An Account of a "périple" to Canada

18 July 2015 CANADA! Writing in a foreign land! New Discoveries. The drive from Lenox to Fredericton, New Brunswick, was easy thanks to the Garmin. Not so long ago the drive would have depended on maps, ability to digest the information and a very able co-pilot. Traffic was moderate up to Portland Maine, after which volume shrank as cars disappeared onto Exits all the way past Bangor. The Interstate 95, which has other derivatives, 495 and 295 is designed for efficient travel between points A to B. It is not an interesting road, shielded as it is from the surrounding countryside lest we drivers be distracted by the charms of country roads, villages, towns and scenic landscapes. On either side of our lane were barriers of trees hiding sight of country or community. At times I wasn’t sure we weren’t driving through some of the sparser expanses of Texas. As testimony to the desultoriness of landscape and paucity of traffic, the authorities allowed the speed limit to go to 75 mph! Despite this apparent inactivity, there was a flurry of police activity in the region: a man was pursued and eventually caught for having shot five people, of which 2 died and three were wounded, and kidnapped another. This occurred in Houlton, the last town before the border which required calling in American and Canadian police forces. When I arrived at the Canadian Border the handsome young Douanier seemed unconcerned as he asked me a few questions and waved me on with the words, “Enjoy your visit”. Once passed the border I quickly changed the odometer to kilometers. Car à partir de ce moment, on est à la façon européènne. Quoiqu’il en soit ca ne change pas le fait that this is another impersonal ribbon through some very sparse countryside, though, without the screenings to either side, the landscape is more interesting with some farms and fields dotting the hillsides. Radio announcers speak either French (or Canadié?) or English. I push the Scan button to get a sense of the sounds of the region. At the Fredericton Inn the ladies at the reception desk were unimpressed: they tended to ignore the bilingual requirements, in favor of English. They did say New Brunswick Province has definite pockets of Francophone language - Moncton, for example and Saint John, while Fredericton is anglophone, though signage is bilingual. On verra. The One Suite app on the iPad works: I spoke with Susan briefly before we were cut off. I checked my account balance: still lots of money. No idea of what caused the break. So much for the externals. In the head, I’m still of good cheer. Listened to 2 CD’s of Fr. Rohr’s series on Paul, “Great These of Paul” - Life as Participation. He is like Mozart: uses and re-uses themes and ideas throughout his teachings. One point stressed is that Paul taught from experience (in much the same way as Gotama, though with a different tack) and what he taught was the wisdom he mined from all that happened to him. Though he never met Jesus in his ministry he did encounter spiritual visitations from Jesus. Another point is that one is called and never prepared for the calling. You can’t prepare yourself for the call, though i think there must be some, let us call it “predestination” for want of a better word. There is a deep, inner mark that identifies one as “called” as opposed to “un-called”. Where is this mark? Is it identifiable? Might one be able to recognize the DNA of the “called”? Be that as it may, for students the task is to accept the teachings in order to achieve transformation and manage one’s own salvation.