Blog Archives

The Brain

7/29/2015

Have you heard humans only use 10% of their brains? I’d like to say for the record that statistic is untrue. Our brain does a number of functions and at times only 10% of it is activated but the reality is we need all 100% of our brain. Imagine your brain is like a computer processor. If the processor is running at 100%, the computer will probably freeze up. Luckily that doesn’t happen to our brains, unless we happen to sneeze while driving.

The brain is fascinating to me. Did you know that there is a section of the brain that just holds onto nouns? If you’ve ever had difficulty remembering a noun, chances are that all nouns are inaccessible at that same time. When this happens to me, I use the word “thing” a lot, like, “Could you put this thing onto that thing over there?” Maybe that phrase sounds familiar to you. In this instance, I was talking about the phone and the recharger base. There is another section of the brain that holds names. Chances are if you are telling a story and you forget one person’s name, you’ll have difficulty recalling other names, too.

A couple of weeks ago, the Marshall family went to the Museum of Man on a free Tuesday. It was a good experience. The boys enjoyed looking at the full skeletons and interacting with the exhibits. One of the exhibits is an exact replica of “Lucy” a 3.2 million year old hominin skeleton. Lucy’s actual skeleton is held in the basement of my seminary. It was nice seeing an old classmate again, even if it was just a replica. The Museum of Man seems to have a meta-narrative which is that humans evolved from primates. That is fine, I suppose, as long as I have the opportunity to ask questions. One display shows the size of brains. There was a representation of a gorilla brain next to a human representation. The human brain is roughly three times the size. I wonder if gorillas have the same problem with remembering nouns and names? Do they get “brain-bubbles” (or whatever name you call them)? Does the human brain size advantage enable us to do algebra, direct a symphony, create a cartoon, write poetry, make a nuclear bomb, or preach a sermon?

Some scientists believe the human brain is larger because of food, that the diet of raw food eaten by primates has held back the size of their brains. Humans have had a more complex diet, which includes cooking food, and thus have been able to grow larger brains. Maybe that’s why we prefer bacon cheeseburgers over raw carrots. Lucy’s skeletal remains offer scientists an impression of what she ate; they say she preferred seafood and would wade into a salty marsh to dig up clams and grab fish with her hands. Apparently she did not cook things. As one who appreciates sushi and the occasional oyster, maybe I have more in common with Lucy than originally thought.

In this week’s Gospel lesson, I hear Jesus saying, “You are what you eat.” If you eat of the food that is eternal (“I am the bread of life”), you will have life. For as much as I love a cheeseburger or a nice fatty tuna sashimi plate, Jesus reminds us that of all the dietary options we humans have, that we should remember to feast on God’s eternal goodness, love and grace. Now that’s using 100% of our brain.

-Fr. Marshall

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Catwalk

7/24/2015

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My son Ethan has taught our cat, Pancake, to walk on a leash. Pancake, who gets lost easily because of a chronic nose infection, loves to go outside. We got tired of searching for our loveable cat so we confined him to our catio (a backyard enclosure that keeps a cat from escaping). Most nights, Pancake would sit on a living room easy chair and stare longingly at the street. Occasionally he’d voice his feelings with a mournful cry and then offer a long stare and swish of his tail at his mean owners. I’d then drop the curtain and usher him to the backyard. That would only make his tail swish at me using words not suitable to print. As I closed the sliding door, I reminded Pancake to not use such language in front of the children. His tail, in other words, tells lots of tales.

Something drew the Marshall family to purchase a red harness decorated with a smiling cat in white embroidery and matching red six foot leash. The leash is made out of an elastic material which seems to be suited to pull a cat over different outdoor surfaces – grass, concrete, beauty bark and landscaping sand. I say “pull” because most cats when wearing the harness prefer to flop down on their side which, on the somewhat positive side, highlights the smiling kitty image on the chest strap. If one wants to walk with one’s cat, the only way to do it is to take the cat for a drag – across the lawn, the street and the landscaping. And that’s how it was with us until we finally caught up to Elijah who was pulling Pancake. The two of them looked like the paddle and ball game with Elijah as the paddle and Pancake as the ball.

After a lot of patience and diligent work, Ethan trained Pancake to walk all the way around Eastlake on a leash. No dragging, no running, the two of them walk all the way around with a few breaks here and there to enjoy the view. Many folks are surprised and energized when they see the smiling couple, a 12 year old holding the leash of a cat. I know that cats don’t smile in the traditional human sense, but Pancake is happy when he’s walking. No longer do we have the mournful cry of a cat who wants to be outside and no longer does his tail swish in an insulting way.

Saint Paul writes that perfect freedom is found in Christ. This is not the type of freedom we might expect. It’s a freedom that is like following a path. Pancake has found happiness with Ethan and the leash. The cat is harnessed to someone who will protect and guide – away from dogs and joggers. At the same time, Pancake is where he dreams to be, outside.

Freedom in Christ involves a leash, you on one end, Christ on the other. He won’t let you walk too far ahead, or fall too far behind. He’ll keep you on the safe path, steer you around overzealous dogs, away from oblivious joggers, and will give you a rest on a rock overlooking a calm lake (and maybe even let you chase a few ducks). Freedom in Christ also shows God’s patience with us. God will train, train and train more. As we flop on the ground and refuse to be led, God will be patient.

For those of us who long to be outside, yet get lost easily, Christ will patiently guide us.

-Fr. Marshall

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Weights and Measures

7/17/2015

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I worked for the Fraud Unit of the Attorney General’s office in college. It was a great experience and helped me learn about the law and discern whether or not I was called to be an attorney. We followed up on consumer complaints. A few of my cases went to court where the State and consumers won. This was the front line of the AG’s office and got us a lot of positive press. Imagine my reaction when I was told to meet with a manager of the Weights and Measures division – boooooring! And, when I met with the middle-aged manager, he said up front, “You Fraud Unit guys always think what we do is boring.” True, I did. But then he asked, “The last time you put fuel in car, how much did you put in?” I told him it was eight gallons. He then asked, “How do you know you put in eight gallons? What if it really was 7 gallons, or six and a half?” He paused and then said, “but I bet you paid for eight gallons.” He said that someday I would want to buy a house and would compare homes with similar square footage. How would I know that one 1,800 square foot home is the same size as another 1,800 square foot home. How could I know?

Later on, I worked for a home electronics retail company (it was not as glamorous as the Fraud Unit, but paid better). I quickly figured out that not all measurements were the same in the industry. Most people thought that a 30 inch television was measured across, not diagonally. Very few realized some manufacturers include the plastic border in their measurement. Likewise, some 100 watt stereos were twice as loud as other so-called 100 watt stereos. Each manufacturer had a different way to figure how their product compared to others, like wattage, viewable screen size, processing speed, low-light sensitivity, to name a few.

Have you noticed lately that it is difficult to buy a pound of bacon? It’s easy to find 12.5 ounces in one package, but not one pound. Have you noticed that food manufacturers seem to be putting empty space in their containers to make their boxes look bigger but their product remains the same? At a Fourth of July party a couple of years ago, a friend was excited about the good deal he got on a six pack of beer only to find out that they were 9.8 ounce cans. I found out today that ground beef has ice mixed into it. Ice. Some mixes put in 20% ice. When you pay $5 for a pound of ground beef, some is water, not meat. Or how about the Hershey’s new “air delight” chocolate bar. Yeah, it’s literally air mixed into the chocolate – less chocolate, more air, same price.

This is not how it is with God’s love and God’s promises. When God promises peace, it’s not a container with 32% air and 68% peace – it’s all full of peace. When God became human it wasn’t mostly human, with additives, corn syrup, and maltodextrin (whatever that is). When Jesus says he loves you, it’s not with ice mixed in to increase the weight, it’s not including some of the love for your neighbor, it’s all you and God’s love. And yes, I do add water to the chalice of wine before our Eucharist celebration, but it’s not to water down God’s love – it’s out of tradition. I don’t think there’s anything I could do to water down God’s love out of the chalice. When Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of me,” it’s all in there.

As the weights and measures of our economy seem to be in flux, please remember that God’s love for you remains the same today as it was on the day you were born – 100%.

-Fr. Marshall

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tHE FORCE

7/9/2015

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San Diego has surrendered itself to Comic-Con again this year. It seems like everyone in television and radio is broadcasting live from downtown. Hotels are overbooked, the streets are clogged, restaurants have hour-long waits – it must be Comic-Con time. This yearly event is said to bring in 130,000 people. On Wednesday night, the Marshalls found themselves downtown and got caught up, literally, in the event. There are costumes galore, wide ranging events from an MTV party-garden to a zombie show, and even random groups of sharks walking around promoting a television event. As far away as 17th and Market, we saw a fully-costumed robot crossing the street. Of all the visitors to our fair city, one sticks out in my mind, Kevin Doyle. You might know him better as the storm trooper; of Star Wars fiction, not World War II reality; who walked from Petaluma (north of San Francisco) to San Diego for Comic-Con.

Doyle, 57, lost his wife Eileen to pancreatic cancer in 2012. They had been married just one year. Since her death, he says he has been lost. She died on November 7th and he feels as if he’s stuck on that date. Both artists, passionate about Star Wars, were a natural fit. He proposed to her dressed as Darth Vader; R2D2 was their ring bearer. After she died, he has been unable to produce art. His creativity, it seems, died with her. Like pilgrims walking to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, Doyle decided to walk to San Diego to clear his mind and come to peace with the death of his wife.

Grief is a theme that plays out quietly behind the scenes in the Star Wars trilogy. In the wake of the death of Luke’s adopted parents, he decides to venture out and train to become a Jedi. When the giant weapon called the Death Star destroyed the entire, peaceful planet of Alderaan, the rebel force bet their entire existence upon one attack to stop more destruction. And, for those who really follow Star Wars, even the sub-plot of how the much-beloved character of Chewbacca joined up with Han Solo can be seen as reaction to grief.

It was no surprise to me to find out that a grieving widower and Star Wars fan decided to embark on a pilgrimage for his late wife by walking 645 miles in a storm trooper outfit. Along the way, Doyle walked past Camp Pendleton. This was a particularly moving and important experience for him as this was the birth place of his wife. He said it was like he had brought her home.

The Force is a major part of Star Wars. It is a binding, metaphysical, and ubiquitous power in the fictional Star Wars universe. It is a power that brings people together and also forces them into situations where the characters learn about themselves and find they can accomplish more than ever imagined. There is nothing fictional about these underlying themes of grief and love. Nor is there anything fictional about God’s peace and grace. I’d say the force runs strong with this one – in the sense that Doyle embarked on a campaign to let go of his wife and to find peace. He also has made the journey of grief easier for many others who long to do this same thing. This pilgrimizing storm trooper has become a symbol of love and hope to many who struggle. Truly, the Grace of God is with him, perhaps even the force, too.

-Fr. Marshall

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