IF IT LOOKS BAD THEN IT PROBABLY IS

Dear Archbishop George Lucas,

It’s time to go.

To be fair, you are not alone. The Catholic Church is rotting from within, from the top down to the people in the pews. Incremental change is ineffective in a time of crisis. The time for formal listening sessions and public relations blunders has long passed--it’s time to overturn some tables.

In every published word you have spoken (that I can find) regarding the scandal in which your archdiocese is currently mired, you’ve made it clear that it hasn’t been you who failed--it has been the policies to which you have adhered. Your explanations for future change are a constant, unceasing chorus of self-talk disguised as responsibility where you give voice to your own doubts and failures by nervously negating them in front of your flock--a constant dilution of your voice, thanking lay people for the generosity of their criticisms, and treating the “thanks” of your parishioners for your listening as a substitute for the gravity of accepting that your very actions placed them in the position to have those criticisms in the first place.

NORFOLK FOREVER? (OR: GET YOUR SH*T TOGETHER AND STOP ACTING LIKE TOMORROW IS GUARANTEED)

What if we lived in Norfolk, Nebraska for the rest of our lives? With no family within four hours, only two other family members in the same state, and two families scattered in every imaginable way and direction, Norfolk has some things going against it. Depressing things.

Yet Norfolk offers almost everything that many people have said they want in their hometown--it’s small enough to feel safe, big enough to support a family, remote enough that it’s largely populated by people who were born in the area, and slow enough that it will probably be the same town when your kids have kids of their own. Omaha doesn’t check any of those boxes, and Lincoln is full of people who are just taking a break before they move to their mountain homes in Vail.

JESUS NEVER HAD TO DIET

I’ve spent the past two years trying to remove things from my life--dieting, selling cars, getting rid of possessions, cutting expenses, and focusing less on loose relationships and more on a small core of friends and family.

This was partly done out of a self-diagnosed need. In the case of my diet, I was 15 pounds overweight. While that doesn’t sound like a big number, my clothes weren’t fitting comfortably anymore. It was time to either make a change or buy new clothes, and clothing isn’t very high on my list of spending priorities--especially when an ongoing basement project provided more interesting ways to spend money.