Rousing Rambling

While on a business trip in California, I witnessed firsthand the problem of homelessness.     I arrived after a six-hour flight to the city of Los Angeles and took an Uber from the airport to the hotel in Santa Monica.     The curious tourist in me was taking in all of the sights on the drive, familiar store brands, banks, and other companies with familiar names.     I was trying also to spot differences, different cultural influences, and so much more in that brief ride.     Before long though, a sad reality struck me.   What I noticed not too far out of the Los Angeles airport was the large number of homeless lining the streets in gray tattered blankets.     Sometimes you could make out the person’s body, sometimes only a lumpy blanket.     Even in Santa Monica, there were many homeless in the streets.     At night, walking along the Santa Monica beach and pier, every few hundred yards was another homeless per...

 Learning My Life Truths  Several years ago, I made the decision to spend more one-on-one time with my father.  The reason was simple.  Sometimes, he was a hard man to love.  I never quite figured out if my father loved the art of debate, or if he enjoyed pushing people’s buttons…or maybe a combination of the two.  Months could pass by without me reaching out to my father, or paying him a visit.  One day, in the Catholic Sacrament of Reconciliation (or confession, for us old-timers), I confessed to the priest that I wasn’t living the fourth commandment, “honor thy father and mother.”  I explained to the priest that I loved my father, but didn’t make time for him in my life.  He instructed me to do two things, to pray for my father and to begin to perform small acts of kindness for my father.  I took that instruction to both love my father from afar (prayer), and more intimately (acts of kindness)....

  2 years ago Mariano J R Pimentel N o v e m b e r   7 ,   2 0 1 8    ·  Shared with Your friends When we were younger, the greatest gift that our parents gave to us was the gift of presence. Some of my favorite childhood memories include waterfront picnics with the Garcia families and Sundays at my grandmother’s house with the Pimentel Brum families. Simplicity. Just being with one another was enough to bring us all joy. Simply reflecting on those days still brings me joy today. Later in life, the same is true for what we can give to our aging parents. Monday nights are my “date nights with Papa.” Honestly, sometimes, after a long day at work, the 30-minute drive feels like a chore. Sitting with my dad and really listening to his stories (not just the hearing that I did for years) has given me so much insight into the times and events that shaped the person that my father is today. Learning about his childhood, leaving his country, starting a new l...

July 6, 2015 Rosa Parks Circle, Grand Rapids, Michigan 38 th Convention of the National Association of Pastoral Musicians Public Concert with the Cortez family   While sitting in Rosa Parks Circle, in Grand Rapids, MI, attending an outdoor concert by Jaime Cortez and family, I watched a homeless man take his place at my side with a tin container of spaghetti and another container of some other food.   Clearly, one or two of the hundreds of people in attendance at the outdoor event had given this man food to eat.   As he sat there eating the spaghetti with his hands, he seemed to be content.   He was clearly tapping his foot to the beautiful Catholic songs of the Cortez family, their Spanish rhythms and percussive beats evoking joy. Every once in a while, he’d break out into a little seated dance.   He seemed to be enjoying the spaghetti, as he pulled each handful to his mouth to eat.   I have to admit, shamefully, that I was a little grossed out wa...