Religion

 Were it not for a saint in the community sending me an urgent email with a command, “Go, see this movie,” I’d have missed a great opportunity. I’d have been deprived of the chance to laugh, cry, and be deeply moved by the reality of human sanctity as it is depicted in St. Vincent.

 Hospitals have limited access for visitors. Both print and televised media announce the increasing presence of a dire enemy. Bags of cough drops and boxes of tissues leave grocery and pharmacy shelves. Henny Penny’s false alarm has come true. Menacing flu with its myriad aches and pains, weakness and fever has struck.

 In a Smithsonian magazine article quoted in the November issue of Give Us This Day, page 240, physicist Lawrence Krauss “thought about the end of the universe and observed that a backward look reveals that the end of things is often tied to their beginnings.” The sentence fascinated me. At this time of year when we typically haul out the blank page of paper to list our resolutions, it also caused me to pause and think about endings and beginnings.

My name is Joseph. I am a carpenter by trade. By nature, I am a man who loves solitude, who finds joy in creation. My love for nature led me to find deep pleasure and profound value in the working of wood. There are so few trees in my country. Each is a precious commodity, a priced gift. It always surprises me to know others cannot see the pricelessness and art found in woodworking.