Traversing: A Triptych

Part One

All day and into this night my thoughts are with my brother Robbie, who is being flown by air ambulance from Nairobi to Cairo to Prague to Reykjavik to Newfoundland to Montreal to Boston. By the time I wake up tomorrow, he should be settled in at Mass. General.

I worry that he has not been able to breath on his own for nearly four months and that he cannot move his body. Robbie is someone who has demanded control over his circumstances and the people around him for as long as I can remember.

I wonder what he must think and feel now that he is at the mercy of others.

Part Two

A couple of stories made the rounds today. Opposite ends of human nature.

The first was this ugly, ugly video of people, including at least three elected officials, protesting Muslims at a fundraiser held by the Islamic Circle of North America for a women's shelter. I wonder if the protesters know that Allah is Arabic for God, and that Arabic Christians worship Allah. If God exists, it stands to reason that we are all children of the same God regardless of our faith or understanding.

The second story was a hopeful one about an LDS congregation in Missouri that shares its church each Friday with a group of Muslims who are in need of a place to worship while they work on building a mosque.

More of the latter, please.

Part Three

High on the side of a mountain with a stunning view of the lights of Salt Lake City, my nephew's wife, Cambria, was showered with gifts this evening in anticipation of the birth of their first child, who will change their lives forever. When he is a few months old, his parents will take him to California or Ohio or Wisconsin or New Hampshire so his dad can attend medical school.

My niece Megan, Cambria's sister-in-law, gave the mom to be this most awesome gift.

Driving back on I-15 after the party and lost in thought, I missed my exit. But I made it home.