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A gust of perspective
  ometimes I need to calm down.
Drivers who tailgate or don’t use their turn signals, the evening news,
deadlines, parenthood, doctor appointments, bills, the future … There is
a long list of things that at any given moment can leave me feeling
frustrated, worried and uncomfortable in my own skin.
One of my favorite Catholics, John XXIII, at the beginning of the Second
Vatican Council, said “We are going to open a window and let in the
fresh air of the Holy Spirit.”
I am breathing that air a little easier as I write this, thanks to two
men I encountered recently, Stephen Hoth and Joshua Stengel. Their
stories bring a gust of perspective that blows away the worry,
frustration and irritability mentioned above like paper plates at a
windy picnic.
I’ll start with Stephen, a Conception Seminary College senior who is the
cover story of this issue of Tower Topics (see Seminarian finds...). A native of
Sudan, he grew up amid two decades of civil war. He’s seen his
 home
destroyed by government troops and has known homelessness, hunger and
fear. He fled his homeland to avoid serving in a military that
routinely attacked his own people. He hasn’t seen his family in five
years and receives only sporadic news of them. And perhaps the most
brutal blow was the death of his mother in an attack by government
forces.
I’d say his list trumps mine.
 Yet, in two hours of talking to him, I could not find a hint of anger,
resentment or vengeance. He calmly speaks of how he has
forgiven the government and its soldiers who have harmed so many of his
people and killed his mother. And he patiently and optimistically waits
for the reunion that will come when the war is over.
Don’t get me wrong, the violence and loneliness of his mother’s death
still haunt him. And he is fierce in his desire for peace in Sudan. He
founded an organization of more than 500 refugees who are helping care
for orphans and rebuild churches in their homeland. He recently
testified in a class-action lawsuit against a Canadian oil company that
is funding the Sudanese government’s abuses for the right to drill for
oil.
“I testified not because I hate those people,” he says, “but because
justice must be done. I don’t hate people, but I don’t like what some of
them do.”
 Joshua Stengel – actually I should say Sgt. Joshua Stengel – was in
Conception’s pre-theology program last year, with plans to become a
Benedictine monk at Subiaco Abbey near his hometown in Arkansas, when
his Army Reserve unit was deployed to Iraq. After six months of
sandstorms, heat and the tensions of war, Joshua had earned a two-week
leave to return to the comforts of family, friends, home cooking and a
real bed.
But he gave this precious luxury away, opting to spend his Christmas in
a war-torn desert. You gotta ask, “What was he thinking?”
Ah, but therein lies the soothing perspective, that fresh air of the
Holy Spirit.
Josh relinquished his leave so that David Mills, a young father in his
unit, could spend Christmas with his wife and three young children.
I have a couple of wishes for this year. I hope Stephen Hoth will see
his family soon in post-war Sudan. Now that I’ve met him, that news will
probably have me walking on fresh air for a while. And I look forward to
seeing Joshua back in Father Isaac’s philosophy class soon.
Meanwhile, I’ll continue trying to forgive those nasty tailgaters.
Dan Madden
Director of Development and Communications
We welcome your comments:
communications@conception.edu
www.conceptionabbey.org
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