WWJD?

Easter just passed as did conversations about Lenten promises and accidentally eating meat on Friday. How did these topics overtake Jesus' ministry and sacrifice as the two most popular discussion points during this holiest of times?

Even though I taught Catholocism to children, I don't consider myself a Catholic. I choose not to put a title on my beliefs, rather I prefer individuality over institution. I'm not a pagan, a non-believer, or agnostic. I simply agree with Jesus; The kingdom of God is inside us. I don't think he could care less if you accidentally ate ham with your egg sandwich on Good Friday or that you gave up eating Junior mints for 40 days. If you know anything about his life and teaching, he is far more concerned with how you treat others than simply following the rules. "Treat others the way you want to be treated" is one of the most fundamental models one can live by, yet it is ignored by many "religious" people. The quality of your spirit is not measured by self-discipline but the treatment of your fellow man no matter how badly they may have wronged you in the past. What bothers me the most about religious holidays is not the overflowing materialism we are consumed with, nor the cartoon figures of the Easter Bunny or Santa that are meant to manipulate children. What angers me is the misinformed men and women that claim to be pious even though they are so blinded by the human laws (no meat on Friday, fasting, going to church etc.) that they miss the real point. If you choose to practice these exercises or not is not my concern. As long as you are a good person that follows in the model of the man Christianity is shaped after, than I am on board with you. Once the latter is ignored, I begin to lose faith in you.

On a lighter yet related note, I just finished reading the book "Lamb" by Christopher Moore. It is a humerous attempt at filling in the "lost years" of the New Testament. The Gospel is told through the eyes of Biff, Jesus' childhood pal. It covers their early years causing trouble in and around Jerusalem as Joshua (Jesus) learns that he is the messiah. Then, as he begins to question the meaning of this gift/burden, they leave the Holy Land to search for the 3 wisemen present at his birth. They travel to the east learning Confucinism, Buddhism, and Hinduism before bringing the learnings back and forming teachings. This is meant to explain why Jesus' teachings were so radical to the fundamentalist Jews that eventually condemned him. Some of the jokes were forced, but overall it was a funny story that provides an alternative account at what could have been the reason Jesus was one of the original countercultural leaders in history. It is certainly worth the read if you're like me and think most people are missing the point as to what he actually did for us.

Finally, something to get fired up about...

Alright, finally getting some discussion going. I started this blog simply to get in the habit of writing and hoped that through initiating discussion, the theme would start to take shape. Well, I got what I wished for and its time to respond...

 In regard to "Grave Concerns" and "Starting a Revolution", I have worked my ass off for the last 4 years first helping the Catholic schools rebound after a near collapse. I applied with no teaching background nor expertise in any particular subject matter. Three years later I had a master's in teaching, my own afterschool program, and a basketball team I volunteer coached for. I worked 50-60 hour weeks and did all of this while making a salary of 30k. Starting this past December, I started working for my father's carpet installation business. When I started, he had a phenomenal reputation and a workload he couldn't handle on his own. Five months later, he has a corporation, a retail store, and an ad looking for new employees. I've worked 6 days a week since I have been home from Costa Rica making a mere $10 an hour which is all he can afford to pay me right now. I know that I made choices to work this hard for little in return, and that I put myself into this tax bracket by not choosing finance, engineering, or biochem as an 18-year-old who was still trying to play professional baseball. I also battle with the notion that financial success is the only kind. I feel many of my peers studying at Fordham were brainwashed by this notion, coming from a much different background than I had, and I did my best not to conform. They may achieve material wealth at an early age, but for what, so they can say they were like everyone else? No thanks. The solution I propose going forward is to tell high school kids the truth rather than what they want to hear. Nobody tells you how it is when you are looking at colleges because they don't want to be dream crushers. That's bullshit, guidance counselors by name should offer guidance, not build up your confidence based on your SAT scores and GPA. Speaking of guidance, not everyone is fortunate enough to have family that can share virtuous advice such as "student loans will sink you", and "make connections with rich kids in college". Everyone is brought into this world under different circumstances, and unfortunately I didn't have many people in my life with the kind of background I envisioned for myself going forward.

As for "fishing for handouts", you couldn't be farther from the truth. I was simply observing that the student loan issue us too far from the public eye. Interest rates for these types of loans should not be higher than mortgage rates. Too often I have seen or heard ads for credit card debt or mortgage loan relief. Not once have I heard anything in regard to student loans, which are affecting a group of people who have no choice but to take entry level positions at 30-50k. Because of this issue and the state of our economy, which hit my age group like a wrecking ball in 2007, high school kids are now resorting to local community colleges and staying at home because of fear. How is this going to get us out of this recession? If my peers from Fordham or other top-tier schools are having a tough time fielding jobs, how are these kids going to find any?

As for my most recent post, I know it was weak but I was trying to step away from the political conversation previously posted. "Vagina Monologues" might be harsh, but definitely noted. Maybe I just got caught up in the nostalgia of visiting friends on another coast with family I don't spend much time with. And yes, I do love myself but shouldn't we all. It's that confidence that will get me through this financial rut and hopefully achievement in my most recent endeavor. Keep an eye out for "The Carpet Workroom and Reclamation Center, INC. Once we go public in 2021, you'll be sorry you didn't invest.

Let's get some more conversation started shall we?

The Lazy Coast

Somehow a month has gone by since my week vacation to Southern California. I traveled with my younger sister, Maggie and her best friend, Jenna. We were going to visit Jenna's brother and one of my best friends, Jarrod who works in San Diego for the federal government protecting our border. He lives and spends most of his free time in Pacific Beach, an outlying beach community of San Diego brimming with guys showing off sleeved tattoos, trendy tank tops, lifted trucks, surfboards and the young girls that love them. I also had the opportunity to spend time with Mike, my best friend from middle school and Craig, my college roommate. Maggie and I spent the week walking and biking around the city and surrounding areas taking in the colorful sunsets, spring break beach scenes, eating the local cuisine (cheap burritos, tacos) and consuming enough alcohol to remind ourselves we were on vacation. It was a great opportunity to spend time with old friends and my sister, who is finally old enough to spend time with. As I've gotten older, most of my time has been alotted to working, spending time with my girlfriend, and working out. It was nice to  break routine and enjoy the company of people I would otherwise just drop a message to on Facebook. What I really enjoyed about San Diego is exactly what Jarrod hated; the lazy attitude.

I have the reputation of being laid back, some may even have some choice words in regard to my lifestyle, but nobody could ever call me lazy. I simply hate living by a schedule, I hate constantly rushing around, I hate getting frustrated with people that are taking their time. Growing up and spending my entire life in the northeast, that is just the kind of lifestyle my peers and I became accustomed to. I'm not sure what to attribute it to exactly, just that it is what it is. To be honest, I am sick of it. The stress that this fast-paced lifestyle causes just doesn't seem to be worth all the frustration. I know for a fact that we are not meant to live that way, yet as Jarrod exemplifies, we are creatures of habit and crave what we are accustomed to. Although I spent time living in Costa Rica, it was not enough time to miss home. I'm not sure how I would react to living in a place like this, but I know for sure I want to try it.

I also became aware of how many people living in Southern California are actually from the northeast. These people can be seperated into two categories; hippies and hustlers. The hippies are pretty self-explanatory. Given the lax laws regarding marijuana and the overall acceptance of art, love, surfing, long hair, liberal hygeine, and unemployment, there is no wonder that Southern California has become a hot spot for the hippie. The other category, the hustler, is someone that hates the northeast winter, craves change, loves meeting new people, initiates activity, and wants to take advantage of the fact that entrepreneurial competition is a lot harder to come by than in New York City or Boston. I'd like to think that I fall somewhere in between the two poles, but both seem to be very successful in their seperate endeavors. With spring slowly arrives and with it, New England summer, I see very little reason to leave. This coupled with the fact that I am fully committed to helping my father turn his company into a lucrative business keeps me grounded, but there's no chance this craving for the west coast is going to subside.

Grave Concerns

It's been a few weeks since I last posted, expressing concern in the lingering student loan "bubble" that will inevitably burst. Upon reading the comments that followed and watching events unfold across the world, I have a few reactions:

• Those of us that graduated with a bachelor's degree in and around 2007 have faced the most difficult and widespread economic recession this country has ever seen. The science is simple; never has there been as many educated people hitting the workforce with as few available jobs as there has been the last few years. This catastrophe was caused by the selfish business dealings of individuals more corrupt than the brokers of J.T. Marlin (see "Boiler Room" if you don't get the reference). Few have suffered the consequences resulting from these scandals, yet the banks who turned a blind eye were "bailed out". The CEOs that ran American car companies into the ground were equally rewarded. Amidst this recession, people that lost their jobs had the ability to file for unemployment. Those who borrowed money for mortgages they couldn't afford could file for bankruptcy.Those who were fortunate enough to keep their jobs were told to be patient, to wait for the recession to end. It has now been 4 years, the economy has not turned around, and the cost of living has only increased while salaries stay the same. It used to be an honor to get and hold a job. Now I see friends collecting unemployment and getting paid under the table and I wonder with the rest of the points I brought up; where is the justice? Something's got to give...
• Many people may read this and say, "Quit complaining". My response to them is that this isn't complaining. I am simply pointing out an obvious flaw that is hampering a large majority of the working class.
• Those of us under 30 have lived a very unique existence as we have literally grown up alongside computer technology. I was in elementary school when Encarta was introduced, basically making physical research obsolete and digitizing information. I was in middle school when AOL came out, bringing millions of people together worldwide together through instant messaging, chat rooms, and most importantly bringing the world wide web into the home. In high school cell phones started gaining popularity, thus putting the Internet into a handheld device. In college, Facebook was introduced and robbing us of our privacy. My generation has grown up in an amazingly advanced world; larger, faster, more populated, and more informed than any we have known before. We are intelligent, hardworking, and capable, yet are voices are being stifled by the circumstances that were thrust upon us by previous generations. Is this a result of poor timing, or fear by the leaders governing us?
• There are some major things at play here, and I feel alone in my agitation. As my peers are distracted by social networking, promises of change, and ipads, people across the world are preparing for a goddamned holy war. The Internet has made the world flat, but also more docile. Not all human beings are ready to evolve. I worry about the situation we are in, and even moreso, the generations that will follow us. The system is failing, and I hope that we are ready for when the walls start caving in.