from these conversations I get the impression that alumni are taking the radically destructive students as typical of all undergraduates. Unfortunately, we only read, hear, and see about the bad apples. The overwhelming majority of the students with whom I have talked (while they might be doing some healthy questioning of the values, systems, and procedures that have gotten our world into its present socio-political-economic mess) are working at least as hard as we did to prepare themselves for the "adult" world.
My other major fund-raising effort - with the United Fund - was predictably discouraging. Over and above the pat excuses potential donors always give for ignoring their responsibilities to the less fortunate, the Wage-Price Freeze has given many a novel excuse.
Some of the cynicism and discouragement produced by the above effort was overcome when, at the request or a friend, I went over to the Shriners' Burns Institute to call on a 14-year-old burn victim. Since then, I've been going over every Sunday to visit with the children there, particularly those whose families are too distant for regular visits. The optimism, future-orientation, and acceptance of overwhelming handicap shown by
these kids helps me to put my own difficulties into proper perspective.
When I found by the chance clocking of a mile I ran this Fall that it took me 20 minutes, I enrolled in the health club at a nearby YMCA. Now, a few months of running, swimming, and exercising several nights a week later, there has been substantial improvement. Although I haven't lost any weight, it has begun to re-arrange itself; and I have a generally better feeling of physical well-being. I commend such a course to all of my sedentary peers.
Because of my lengthy sabbatical at the beginning of the year, I'm planning a rather abbreviated year-end vacation: after Jail on Christmass Day, I'll be flying to Pointe-a-Pitre in Guadeloupe, where I look forward to welcoming in the New Year.
CARE will again be receiving a donation in the name or all my friends, necessarily more modest than in the past; but you all will be the reason for my giving two other gifts this year: each of the inmates at the Jail will have a Christmass gift, and the Shriners' Burns Institute will know that their donation is in thanksgiving for all of you who supported me in this wonderful year of growing and learning..