A calm after various storms

It's been ages since I posted anything, but I've been quite busy, and blogging isn't exactly my first priority. I finished my week at Nashotah House very happily, although my initial optimism about the "enormous amount of good will" was seriously challenged in light of later discussions. I kept quiet about Topic H (you know things are askew when I represent the extreme left wing in any group), but it was evident that some positions are pretty hardened. It's helpful to remember that that's just as true on the liberal side.

I got back home on Saturday, only to find out that one of my first cousins had been killed in a car accident, leaving behind her husband and two children. Her poor mother, my aunt, lost her son two years ago to another accident and her husband eight years ago to a heart attack. So I was only home for a few days before I left town on Wednesday for the funeral. In the midst of death we are in life, and it was a joy to spend some more time with my nieces, but of course it was heart-wrenching to think about how devastated my aunt must feel, with her husband and both her children gone.

On Friday morning, as I was getting ready to return home, I became very anxious about my flights. I've always had a bit of anxiety whenever I've experienced any turbulence beyond the most minor bumps and jiggles, but this was the first time I had actually felt anxious before a flight. Fortunately both flights were smooth, and on the second flight I even enjoyed a pleasant conversation with a personable and handsome young man. Come to think of it, I generally find conversations with cute guys even more alarming than turbulence, so I should be particularly happy that we hit it off so well. In any event, my flight anxiety has become noticeably more worrisome lately, and I'm going to talk with my doctor about taking something for it. A psychiatrist friend at church says I don't really fly enough to make talk therapy worthwhile, but she does think anti-anxiety medication would be in order.

I do feel very strongly that as a Christian, I should have enough faith not to be disturbed by a little bumpy air. For that matter, as a philosopher, I should be rational enough not to indulge what I know to be unfounded fears. And naturally yesterday's gospel was about Peter's abortive walking-on-water expedition, the relevance of which is too obvious to merit comment.

I was supposed to be on a plane again today, this time to visit my new employer (yesterday was officially my first day, I just realized) to attend a benefits orientation. But partly in order to avoid another flight and partly to save some money, I called the benefits people this morning to see if it was possible to enroll without attending orientation in person. The person I talked with said that it was -- "You miss a lot," she said ominously, but she couldn't really tell me what that "a lot" amounted to -- so I canceled my plane ticket, hotel reservations, and airport shuttle. I can actually stay at home for an entire week, uninterrupted!