CATHOLIC WORKER Subscription: Vol. I.XVII, No. 6 October-November, 2000 25¢ PerYear Price 1¢ Artist With STORIES A Message FROM CUBA By DANIEL MAUK By SUZETIE ERMLER At the Catholic Worker's Friday Night Meeting on December 1, we'll be remem­ From 37,000 feet, I saw the July 4th sun bering a dear friend and fellow worker, Fritz set and the crescent moon rise, while Eichenberg, who died 10 years ago at the sparkling lights glistened below. I soon real­ age of 89. Part of the evening will be a look ized that the source was not houses or indus­ at a half-hour documentary· of Fritz's work try, but, rather, a pyrotechnic wonderwork of made by Christopher Lydon of PBS-TV and red and blue from a town celebrating below. first broadcast on Christmas Eve in 1985. Then, there was darkness and explosion Though many readers have seen the art again, as we passed over another American of Fritz Eichenberg in the pages of The community. I couldn't help but feel sus­ Catholic Worker-he created over 100 pended in time, groundless between two images that began appearing in the paper 50 feuding countries that have long prided years ago-some may be unaware of the themselves on their revolutions and histo­ remarkable man whose mind, heart and ries of independence. bands created these works of art Through Soon after I arrhred home from my three­ his wood engravings, Fritz made a unique week trip to Cuba, I sent a small care package · contribution to the world of graphic arts. with a Pastors for Peace caravan to the two If misery can play a part in the formation men who drove our group for fourteen days. and inspiration of an artist, then Fritz's for­ Otoniel and Rolando served not only as mative years as an artist began very early. He superb guides and workers to the nineteen was born in Cologne, Germany, on October travelers from my sister's North Carolina 24, 1001, and spent the early years of his life church, Church of Reconciliation, but also watching his father's slow decline into death as true friends. I had gone as a translator for from Parkinson's disease. Fritz adored his the church's work trip, where we did painting father and had never seen him walk. He once and small agricultural projects in Matanzas, said, "I wanted to hold hands with my father Santa Clara and Cardenas, but also received and walk upright with him through the an education from those I met. streets of Cologne .. .. It was my dream, and As I reflect on my time there, I am again I dreamed it very often." Instead, at the age confounded by the quantity of stories shared of 15, a young Fritz held his father in his with me and by the striking contradictions in arms as he died. the Cuba I experienced. I feel that only those Of his :first 11 years of schooling in the who have lived through the revolution (or local gymnasium, Fritz remembered that he been born since it), stayed, and withstood would sit, "waiting for the bell to save me." He · what Fidel Castro ironically labeled "el peri­ hated school, the corporal punishment that odo especial" (the special period) may claim ·went along with it, and all of the regimenta­ a hold on Cuba's depth: The name meant tion of German society at the time. Sur­ Self-Porn:ait Fritz'Eichenberg (Continued on page 5) rounded by uniforms--soldier, mailman, and station master alike-Fritz recalled being illustrating articles, and making posters and forced to line the streets with all the other cartoons. Little did he ltnow that Adolf Hitler, Bouquet children, waving flags when the Emperor, a character frequently lampooned in his car-· A Spiritual Kaiser Wilhelm, came to Cologne. toons, would soon turn Germany and most of By CHRISTOPHER NUGENT As Fritz told the story, "Providence took Europe into a death trap. a hand in guiding me to my true vocation." My sister and I ••• made perfume. Even echo of the agony of another bohemian of The Great War was still raging and Fritz, as An Immigrant now I can remember the peculiar, deli­ sorts, Augustine, in his garden at Milan, in an undernourished teenager, fainted in front Fritz always said he knew he wanted to cious, pungent smell. the year 385. The issues were remarkably of the door of an Eichenberg family tenant. get out of Germany, even before Adolf Hitler -Dorothy Day, From Union Square to kindred: a life in letters or in religion? "Good­ Fortuitously, the tenant turned out to be an came to power. In 1933, coincidentally the 'Rome fellow" or renunciant? Fulfillment of the flesh art historian and museum curator named year that Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin Two loves have built two cities. and proper progeny-and I find it apposite Fritz Witte, who proceeded to introduce Fritz began the Catholic Worker movement, Fritz -St. Augustine, The City of God that the new "Confessions," The Seven to Eduard Fuchs's History of European made a trip to the United States to cover the Storey Mountain, was prefaced with the Satirical Art After seeing the work of artists Chicago World's Fair. He instantly fell in love Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton and the text, "For I tell you that God is able of these the likes of Francisco Goya and Honore with New York City and it was here thafhe Little Flower form a tripty'ch, or trinity, of three stones to raise up children to Abraham"-or , Daumier, Fritz was determined "to become settled with his young family. loves, a spiritual bouquet This bouquet emits one might say, a quite literally stony celibacy? an artist with a message." Forever crediting Fritz's early years in America were times not just the familiar "odor of sanctity," but Academy or Gethsemani? Dr. Witte, Fritz said, "This enlightened man ... of success and sorrow. He recorded his first invites a mystical-critique of culture, including Thomas Merton turned to Therese and put my mind and my pencil in the right direc­ impressions of New York in a series of the wilted remnant or diasporq of the counter­ asked for a sign, aware that this could be a tion." prints-'The Aquarium," "The Subway," "The culture-that is, "flower children." To a com­ "precarious" way to pray. Suddenly, in his The following years in post-war Germany Steps," and "City Light"-and, looking at pulsively dualistic society, it could instill, hope­ spiritual sense, he began to "hear the great were both a struggle and a joy for a blooming them today, one can still sense Fritz's fasci­ fully, a sheerest drop of sense, the fragrance bell of Gethsemani ringing in the night" Just artist Fritz became an apprentice at the print­ nation with the grit and glamour of New York, of peace. Like the perfume of young Dorothy as the mysterious voice of a child had called ing plant of DuMont Schauberg in Cologne, his new home. Soon he was teaching at The Day. for Augustine a millennium and a half earlier, and it was at this time that he took his first life New School for Social Research, where he If this should sound unlikely, let us begin the bell tolled for Thomas Merton. Within drawing class. Fritz approached his art edu­ remained for the next 10 years and, at the with the incarnation of the unlikely, Thomas two weeks of this night, the heretofore irres­ cation with the same discipline and zeal that invitation of George Macy, he began the first Merton. And, since the sometime bohemian olute Thomas Merton would enter Gethse­ forever after characterized his life, and, to his of many jobs with The Limited Editions Club was a man of dramatic passages, let us begin mani where he would be, as he recounted.in great delight, he was accepted as a master by producing 29 engravings to illustrate with a little psychodrama his journal, "Theresa's Trappist" student at the Academy of Graphic .Arts in Crime and Punishment by Fyodor On the bitter night of November 23, 1941, Why Therese, one might ask, and not a · Leipzig, the book center ofEurope at the time. Dostoevsky, his favorite author. the young pilgrim of twenty-six had reached his sophisticated intellectual like St. Augustine, Upon graduation from the Academy in In 1937, death danced through Fritz's life apparent impasse. He was alone on the campus with whom Thomas Merton can be said to 1923, Fritz went to work as a newspaper artist again when Mary Altmann Eichenberg, his of St Bonaventure University before a shrine really begin his spiritual odyssey? Something and traveling correspondent, and enjoyed wife of 11 years, died unexpectedly, leaving of St Therese, the tittle Flower, the whole subliminal, I think, drew him to Therese, those exciting years when the arts flourished Fritz and a young daughter alone in what was cult of which, ironically, he found aesthetical­ something more elemental than sophistica­ in Berlin before the rise of Nazism. Married still a new world. It was an experience that he ly objectionable. But, he was desperate and tion, of which he was already adequately and with a family of his own, he took on vary­ later described as profoundly painful, an expe- the question critical: to be or not to be a monk. endowed. This could have included their ing jobs to make a living, such as writing and (Continued on page 7) This was a primal experience: to me, an (Continued on page 8) Page Two TIIE CATIIOLIC WORKER October-November, 2000

Vol. LXVH, ·No. 6 · TH• October-Novemberi 2000 . CATHOLIC~ WORKER l l -Published-seven.times a year: January-February, March-April, May, June-July, August-September, October-November, December . f ORGAN OF nIE CATIIOUC WORKER MO_yEMENT DOROTIIY DAY, PEfER MAURIN, Founders (1897-1980) (1877-1949) Managing Editors: LUCIA RUSSET[, PADRAIC O'NEIL lL Associate Editors: RITA CORBIN, TOM CORNEll, FRANK DONOVAN, EILEEN EGAN, Bill., GRIFF1N, JOANNE KENNEDY, JOE & SABRA McKENZJE.HAMILTON, JANE SAMMON, f KATHARINE TEMPIE, CARMEN TROTIA, TIIOMAS·VECCHIO. t· Circulation: DAVE CARL, JEANNETTE NOEL, EVELYN PHILUPS, BETII ROGERS, PATRICK]. RUSH, MATiiIEwTESSITORE, JOE WELLS. Editorial communications, new subscriptions and changes of address: 36 East F'rrst Street, New York, NY 10003 Telephone (212) 777-9617 and 677~27

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ST. JOSEPH HOUSE, 36 East First Street, New York, NY 10003-(212) 254-1640 MARYHOUSE, 55 East Third Street, New York, NY 10003-(212) 777-9617 and 677~2 7 PETER MAURIN FARM, 41 Cemeter y Road, Marlboro, NY 12542--(914) 2364774

MARYHOUSE By JOSHUA STEIN On July 5th, I found myself making my rounded by all of the different opinions, con­ way from my small town in North Carolina versations, e111otions, and·everything else that to Manhattan. After spending a week at the makes up a family. There was the occasional Catholic Worker in March, I had decided to conversation that turned into a heated argu­ return for the-summer. There were several ment There was the smile or· the encourage­ The Voyage ~f St Brendan Susan MacMurdy reasons for my return to the Worker. First of ment that made someone's day worthwhile. all, I wanted to follow the example Qf Christ There were the numerous chores that neede.d End the Death Penalty and be a servant to others. Seeondly, I want­ to be done. Then, there were the meals that Moratorium 2000 ed to show my love and support for my won­ helped everyone go_that extra mile. The third annual "Faith in Action Against There is a,global movement for a mora­ derful Aunt Suzette and the work that she I must say that the biggest joy of the the Death Penalty" conference will be held torium on the death penalty, as a first step does. There were many other reasons for house is Jonah. He is the youngest resident October 28-29, 2000, in various cities across towards worldwide abolition. This campaign coming back, but these were the two decid­ of the house, at eight months old. Having a the country, coordinated by Amnesty aims to gather one million signatures to be ing factors. baby around brightens everyone's day. It lp.ternational. For information about this cam­ delivered to the United Nations for Human So, as my summer began to unfold, I was doesn't matter what kind of mood someone paign, call Enid Harlow at Amnesty's New Rights Day, December 10, 2000. To support back at Maryhouse. The first couple of weeks is in, it absolutely changes in his presence. York office, (212) 807-8400, and ask for a the Moratorium 2000 campaign or sign on to were an adjustment time, as I became used to People's expressions quickly go froqi gloomy copy of the 42-page Resource Guidebook the petitioi;i, you can write to Moratorium more intense and faster-paced surroundings. or preoccupied to silly and goofy. Jonah truly for Communities Working to Abolish the 2000 c/o ROADP, Atnerican Friends Service­ However, there was a thirst to be back, and I brings the gift of happiness to the environ- Death Penalty. For information about New Committee, 1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, could feel the warmth of the house welcoming, . ment of the house. York activities that weekend, contact the PA 19102, or call (215) 241-7130. + me. It was good to be away from my everyday Along with all the routine things that hap­ Riverside Church Prison Ministry at (212) routine back home. I had begun to grow so pened each day; there was always an element 870-6811, or the Campaign Against the Deai:h Economic Justice tired of working every day to provide for my of surprise waiting around the corner. Penalty at (2i2)·330.7056. own selfish needs and desires. My middl~ Sometimes, the unexpected involved a vol­ Another anti-death penalty conference, the November 16-19, 2000, the University of income lifestyle started to seem like a lifestyle unteer or a visitor passing through. A different largest ever convened in the US, will be held the District of Columbia, the Center for ofluxury and wealth as I began to see the pain person around often gave someone a break in San Francisco, CA, November 16-19, 2000. &onomic and Social Justice, and the World and need of homeless people in Manhattan. All from a normal day by offerillg new stories The conference, which will include a diverse Institute for Development and Peace will of my problems that had seemed so large at and conversation: Visitors can be an important coalition of organizations, has been named hold a conferen·ce on "Capital Home­ home, started to become smaller. factor at the Catholic Worker. 'There are many "Committing to Conscience: Building a Unified steading" at the UDC campus. The subject Along with adjusting to the city, I had fo people who pour themselves into the Worker · Strategy to End the Death Penalty." You can will be the causes of and solutions to the adjust to. the house and. some of the people and can use a break from the action or maybe call the conference hotline at (888) 2-ABOL­ widening global gap in capital ownership. who live here. During the first week, there just a helping hand. However, even if I have ISH, or contact Death Penalty Focus of Center for &onomic and Social Justice, PO was a person that I was having a hard time been a help or blessing around here, it has California, at 870 Market Street, Suite 859, Box 40711, Washington, DC 20016, (703) getting to know. I felt as if I was in her way and blessed me more to be a part of it San Francisco, CA 94102, (415) 243-0143. + 243-5155. + that, maybe, she did not want me around. I sit and try to sift through all of the But, it wasn't too long before a certain soft­ thoughts and feelings I have had in the short ness began to show through, with occasion­ period of the two months I have been here. FRIDAY NIGIIT MEETINGS al smiles and unasked favors, like. doing my I remember the cooking, cleaning, painting, In keeping with Peter Maurin's recognition of the need for ongoing clarifi­ laundry. So, as I got to know her and th~ listening, talking, debating, and everything _cation of thought, we invite you to join us for our weekly Friday night meetings. other people in the house a little better, I else that kept me busy every day. In the time The meetings are held af either Maryhouse--55 East Third St., (212) 777-9617, started to realize that what had seemed to I have been here, there have been feelings 'or St. Joseph House--36 East First St., (212) 254-1640. As far ahead as we be a hard shell on the outside was only a pro­ ranging from joy to frustration. But, all of can see, those we will hold at First St. will be marked with an *. Feel welcome tective coating for the softness in"side. the joy each week easily outweighed any to call and confirm the schedule. Both hou8es are between First and Second Coming from a family of five, I found the • fru,stration. lfl: a city that can be filled with so Avenu~s (2nd Ave. stop on the F train). family atmosphere of Maryhoµse very inviting, much pain and darkness, this house shines but on a much larger scale. I became sur- with the light and warmth of God's love. + Oct. 13 •••.•..•••• Jim Reagan: Sacred Music from Many Traditions. Oct. 20 •••.••.••.•. Stu.ette Erm1er: Cuba in the last Decade-"lbe Special Period."* ADVENT WREATHS Oct. 27 ....•...••.. Dr. Norman Kurland, Center for Economic and Social Justice: 4-Hole Wreath $39.00 ROAR! Closing the Wealth Gap-A Moral Third Way. Nov. 3 .••..••...... Winifred Tate: Increasing Interventions in Colombia.* Religious Organizations Al9ng the River 4 Candles Only $26.00 Nov. 10 ....••..•..• Memories of Dorothy Day. (ROAR) announces "Bridging Faith and 5-Hole Wreath with Nov. 17 •....••....• Bruce Russett: "'lbe Challenge of Peace"-The Making of Environment," a conference for religious the 1983 Bishops' Pastoral Letter.* Christmas Candle $47.00 leaders, November 8-9, 2000 at Mount St. Nov. 24 •...•..••••• No Meeting-Happy Thanksgiving! . Advent Set for Churches $68.00 Alphonsus, Esopus, NY. The featured speak­ Dec. 1...... Daniel Mauk: Remembering Fritz Eichenberg-An Artist with (prices include postage) er will be Dr. Larry L. Rasmussen, Union a Message. · Theological Seminary, author of Earth Com­ CATHOLIC WORKER FARM Dec. 8 ..•...••••••.. Jim Wayne: Kentucky State Senator and Catholic Worker. munity, Earth Ethics (Orb is, 1996) . We Box60 CW Dec. 15 ••••••.•••• .Amy Goodman [rescheduled]: RadicalJoumalist VIeWS 1he World.* will explore ethical issues of land holding Dec. 22 ..•...... Annual Christmas Party: Music and Merry-making. Sheep Ranch, CA 95250 and use for DREs, religious personnel and Dec. 29 .•..••..•... No meeting. Joyous New Year! Phone: (209) 728-2193 other Christians, especially those in our bio­ Calif. Residents Add Sales Tax region. Please contact Sister Kathleen MEETINGS BEGIN AT 7:45 PM Donnelly, SU, (845) 87M178, ext. 305. + October-November, 2000 ·THE CATHOLIC WORKER Page Three

stated. "'If you can't work a 4(}.hour week, what's the good of the job?" Sweet and Lowdown: Domino Sugar Strike It bas not only been in Brooklyn that By EMILY SCHMAIL of seniority, ready to dispose of people who 'the status of production, the company, based in Domino has been accused of being a union have spent the majority of their careers, if Britain, has reported that sugar output in the buster. 'They have a history of dragging out When the vote was taken to strike or to not their lives, at the factory. _ US "has deteriorated significantly since disputes and being aggressive with-unions," agree to a company offer that included layoffs Tate & Lyle representatives have said December, 1999 and losses have increased." according to Peter Seybold, director of and the loss of benefits, holidays, and job that, because the process of refining sugar is Though the strikers have seen some suc­ Indiana University-Bloomington's Divisiol) 1 security for those who remained, it was clear becoming more efficient, the workplace must cess, there are still many without ajob, who of Labor Studies. "1bey make very unrea­ that the Williamsburg Domino Sugar factory also be. This, to them, means reducing the have had to turn to the union for financial sup­ sonable demands on a union to drive them ·l was going to see another strike. The workers workforce. They have prepared for the effi­ port Nonetheless, as Local 1814 Vice-President into striking." In fact, the Brooklyn strike l of the Brooklyn plant anticipated a long dis­ ciency change by having sugar that is already Joe Crimi explains, '1t doesn't give them money has been the third nationally· since Tate & 1 pute, but few of them realized the cost that liquefied shipped from another Domino plant for everyday living .. .it's just not enough." Lyle have attained ownership. 1 would come with standing up for their rights. in Baltimore. This act alone will eliminate In Baltimore and New Orleans, sites of Strikers ai.m to make a large impact in Management may have shown itseH to be the jobs of about one hundred workers. Tate other Domino Sugar plants, workers qave Brooklyn, the home of the first Domino Sugar l intractable, but, nonetheless, the rank and & Lyle spokesperson Margaret Blamberg shown solidarity with Local 1814 and joined plant Built in 1858, the refinery was opened by file take heart in their solidarity. said, "We're deeply disappointed that the the strike. As of February, 2000, the workers William and Frederick Havemeyer and soon The Domino Sugar strike has now per­ union committee isn't willing to accept basic of the Arabi plant in New Orleans went on became the country's major distributor of ·I sisted for more than a year. The struggle, conditions to improve some inefficiencies at strike after rejecting a proposal that similar­ refined sugar. Before Tate & Lyle became involving the Domino workers and their the plant" ly cut down the financial benefits to the work­ owners of Domino Sugar in 1988, employees employer, Tate & Lyle, a British company Also, in the proposed contract, Domino ers by eliminating the Monday through felt proud to work in one of New York's historic based in Decatur, Illinois, has captured atten­ stated that it has the right to hire a more Friday work week, hiring temporary workers, monuments. Sadly, that pride has diminished. tion across the country. The International competitive subcontractor if it will cost less and refusing higher wages for working week­ Corporate greed has already put many Longshoremen's Association-the Domino than it would to pay Brooklyn factory work­ ends and holidays. Even though the New workers out of a job. One man, even, dis­ workers' parent union-and the AFLCIO have ers. The company would like to buy out one Orleans sugar plant workers were on strike tressed about the strike, and having worked contributed to the workers' efforts. A nation­ third of its one- to fifteen-year employees for only a few weeks, they also suffered. Local at the plant for the majority of his life, com­ al boycott has been called of all Domino prod­ a mere fourteen thousand dollars, and 1101 president Bruce D'Antoni of the United mitted suicide. Other workers are beginning ucts. The stockholders are angry. The work­ replace them with people willing to work for Food and Commercial Workers Union said, to crack; to be out of a job for over a year ers are angry. And still, after fourteen months, half the salary of those who came before "It's costing people money [to strike]. Any with no immediate plans to negotiate with Tate & Lyle has refused to compromise. them. In addition, the production qt1otas, time you are out of work it costs you money. the corporation seems overwhelming to The contract between the workers' union under Domino's plan, ought to double-with But if you don't go on strike and accept some. But the rest, who take the strike one and the Domino corporation expired in no pay increase, no extra pay for overtime changes, how much is it going to cost you in day at a time, until the demands are met and October of 1998; since then, negotiations have or weekends, and the company will no longer what they are taking away from you?" Tate & Lyle's requirements dropped, been attempted, but nothing has been give employees three paid national holidays. This rhetoric has been answered by the promise that Williamsburg, Brooklyn will resolved. Beginnfng on June 15, 1999, strikers Eventually, the Domino Sugar factory wants Williamsburg union workers, says Joe Crimi. see increasing action. Local 1814 will keep up refused to accept the terms of an agreement the flexibility to replace some--the·union The community near the Williamsburg the fight for better working conditions and a proffered by the Tate & Lyle corporation. worries all-workers they have currently Bridge has also advocated for the good of job they can be proud to do. Although many of the workers risked their with part-time, temporary workers. Over one the strike, honking horns to show support Although the strikers' union has helped families' stability by striking, all members of hundred people will be laid off according to when driving by, or joining the rallying at financially throughout the strike, the strik­ the workers' union, Local 1814, resisted what this plan, and many more will lose the forty­ the picket line. In addition, several local ers would appreciate additional support. If they believed to be unfair proposals from hour week and the salaries that provide for Teamsters have joined the struggle by slow­ you are interested in showing your support of Domino. Recently, succumbing to economic or them and their families. ing down construction operations at the site. the Williamsburg Domino Sugar strikers, you other pressures, seventy co-workers have For over a year now, Union Local 1814 of Local 1814 has called for a national boycott of can: boycott the use of all Domino Sugar prod­ crossed the picket line; but, the remaining the International Longshoremen's Association all Domino products. ucts; continue publicizing the boycott of prod­ two hundred members have stayed strong, has refused to accept these conditions. The This movement of fellowship is what the ucts; contribute with a donation to the Central and without pay for over a year. strikers claim that their strike has forced a workers need. Without workers' rights guar­ Labor Council; participate in the picketing; Many of the employees at the Domino dramatic cutback of deliveries. Usually pro­ anteed and without an acknowledgement of or write a letter to Clive Rutherford, CEO, Sugar factory in Williamsburg, Brooklyn have d ucing four million pounds a day, the seniority, the employees are justified in feel­ North America Sugar Incorporated, 492 2nd worked at the site for twenty, thirty, even fifty Brooklyn factory has managed merely one ing vulnerable. "We want a guaranteed 4(}. St., Brooklyn, NY 11211. To support the years. With an average of twenty years per million pounds a week. Stock has dropped hour work week, elimination of subcon­ union, contact Joseph Crimi, Vice-President, wdrker, the people demand to be treated bet­ from its usual five points to two and sixty. tracting and to maintain our seniority. Those Local 1814 ILA, 70 20th Street, Brooklyn, NY ter. The corporation refuses to·grant the rights Although Tate & Lyle refused to comment on are the key issues," striker Carmen Serrano 11232, (718) 499-9600. + An Anarchist _Confession The aoarchist philosophy is that the new social order is to be built by groups By KA111ARINE TEMPLE of [people] working together in communities-whether in communities of work or communities of culture or communities of artists-but in communities. This year's US presidential race can sound economy and social life, bureaucratizes all Martin Buber said .there could be a "community of communities" rather like an anarchist parody: look-alike candi­ activities, reduces the law to a technique of than a state. They could.be united in some way but without any governing body. dates, two men whose names are four-letter social control, then it is a totalitarian gov­ It would be made up of unions, credit unions instead of banks. There would words, each with sound-alike answers, ernment.... We should be forever concerned be no more lending at interest. There would be no more money lenders. backed by mirror-image p.r. machines. with the means used by the state, the politi­ -Dorothy Day, 1971 Virtual clones that make a mockery of cians, our group, ourselves. They should be The Catholic Agitator notions about personal democracy. But, the the principal content of our political reflec­ spectacle is no laughing matter, especially tions." not when it is touted around the world as We tend to forget that our "new age" did the latest American export commodity. When not drop out of the sky with a new millenni­ With the help ofJacques Ellul's decided­ controls and even its gifts. The organizations you take a hard look at it, the claims to um. Jacques Ellul was the social thinker who ly anarchist bent-that consistently goes must be completely independent, not only mate­ democracy have less and less substance-­ had the foresight (and The Technological against the grain to warn about threats to rially, but also intellectually and morally .. .. mere window-dressing for the powers-that-be. Society came out in 1954) to pinpoint the human freedom posed by the ways and What is needed is groups capable of denying So, too, the anarchist response-to reject wellsprings for the deep transformations in mores of technological power-we can sup­ the state's right-today accepted by almost the ballot box as a snare and delusion-is society we now see in full array. He picked up ply our own details. If nothing else, in our everyone-to mobilize all forces and all ener­ no joke either. on the rationality at the core of modern tech­ current over-charged atmosphere, The gies of the nation for a single aim, such as the Because such a response is so seldom nology, what he called technique, and then Political Illusion can be a breath of fresh air grandeur or efficiency of that nation .... What is heard, it was a pleasure to see Jeff Dietrich's examined its impact from every angle. to di"spel the mystique about voting, and needed is groups of great diversity, capable of 1971 interview with Dorothy reprinted in In this book, he focused on the political expand the discourse about democracy. And, escaping our unitary structure and of present­ The Catholic Agitator, June, 2000. It begins, field of force (concentrated in the state, prop­ this, as he made clear, is only the tip of the ing themselves not as negations of the state-· "I'd like first to ask you, are you an anar­ agated as democracy) and his title, The anarchist iceberg. which would be absurd-but as something else." chist? And what does that mean to you in Political Illusion, says it all. The illusions he This is not a view about to be received At this point, I haye an anarchist confes­ terms of your daily action?" exposed then remain alive and well today, any better now than in 1965, as a recent cross­ sion. Too many of us who like to call ourselves As for the big anarchist picture of state most notably: word puzzle brought home to me. Clue: anarchists are still too mesmerized by the power within globalization, I still recommend • the illusion that the state can escape its "anarchist goal" (5 letters). It is a mark of very system we seek to resist. We do not Jacques Ellul'sThe Political niusion, even basis in force, or the constraints in its own the power of the state myth over our collec­ always sense, in ourselves, the fascination, though it was first published in 1965 and is bureaucratic imperatives; tive psyche that the answer is "chaos." This nor how hard it is to be weaned from "holy now out of print. During an election in the • the illusion that political power can now is a long way from the goal Jacques Ellul out­ mother the state." For instance, although I year 2000, it may seem odd to turn to a book be separated from technological expansion, lined near the end of his book: do not vote, I began this piece with the elec­ written before computers were the name of or determine its direction; 'This means we must try-to create posi­ tion. On rereading The Political Illusion, the power game. What is astonishing, • the illusion that this political/techno­ tions in which we reject and struggle with the though, I realize that true anarchists are not though, is how accurately he anticipated what logical meld can be subjected to external, state, not in order to modify some element of apt to follow this contest at all. They are doing has come to pass. For instance: humanitarian, values; · the regime or force it to make some decision, "something else." Anarchists often get accused "'The difference between democracy and • the illusion that expanded technological but more fundamentally, in order to permit the of negative thinking, while Jacques Ellul is totalitarianism is precisely in the area of means lead to more diversity, choice, or de­ emergence of social, political, intellectual or routinely dismis~ as a pessimist But, sure­ means. If a government increases technolo­ centralization; artistic bodies, assoeiations, interest groups, ly, the conviction that we do not have to be fas­ gy in society, steps up propaganda and pub­ •the illusion that increased information, or economic or Christian groups, totally inde­ cinated by power, that there is something else lic relations, mobilizes hll resources for the generated by this system, adds to our ability pendent of the state, and yet capable of oppos­ other than its thrall, is the greatest political purpose of productivity, resorts to a planned to resist its dominant culture. ing it, able to reject its pressures, as well as its optimism of all. + Page Four THE CATHOLIC WORKER October-November, 2000 -i' I In the work shanty, theman dried the body and moved her to a stone slab llRhe. center of 2001 CALENDAR A Prt6]1£r:_for the space. Beneath the child lay the length of Up Here $7.00 linen. The young man opened a jar that once CHRISTMAS CARDS held pownered baby formula. The vessel now and B_init Ukhti contains the white powder made from the In the North NOTEPAPER sacred cidra tree. He dipped his fingers in the August 6, 2000 $7.00 PER DOZEN By CHRISTOPHER AILEN-DOtr<;crr sacrosanct concentrate and anointed Binit Belfast, North of Ireland Ukhti on her hands, f~t, elbows, and knees. Dearest Cathy, "(includes postage) She arrived at the ch:ildren's cemetery The body was then swathed tenderly. 0.µly Love to you, and all good on this day of Designed and printed by just before dusk. Her black abeia was bil­ the face of Binit Ukhti, snugly framed by the remembrance. As I was telling Joanne in my RITA CORBIN lowing in the mounting wind, revealing a red liQen, was.left exposed, as if the burial swad-· letter to her, I just heard about an English guy dress and a pregnant form. The gusts were dling were an ivory abeia. Another length of . .from Voices in the Wilderness who climbed PO Box 1543 the leading edge of a sandstoqn. She walked linen was then wrapped around the body and to the top of the Millennium Ferris Wheel to Brattleboro, Vf 05302 past hundreds of small mounds and by a trio tied with strips ·of the fabric below the feet, protest the bombings in Iraq. Phone: (603) 336-5760. of goats eating at the scrub around the mark­ above the head and in the mid-section. These It's a hard place to describe, this "up here ers, to an open-air mud brick and thatch work men repeat this ritual 2 or 3 times an hour in the north." It's not as if I feel threatened on area. An elderly man, wearing a white robe during their shifts. They move with grace and a personal level-no, far from it. I contend since the Good Friday agreement of April, and kafia, greeted her and accepted the shoe­ condolence. They are not toilers-automa­ that the normalcy is quite abnormal, however; 1998, others think nothing much has changed. box she carried with her. Few words were tons, bundling inaniillate packages. They are things are always bubbling under the surface. That is, the IRA hasn't really handed over any. spoken. The box was handed to one of three midwives of rebirth-forming new placentas This is a divided society, there is no doubt of its weapons, although weapons dumps younger men who worked at the graveyard. so that the children they meet can be delivered about that The poor and working class seem down in the Republic have been inspected by The young man moved to the rear of the into the expectant hands of Allah. to me to be the least likely to be together. One outside inspectors from Finland and South work area and, with great care, removed group can be loosely defined as Catholic/ Africa It is true, no one in any great number from the box the woman's niece: in Arabic, Nationalist/Republican, while the other is has been shot or bombed here in some years, her Binit Ukhti. · Protestant/Unionist/Loyalist. Within these but there is a fear that dissident Republicans The child had been born onto earth, into two groupings are many subgroupings. Some and perhaps Loyalist fringe groups will stir · hell, and unto eternity earlier in the day at the Catholics might actually wish to remain part of things up. There are all sorts of things that go Basra Pediatric and Maternity Hospital in the United Kingdom, while some Protestants unreported-things considered too small, per­ southern lfaq. The wards at this hospital are might be striving for a reuniting with the rest haps, in the greater scheme of world events. full of mourning mothers and dying children. of Ireland. The word ''Republican" here usually It's the fact that you're dealing with a little bit In any given room can be found children means one who wishes to be part of the of land in the big world, a land of unresolved with rickets, marasmus, kwashiorkor, typhoid Republic of Ireland (Dublin, Kerry, Galway- disputes, of wounds left to fester, one century fever, cholera or cancer. The maternity ward 26 of 32 counties). Nationalists might want into another. has an air, not of hopeful anticipation, but of that, too, but, whereas Republicans might wish Although no soldiers have been visible fearful repose: Will the expected child be this to be carried out by armed means, here since July 12, I think I will see them whole? The day before Binit Ukhti was born; Nationalists include those who would want again next weekend for the events sur­ a hydrocephalic child and a child missing this only by means of a nonviolent struggle. rounding the Apprentice Boys parades­ his head, neck and arms were born and died The word ''Unionist'' refers to one wishing the another number of parades that are tied in on the ward. union with the UK to continue, while a Loyalist with the defeat of the Irish/Catholic cause of Basra Pediatric and Maternity is a teach­ might see continued status in the UK as a sta­ the 17th century. The Protestant community ing hospital. In an earlier era-before massive Brian Kavapagh tus worth violently struggling for. in toto does not observe or commemorate bombardment by American forces; before Often, Loyalists have spawned groups these historical events, although many do­ widespread contamination of the soil by A prayer was uttered and, then, the aunt willing to kill civilians merely for being some, in fact, find them all too contentious, radioactive depleted uranium (a toxic heavy in her crimson dress arid ebony abeia picked Catholic-not for being members of the Sinn particularly when the.parade intersects with metal used in thousands of munitions fired by up the body to surrender Binit Ukhti to the Fein party or the IRA, just for being Catholic. neighborhoods now, in greater part than in the Americans); before 10 years of deprivation grave. She processed alone through a Like with Jews, you don't have to go to Mass years gone by, populated by Catholics. So, for induced by the most comprehensive sanc­ labyrinth of tombstones with Binit resting to be a Catholic-it's all got to do with where instance, the church I go to when I'm over at tions regime in history-before this mad­ on her swollen belly. The sky was gray, the you were historically rooted in the 17th cen­ Paul Edmondson's is the oldest Catholic ness, young doctors learned about typhoid, · sun was white. The graves before her, behind tury. IRA groups, on the other hand, tend to church in Belfast; that church is in an area polio and malnutrition from textbooks and her and beside her were ashen. There were think they'd kill Protestants only if they were where a massacre of Catholics took plate congenital defects were cleft palettes and club neither flowers nor grass. To the left of the members of policing or military groups such back in 1992, a few weeks before I was last feet One classroom in the hospit.ql is a gallery cemetery, a group of teenaged boys played as the cops, the British Army or other here. Well, the parade that year passed the of grotesquery, with dozens of photographs of soc.cer in a lush field of grass ringed by a paramilitary Loyalist groups. IRA folks would place of this particular massacre, and some the horrendously deformed children that are dozen· date trees. Everywhere in Iraq, in have killed anyone connected to the Army of the paraders danced, jumped up and down born and perish daily. urban vacant lots and on the dirt roads that and the cops-even in the less-than-common with great glee, and held out fingers to denote Next to this classroom is the hospital run between the fields of wheat, children and circumstances of that person being Catholic. how many had been killed there. Residents morgue; it is cool, at best The actual drawers young men gather to chase the white and Meanwhile, almost daily, something hap­ said, from then on, they would never allow where the corpses are kept are not quite black ball. pens that is "sectarian" in nature, that is, the parade to go through their area. cold. The purchase of coolant fluids, needed obviously aimed at a group only for religious to maintain the unit, is constrained by the Two Unions affiliation. For instance, a school called St. sanctions. The entire room smelled like an To the right of the cemetery, a wedding Ki.eran's was attacked by fire; the other night, unplugged, dirty refrigerator. The nation's was taking place. Dozens of children, the girls the Orange Order hall in Dungannon (I have electrical grid was targeted by the US during in peach and yellow. dresses, played in the friends that live near there) was destroyed by the Gulf War. Restrictions imposed by the street outside the parlor where the ceremony fire. Tu·e thing about Orangeism is, it is a sanctions have hampered repair efforts, and was underway. Weddings in Iraq are brief political force-it is not a Church, although so, when the power goes out twice a day for outbursts of joy in a milieu of despondency. the local level of the Anglican Church of three hours, the morgue begins to warm up. . Typically, weddings happen in parlors on Ireland often gives space in its buildings for Thus, when a child dies, she is sent home Thursday afternoons and evenings, though Orange·Order meetings. -1=· with the family to be buried. The day Binit this was on a Sunday. Outside the wedding People have been forced to flee their I Ukhti died, the morgue had 15 boxes with 15 chamber, a crowd of revelers waited in antic­ homes, have been threatened with death if babies that had been unclaimed ~use their ipation. The couple's car was decorated with they didn't leave a housing estate (similar to families·couldn't pay to bury them. The fam­ white and pink crepe paper. The school bus our projects, but not high rises). It happens ily of Binit Ukhti raised 5,000 Iraqi Dinar; idled to take the assembly to the reception. more often that a couple or family in a mixed roughly $2.50, for burial. Men with trumpets and drums prepared to marriage is forced out of a Protestant hous­ announce the union of woman and mari. ing estate. If the family is Catholic, usually, it Midwives of Rebirth In between these scenes of life, the aunt is the more thuggish Loyalists who are Back at the cemetery, the worker placed carried Binit Ukhti. At the grave, the body pulling the strings on throwing them out As the naked body of Binit Ukhti, umbilical cord was placed on a leveled mound of dirt. Her for Republicans, more militant elements with­ still attached to her belly, on a three-foot­ shroud was opened slightly and a handful of in the Irish Catholic community, the issue is All Souls Rita Corbin square stone slab at the rear of the cham­ earth was placed with the body before the often about getting tossed out of your area ber, as carefully as if he were placing her in cloak was again closed. Another verse of the because you've been engaging in "anti-social" To our ears, this may sound trivial. Some a bassinet The man filled a plastic pitcher and Koran was prayed and, as the body was behavior, usually stealing, drug-dealing, etc. w:ould say, "Oh, just let the group march on a teakettle with water. He measured the child interred, the newly-married couple stepped AnQther nasty thing employed by paramil­ down." In fact, there's a "Parades Commission" and cut a length of white linen from a bolt outside .to the excited blast of trumpets and itaries of all communities is kneecapping, which was s.et up under the Good FridayI . kept in a satchel. The aunt then joined the pulses of drums. The union of child with God that is, shooting someone in .one or both Belfast agreement solely to deal with parades: man at the rear slab and, together, they grace­ was heralded to all that bothered to notice. knees, or in the ankles. Now, this may happen if/when they are able to be lield, etc. Some fully washed the body with a yellow bar of ·When Mary, pregnant ·with Jesus, went less than in the past, but it still happens. think it's a total disaster. The people in the soap and a cloth. The woman rinsed the girl to see Elizabeth, pregnant with the Baptizer, People also find out from the police that their area of St Malachy's voted 92% to say no to this with the water in the kettle. John "leaped for joy in thewomb."The Good "details" have been given by someone to parade of August 12-we1l see what happens. Meanwhile, a gravedigger was busy dig­ News was soon to enter our world. When another group-they are told this so as to God bless-will be in touch. ging his second .sepulcher of the hour. The her aunt rested Binit Ukhti on her belly, did take security precautions. How did a paramil­ Love, hole was three feet deep, too narrow to turn the child awaiting birth recoil in fear of life itary group, supposedly under a cease-fire, Jane around in and not long enough for the man during war? Or did she leap with joy because get someone's "details"? Not certain. P.S. The bitterest pill for many to swallow to take a step. He would soon carve a third Binit had been spared a life of suffering and, In short, though some feel there is a great since I got here was the early release of opening. At midnight, he would be done for instead, had been returned into the womb difference between the North of Ireland, 1980 paramilitary prisoners, Republican and the day-a true graveyard shift. of Allah, to be born into life everlasting? + and the North of Ireland, 2000, especially Loyalist, on July 28. Some had killed many. =+ October-November, 2000 THE CATllOUC WORKER Page Five I STORIES FROM CUBA

. (Continued from page 1) for families or to buy new clothes or other that, for a short amount of time, Cubans items increasingly unavailable without dol­ would experience an additional shortage of lars. I met a Cuban who conducted video inter­ supplies, food and fuel; however, people's views withjiniteras and, though they are now patience is now running low, as one or two less visible following police crackdowns, they years have turned into nine. have found other ingenious ways of working, From our arrival in Havana, when there such as using their homes or writing their was a blackout at the airport, until the day I prices in chalk on the bottom of their shoes. missed my plane because the Russian WWII Tourism boomed as well, and Canadians, side-car motorcycle carrying me broke down, Italians, Spanish and Germans flocked to new I saw daily hardships and reminders that resorts popping up along the northern shores, Cubans live in an isolated, blockaded country. especially in the internationally known · I listened to hours of stories from Presbyterians, Varadero. I visited there and could not believe Baptists, Catholics, Russians, farmers, teachers, the contrast to the rest of Cuba The best fruits ministers, babalaos (priests ofsanteria), artists, and seafOod are limited to the tourist because a state inspector, and an ambulance driver, and of expense or legalities, and throughout the not one person was immune to the severities country, Cubans are riot allowed to spend the imposed during the periodo especial. night in any tourist hotel-with or without dol­ Following the fall of the Soviet Union in lars-even in the company of foreigners. 1991, Cuba had to learn to live more inde­ Tourism and sugar combined account for sev­ pendently than it had since 1959, when rev­ enty percent of Cuba's foreign exchange. olutionaries forced the dictator Fulgencio Batista to flee. The economic developments The Double Blockade during this time are best explained by what Today, there is still a shortage of every­ is still the most pressing issue in the daily life thing. I learned how to buy gas on the black of every Cuban: agriculture and food. market, signaling numbers with fjngers from When the Soviets could no longer pro­ the car and making deals in the middle of vide assistance to the Cuban state, by way of the night Everywhere, people stand on the the sugar cane trade and agricultural sup­ side of the road hoping to coger botella (catch plies, Cubans were faced with a serious food a ride) or drift slowly along on a Chinese shortage. Until that time, communities fed Flying Pigeon bicycle, because fuel for cars themselves through small, national agricul­ is so scarce. When ambulances·break down, tural associations. But people were hungry, hospitals have to do Without because there her over the week, I asked her about the Cuba's rocks. Now, he plans to come to the the years 1993-1994 being, by all accounts, are no replacement parts. extravagance of red snapper, rice, black US because, he says, he is tired of luchando the most difficult The campesino had to raise Cubans often told me that their lives con­ beans, fresh tomatoes, coconut and coffee. (:fighting, meaning to survive). I know that the price of produce and those in the city sist of having materials available and no Her answer to my "how" was simple: "You beyond my three-week observations, the went out and bought it money, or having money and no materials. couldn't even imagine." It took them two days friends I made are still luchando and trying to Eventually, food ran short and the state Our church group also experienced the frus­ to round up everything, including a four-hour resolver. (resolve, usually through the black ·responded by investing heavily in the tration of not being able to get supplies, . drive to the coast in their barely functioning market) the best they can, some coping less campesino. Cooperatives were formed and the despite the fact that we weren't short of dol­ car. It struck me that, in the US, we are so well than others. I think of the men in an alu­ government provided free land, and chemi­ lars. Paint has largely been inaccessible to used to obtaining what we need or want eas­ minum factory in Matanzas that I visited each cals and insecticides at low prices. Fifty percent Cubans, but the Baptist Church had pro­ ily, that it's almost inconceivable what Cubans day for conversation, who work all day in the of the yields were given to the state and sold in cured permission for us to paint a state-run go through every day to find food. hot factory for less than a dollar. We enter­ · markets and the other half, for the first time in school for children with autism and Down's Xiomara also told a story similar to one I tained ourselves with debate and laughter. the campesinos' lives, they could sell for their syndrome in Matanzas. Yet, we had to wait for heard later from others. Clothing and shoes I also know that, despite the abundance own profit But, again, supplies ran short and two days before the work could begin, and are found mostly in dollars now, a pair of that I found, it is sometimes a struggle to find the state was unable to provide all it promised. when the state didn't follow through, we shoes ranging from $10-$20. But, the quality humor in Cuba A foreign priest told me he had As these details were explained to me one found paint on our own. is poor, since many shoes had been locked never counseled so many people contemplat­ night by those who lived it, I felt the guilt of Xiomara runs a Presbyterian camp in the away earlier in the nineties, when funds were ing suicide; yet, he said, Cubans have a remark­ one who wastes and lives in a country of countryside outside Santa Clara. She spoke even more scarce. She spent an entire able internal survival mechanism. Otoniel com­ excess. For, it was during those years that to me candidly, in a hushed voice, about her month's wages to buy a needed pair of shoes, mented that Cubans feel they are perceived as policy makers in the United States were tight­ vision for Cuba and its current situation. . She and the first time she wore them, they com­ enemies by most of the world, even though ening the screws by passing legislation like the was not the only one to speak of a "double pletely fell apart on her way to church. they have done nothing to deserve it Torricelli and Helms-Burton Acts, which fur­ blockade," meaning that, in addition to the Religious structures still struggle to define Only ninety miles away from Cuba sits ther restricted food and medicine entering external blockade, the state and many Cubans themselves within tbe socialist state. Without the epitome of extravagance and abundance: Cuba, as well as preventing trade from other have developed an "internal blockade," which question, churches now function more freely Miami. Many Cubans spoke to me of the nations. Intellectually, I had known this before, prevents them from looking at their own faults than ever; however, while I was in Santa Clara, ubiquitous fear that Cuban-Americans, not but, to hear other people whom I'd befriend­ that contribute to Cuba's problems. She looks· at Father Pat Sullivan's parish church, the city capitalism or the US government, might show ed recount moments when they literally were for solutions in her power and aims to contin­ churches were denied permission to have a up on their doorstep, claiming family prop­ struggling to keep some of their family mem­ ue serving those in her community and those procession with the Sacrament in what would erties that those who remain have tried so bers alive, overwhelmed me. One friend, with whom she considers to be the most marginal have been the conclusion to a Eucharistic week hard to maintain. But, most likely, people his wife in intensive care and his newborn and neglected: the elderly. She predicts that They were disappointed, but immediately said, another of Fidel Castro's government child unable to drink breast milk (formula deforestation will becom~ an increasing envi­ sought a solution. Several pastors and a priest men will succeed him and Cuba will keep on. was not available), had to leave his city every ronmental problem for Cuba Only in the last told me that it is better to work in conjunction No one, though I know there are some who ·=t day in search of goat's milk in the countryside. ten years has Cuba had to look to its native with the state than to ·try to work against it: might, subscribed to the point of view that I forests to provide energy because fossil fuels, One priest said that, if the ultimate goal is to get capitalism would be the panacea for Cuba's A Changing Economy previously available through the Russians, are medicine and food to the people, then the man­ struggle, or that with just one small dose of it, When food was sccrrce earlier in the now in short supply. ner in which it is done does not matter. Cuba would be cured of all its woes. + decade, families had money to spend, but no Fidel Castro's solution to the food crisis food to buy. As co-ops and individual cam­ came in the form of rationing, marked in Fighting and Surviving Iraq Video pesinos raised prices for the food they pro­ family books called libretas, which allow While cruising along Cuba's highways duced, people had to spend everything for Cubans to purchase subsidized products. (roads, really) in a yellow 1968 Gillig school The Institute for Development Training what was available. The campesino suddenly Roughly (they vary from province to bus, I was shown, from the wind<5ws, numer­ has created a video-learning package entitled was wealthier than other Cubans, having province), Cubans are allotted 6 lbs. of rice, ous hospitals, both medical and psychiatric, "Silent Weapon: The Embargo Against Iraq," become a treasured commodity in a time of 6 lbs. of sugar, 1.5 lbs. of beans, a quarter of universities, newly implemented agricultur­ as a tool to educate adult study groups and hunger. When the US dollar entered the black a pound of coffee, and 6 eggs per person, al centers based on Chinese examples, beer congregations to advocate for an end to the US market in the early nineties, however, Cubans each month. The list also includes oil, soap, factories, pig farms, electric plants, refineries, sanctions against Iraq. To learn more about could no longer afford their native foods. milk for children up to age 6, and soy yogurt etc. It is an amazing testimony to the revo­ this study guide, you can contact the Institute The black market, nµnpant in the 16th for children ages 7 to 13. Although the· prices lution that they are still functioning and that for Development Training, RRl, Box 267B, and 17th centuries' trading commerce, flour­ are low, the proportion in cost to the average Cuba still boasts a literacy rate comparable to Trenton, ME 04605, (207) 667-7231. + ished again. Co-ops, state-sanctioned insti­ Cuban's $&-$10 monthly salary is high. that in the US. And education, from pre­ tutions, pushed individual farmers into the Because of this, I was surprised at our school through PhD, is still free. In July of Close the SOA! black market. The devaluation of the peso first meal atXiomara's camp. As I got to know this year, the US Senate and House passed encouraged Fidel Castro to legalize the dol­ different versions of a proposal to lift the ban Last June, the House of Representatives lar in 1993 and, today, it is becoming harder on sales of certain foods and medicines to accepted a Pentagon proposal to "reform" to purchase many goodsvnth the peso:' Items Cuba Time will tell how this may ease f4e dif­ the School of the Americas with a new name · imported illegally through Panama flooded ficulty with which Cuba's struggling schools and a few cosmetic changes-basically, busi­ the market and goods perceived as higher and hospitals obtain much-needed supplies. ness as usual. This year's vigil, in memory of quality became accessible and desired. I met a young, Baptist mailman who rides those assassinated by SOA graduates, and Social class changes surfaced immediate­ a mail train delivering post across his nonviolent civil disobedience will be held. ly, most obviously in the visible jiniteras (pros­ province. He had studied geology and loved November 17-19, at Fort Benning, GA Write titutes-literally, horse jockeys), who were the short time before the periodo especial to SOA Watch, PO Box 4566, Washington, young women searching for ways to provide Apples June Hildebrand when he had examined the ancient strata of DC 20017, or call (202) 234-3440. +. - Page Six THE CATIIOLIC WORKER October-November, 2000 The Book of Notes ,~ The Kingdom BySUE deNYM As you know, Ric Rhetor has flown the Under theoretical departures, our own ofHeaven coop, so to speak. Now, there are two issues Felton Davis and Peter DeMott of the Ithaca worth of happenings to fill our readers in on, CW community were both found guilty for [The following letter is reprinted from so let's get right to it their participation in the 1999 Hiroshima Day the June, 1963 CW-Eds. Note.] There have been several departures. Joe vigil on the steps of the Pentagon, and are DeSanto, who moved into St. Joe's in Feb­ scheduled to be sentenced in Alexandria, VA Narvon, PA ruary, left in August for a teaching job in East on October 24. Please keep them in your Dear Charles [Butterworth], Harlem. We wish him all the best (fourth thoughts and prayers. Reading, other than in winter, is a pleasure graders are a rough crowd!) and hope he * * * a lot of country people find hard to sandwich comes down to visit every now and again. In the "prayers asked and answered" depart­ in, what with spring chores and the hurry Ananda, who had been helping out a lot at ment is the arrival of Talitha Glossmeyer, from to get the garden in, plus all the outdoor jobs Maryhouse, moved into her apartment and is Oklahoma. Daughter ofJoe Glossmeyer, who postponed in winter. Then, summer is too starting classes in preparation for a nursing was around when St Joseph's House opened up busy with keeping ahead of the weeds, up program. Our thoughts are with her as well, on First Street in 1968, Talitha moved into early and to bed late, working after supper; and we are sure that her broken arm, a roller­ Maryhouse 4i August Also, Janella Meads, and of course, fall, the harvest and making blading casualty, will not impede her success. who hails from Michigan, moved into St Joe's sure things are ready for the blows and Nancy Lui, from Singapore by way of in June. It's great having her, and there's the snows of winter. They don't have to drive Kansas University, visited in March and liked extra bonus of visits from her brother Derrick, themselves. They could take time out for us so well that she came back for the month who goes to school in Ithaca. reading or writing, but, somehow, their spare ofJuly. It was a pleasure having her at Mary­ * * * time is used in other ways. house, her gentle way always a welcome Thankfully, the weather was uncharacter­ Little Kathy has been a great blessing, presence. Josh Stein, Suzette's nephew from istically cool during July and August, because and Marcia and I have with pleasure re­ North Carolina, was also with us in the sum­ our houses were teeming with visitors. The learned our old nursery rhymes and stories mer. He brought enthusiasm and optimism to illustrious list includes Dean Brackley, SJ, Dom Pasc.bal Baumstein, OSB and songs. She is, like all little ones, the the sometimes thankless task of painting, or, from El Salvador; David Miller, from San essence of that saying, "Hope springs eternal more importantly, preparing to paint! We will Francisco; Callie Vmcent, from West VIrginia, in the human breast," and, "For such is the miss him and expect him to come back and the daughter of Mike Vincent and Linda Daniel O'Hagan Kingdom of Heaven." see us some time. Bunce, who both lived at the NYCW at one One thing we got around to this winter was Another friend, Jeremy Scahill, has left New time; Cathal Lathrop, from Dublin, the son of When Daniel was discharged from the to restore and use an old wool-wheel Robert York He and his wife, Ivana, and their daugh­ Chuck Lathrop, who was here in the early Navy in 1945, he felt a great letdown: What and Ann Stowell very thoughtfully gave us. ter, Ksenija, have moved to Belgrade, 70s; and Tom McDonald and Liz Facey from good had the war done? The people still had What a delight to use the wool of a neighbor's Yugoslavia where Ivana is from. And, Marj Grand Rapid, OH with their two children, to come together and talk. And he was taught sheep, card it and spin it, wash itand wind it up Humprey has returned to Kenya, where she Daniel and Claire. Tom was here in the early in school, "Do unto others as you would have for knitting! Such a simple, quiet way to get worked for several years as a Maryknoll lay 70s also. David Kast and his two delightful them do unto you." How would this go with socks and mittens, caps, or scarfs! missioner. Pat and Kathleen Jordan gave her a children stayed for a couple of days, and our loading a gun for the suicide planes while Work in the shop has always been brisk; proper send-0ff at their house on Staten Island. loyal artist, Renato, around in the late 80s anchored in Okinawa? always, an order or two (or three) on hand * * * and now back from Japan and living in After first finding that Quakers didn't while some other piece is being made. I've Another type of departure is the closing of Chinatown, stopped by for an afternoon. believe in·war-so he wasn't the only one!­ lately been working on a pine chest of draw-· the Blarney Stone (a restaurant near Madison Martin Balle, from Bavaria, Germany, he finally found the Catholic Worker. You ers and when all the work, or nearly (this Square Garden), or more accurately, the spent a week with us; he did a 10.month stint can imagine his delight at learning that there wood was planed at the mill), is done by / retirement of the proprietor, Tim Moran. For in 1989. (His fish soup was the stuff of leg­ were fellow Catholics who believed there hand, it takes a long time. But, because of many years, Tim has graciously provided us end!) was a better way than war. this, the odd-matching dovetails, the differ­ with the meat and eggs for our holiday meals, Kerry Dugan arrived in late summer, He visited the Catholic Worker several ences in the knobs turned on the fQot-lathe, which is no small undertaking. He swears being his extremely helpful and creative self, times and, twice, went to jail with Dorothy the unevenness of the draw knife marks, all that he will continue to provide for us, and we and trying to make a few bucks here on the Day, in protest against the use of air raid these things somehow give the piece an enti- know he will, but he furthermore gave us East Coast, as jobs are scarce on the Navajo shelters. He always subscribed to The ty, a uniqueness, which forever separates it all the extra supplies that remained after the reservation in Arizona, where he and Brook Catholic Worker, occasionally sending a from the mass-produced piece. closing of his pub. We were so pleased to live. He's also been branching out µi. his art­ note or short article. Please say hello to Dor~thy and Charles see him and meet two of his cliildren. work, taking classes at the Pastel Society of Daniel and I were married in 1957 and, McCormack when you see them and give * * * America while he's here. the next year, started our little homestead, them our good wishes, as well as to yourself. In the short-term departure department, We had the great pleasure of a few days' where we have lived ever since. We have Keep up the good work. May God be with you. Jane went to Ireland for four months (with a visit with Tyrrell O'Neil and her daughter, lived very simply, without electricity or run­ -Daniel, Marcia and Kathleen side trip to Germany to visit Kristin Lumi (who's already three!). That's Roger's ning water-simply, yes, but work-intensive O'Hagan Schonfeld er), Lucia went to Turkey for a vaca­ oldest daughter and granddaughter. And, also. From time to time, we have had I tion with her family, Suzette went to Cuba as Barbara and Georgie Bouck came for a few apprentices who came to learn about simple t: translator with a church group and Gene spent weeks in August and September. Their friends living or woodworking with hand tools, for Tom Sullivan two months in Connecticut with his godmoth­ from Toronto, Anne ;;ind Rebecca, joined them Daniel became a woodworker and handy­ er. (The Geniµs also made a stop at the Thomas for the first week. There was much joy. man. Tom Sullivan will have "saint'' before his Merton Center in Bridgeport). Joe and Sabra· * * * He had a seven-year struggle with can­ name, for me, from now. on. He had all the went to Ireland with Joe's parents. Carmen has And lastly, we are delighted to announce cer, becoming increasingly incapacitated; but Christian virtues-the spontaneous gen­ been attending the national meetings of the the birth of Linda and David Mastrodonato's he continued making things until he could erosity, the kindness, the patience, the instinc­ War Resisters League, which has taken him second child, Joseph Thomas, Dominick's scarcely get to the shop. We cared for him at tual piety. He had the virtue of humor too­ to such scenic locales as Houston and Chicago. younger brother. Joseph was born on August home, which was a blessing for us all: a time droll wit along with a cool eye and an occa­ And, Jonah was introduced to his California 21 (under the waning half moon, Felton tells us, of shared love and faith. The Hospice people sional sharp tongue. relatives, as Joanne and Michael took him out just like Eleanor Roosevelt, Frank ·zappa, were a great help. He died June 21, 2000. Most of all he cared, really cared, about there to attend Joanne's sister's wedding. Ksenija, and Roland D'Arcangelo). + -Marcia O'Hagan people; he remembered our children, their Carmen and Janella went to Washington, hopes and trouble , and wished them well DC and were arrested at a protest commemo­ through the years. A friend of my husband, rating tlie 10th anniversary of the sanctions John Cogley, since high school, their friend­ against Iraq, held on Hiroshima Day, August 6. ship was rock solid, no matter what. When Presiding at the event were luminaries Kathy John had a stroke, Tom, with typical unob­ Kelly of Voices in the Wilderness, John Dear of trusiveness, came from New York to Santa the Fellowship of Reconciliation, and Bishop Barbara, checked into a motel and suddenly Thomas Gumbleton. We grieve the continu­ appeared in John's hospital room. He was ing, unnecessary suffering of the Iraqi people. just there with his speechless friend, calm and serene and soothing. War Tax Resisters Years later, on a whim to return to his roots, he decided to go back to Chicago and The fifteenth annual New England moved from Hicksville, L.I. with all his Gathering of War Tax Resisters will be held in belongings. For two years he stayed-his Deerfield, MA, November 17-19, 2000. For boxes unpacked-and spent most of that details, contact Melinda Nielsen, 24 Clark Ave., time caring for his ailing, elderly relatives. Northampton, MA 01060, (413) 584-5608. + Then he moved, once more, to Hicksville. · Tom lived alone, of course, and eventu­ · CW Gathering in Europe ally needed care himself. He declined over several years in a nursing home staffed by .- ewers will get together in Amsterdam, the kindly, overworked attendants. A few Netherlands, from October 25-29, for the fourth blessed and loving friends visited him reg­ annual European CW gathering. The theme is ularly and watched him fade slowly and "Anarchism" Join our friends at Jeannette Noel patiently as he approached his Lord. A gen­ Huis, Klieverink 12:>-126-127, Postbus 22141, uinely holy man. 1100 CC Amsterdam, (020) 6994-320. + Rita Corbin -Theodora Farrell -=+ October-November, 2000 THE CATHOUC WORKER Page Seven I side, lost in thought, seemingly unaware of Vivian vividly captured the 1955 demoli­ -. the camera. One of them is Anna, a Jewish tion of the "El," in what was probably the Street Photographer woman who had been living in the streets, most impressive part of the exhibition. One winter and summer, who was, with great dif­ stunning image follows another, as she doc­ VIVIAN CHERRY: A Working Street Pho­ gandizing. She lived, at that time, a couple of ficulty, persuaded to come inside and sleep uments the transition frorn darkness to light tographer, 1940s-1990s. Exhibit at the blocks down the street from St. Joseph's on a piece of cardboard under the stairs on the The Bowery is a magnificent street and, with Brooklyn Museum of Art; closed August House on Cbrystie Street with her son Steve, first floor. She steadfastly refused to accept a the addition of a few hundred trees, could 6th. Reviewed by Robert Steed. who is now a lawyer in New Mexico. It was bed (probably a wise move, as we were all become a veritable Champs-Elysees. One one of those typical dark and airless tene­ eaten alive by bedbugs upstairsO. In this photo bright light in the otherwise gloomy history If this were a daily or weekly publication, ment apartments which abound in the Lower she looks quite soniber, but rremember that of the "El" was the waiting rooms in the sta­ this exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum East Side. They were relatively inexpensive she had the most beguiling, toothless smile. tions, which had stained-glass windows and would not have come and gone before a in those days, but go for many hundreds of All of Viviari's photos feature the com­ coal stoves-a great comfort on cold nights, review could appear. So, I hope some of our dollars a month nowadays. mon people, often the marginal ones. The unlike the frigid, exposed waiting areas one readers in the New York area saw the short Vivian had been given an assignment by genesis of this "bias" probably stems in part must endure in the elevated portions of the review in the New York Times and made the now-defunct Catholic magazine Jubilee from the fact that her parents left the Ukraine present-day subway system. their way out to Brooklyn to see some 70 pho­ to do a photo-essay on Dorothy Day and the in the first decade of the twentieth century, In 1948, Vivian did a series which appeared tos, many of which are of scenes of Manhattan: Catholic Worker. One section of the exhibi­ where they had experienced rampant anti­ in 48 Magazine and was reprinted in the the Lower East Side, Times Square, Harlem tion featured four of the photos taken at that Semitism. Her father, a house painter in this French magazine Regards in 1951, depict­ and the Catholic Worker. . time; some of the photos were used to illus­ country, was apolitical but her mother was an ing small boys with toy guns in mock hold­ Vivian Cherry was ·born in what is now trate Dorothy's book, Loaves and Fishes. outspoken communist. They met in Kiev, ups. They probably had seen such goings-on East Harlem in 1920 and this exhibition, One of the four showed Dorothy on a when her father went to his mother as a in the movies, as I did a few years earlier. We drawn from the museum's permanent col­ picketline, carryihg a placard displaying a patient She was a dentist all went through the "cowboys and Indians" lection, was her first retrospective. She is a quotation from Pope John :IDCIII. The mes­ Vivian lived at a number of locations on phase, with our toy six-shooters, holsters, member of that tribe called "street photog­ sage is: Food, not Bombs. The background the Lower East Side, then, as now, filled with chaps, and cowboy hats, and few of us turned raphers," of whom the museum's brochure looks like Broadway along the City Hall Park immigrants findiil.g their way in a new and to crime; but, then as now, some saw it.as a says, "A fine instinct for the perfect moment and was probably taken during one of the strange country. On Chrystie Street, she was danger and the French are usually ready to is never enough. The eye and the hand and compulsory air raid drills of the fifties. Among just a block from the Bowery. At that time, see a threat to civilization in any American the brain must coordinate perfectly and with­ the picketers with her back to the camera is the Bowery, from Chatham Square to Union fad. This should not be taken as opposition to out hesitation." Otherwise, the window of the late Deane Mowrer, still somewhat sight­ Square, was a hellish stretch of flophouses, gun control on my part; au contraire. The opportunity may close before he or she can ed at that time, but legally blind. gin mills and cheap, greasy-spoon restau­ photos (to get back to the point) are quite capture that unique moment they all wait for. Another showed the soupline. entering rants, with a population of mostly drunken poignant. Vivian began her professional life, not as a the dining room at 223 Chrystie Street About men and over-shadowed by the Third Avenue Other portions of the exhibit recorded the photographer, but as a dancer, at the age of twenty men are visible: white, middle-aged to El, a grimy, elevated railway that did its best life of a country doctor in Appalachia, a prim­ four or five. She danced in clubs and Broadway old, resignation written on their faces. Only to see to it that the sun never penetrated to itive artist in New York, children in the poor­ shows and was associated with such lumi­ one is black. It was on just such a morning a the street The visual impression was some­ er neighborhoods of the city and street life, naries of modern dance as Ruth St Denis and couple of years later that Dorothy, on her thing akin to the famous Gustave Dore illus­ always-a kosher butcher in front of his shop, Helen Tamiris. However, when a physical way to Mass, encountered the poet W.H. trations of Dante's Inferno. a fierce-looking old woman in front of her injury interrupted her dancing career, she Auden, who handed her a check for 250 dol­ schmatta shop, a sleeping shoe-shine man. entered the male-dominated photography busi­ lars. She mistook him, at first, for one of the In the nineties, Vivian began to record ness in the early 1940s, where she began as a men coming for soup; W.H. Auden was life in color, from Times Square to southern dark-room technician and contact printer. After famous for his disheveled appearance. The Mexico. From garish storefronts in Times mastering the craft, she began the study of encounter made the front page of the New Square to a pork butcher's window, which photography at the Photo League and with York Times. brings to mind works by Rembrandt and the noted teacher Sid Grossman. The other two photos featured women sit­ Soutine, filled with bloody meat, these photos I met Vivian in 1955, soon after I arrived ting in the library at Chrystie Street In one, resemble richly painted canvases. And, at the Catholic Worker. We were introduced the woman, whose face I remember well, sits whether black-and-white shots evoking mem­ by Ammon Hennacy, who was her good asleep in a straight-backed, wooden chair ories of earlier days, or colorful windows on friend and who used to baby-sit for her when under a Barclay Street statue of the Virgin the present, Vivian Cherry has given New he took a night off from his endless propa- Mary. In the other, three old women sit side by Clifford Harper Yorkers a photo album of their lives. +

an identification for me." tenderly and with constant devotion. I can "His mind discovered form, pattern, order, Artist With After Dorothy's death in 1980, Fritz wrote remember sitting with Fritz duririg our last and significance in anything he saw, and he to me, "I remember her when we first met at visit and at first feeling uncomfortable because considered it his duty to share the wonder of Pendle Hill so many decades ago. I share my we could no longer speak to one another as it If he could peel away the distractions that A Message deep love for her with millions-she is a liv­ we had for years. It was then as though Fritz kept the rest of us from detecting the mean­ ing presence that does not fade. I cherish her looked inside me: he stretched out a small, ings he discovered in his constant, restless (Continued from page 1) many letters, the hours spent together­ trembling arm, took hold of my hand, and trip through life, he could feel he had accom­ rience that left him feeling broken and with never long enough, and her friendship which suddenly, it was just as if we were once again plished something. And he needed to feel no desire to live. added immeasurably to my life and spiritual sitting and talking the hours away as always. this-to know that each day he had worked Fritz was able to overcome his grief in the growth. So I won't say that I miss her-she is on bringing into being a new idea, a new years ahead. He remarried, had another child, still very much with.me and always will be." The Graphic Artist vision, or a new insight and began an association with the Quakers that The best way to consider Fritz's work is to "Fritz enriched the world of graphic arts lasted for the rest of his life. For the next 50 Part of the Family find some good examples of it and see for with some of the most compelling wood­ years, Fritz produced a prodigious outpouring At the Worker, Fritz belonged to us heart yourseli His work does not appear frequently engravings of our time. He has touched the of art, illustrating a dazzling array of classics-­ and soul. In the spring of 1986, we were cor­ enough in current issues of The Catholic imagination of countless readers who may Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace, Fyodor responding about what would be, in May, his Worker, but, fortunately, in old issues it is scarcely be aware of how their responses to Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, last speaking engagement at the Catholic abundant I sometimes stop in our local used literary classics have been guided by his pen­ Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, Dylan Worker. Fritz wrote, "I do love to get your let­ bookstore, the Strand, and usually walk out etrating vision. And, as he hoped he would, ~ Thomas's A Child's Christmas in Wales, ters and to know that all is well with my with a copy of some classic book illustrated he has illuminated the lives of many friends I Dorothy Day's The Long Loneliness-and friends at the Catholic Worker. It makes me by Fritz. There are seyeral fine books by and and colleagues." + two of my favorites by the Bronte sisters, feel that I am still part of the 'family' .... It about Fritz Eichenberg, which I will list at the Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre, to name seems that old age is catching up with me end of this article. only a very few. and forces me into slow motion. It doesn't I would like to conclude by sharing some Books by and about Fritz help that I rebel against it-nor conform with comments made by Alan Fern, Director of Eichenberg: Fritz and the Catholic Worker it Thank you for thinking of me and for want­ the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, Ape in a Cape (children's book), by One of the major events in Fritz's life took ing me as a speaker-I'm getting frail and DC, at a memorial service for Fritz that took Fritz Eichenberg. Harcourt Brace and place in 1949 when his friend, Gilbert creaking in the joints, but as long as I can place in March of 1991. Dr. Fern captured World, New York, 1952. Kilpack, arranged for Fritz to sit next to crawl, you have me. Time marches on-as something· of the essence of Fritz as a sig­ The Art of the Print, by Fritz Dorothy Day at a conference on religious my handwriting shows-yet I still march." nificant artist-illustrator in the 20th century: Eichenberg. Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New publishing at Pendle Hill, a Quaker Retreat It is difficult, now, to convey the excite­ "Fritz.uniquely .combined a series of qual­ York, 1976. Center. According to a wonderful interview ment we felt knowing that Fritz would soon ities, quirks, crochets, and contradictions. In Artist on the Witness Stand, by that Robert Ellsberg did with Fritz for The be arriving with his collection of slides. In both moral and artistic terms, he saw the Fritz Eichenberg. Pendle Hill Pamphlet Catholic Worker in October, 1981, Dorothy addition to his Friday night talk at the world in black and white. He was a commit­ #25, Pendle Hill Publications, Wallingford, asked Fritz for "something emotional, some­ Worker, we adde<,l as many get-togethers as ted humanist, believing in the necessity of art PA, 1984. thing that would touch people through Fritz's energy would allow. I remember fond­ to communicate significant ideas and atti­ Dance of Death, by Fritz Eichenberg. images, as she was trying to do through ly one weekend when Frank Donovan, Peggy tudes and to change minds, and he was firm­ AbbevilJe Press, New York, 1983. words, and something that would communi­ Scherer and I joined the Eichenbergs for a ly attached to a printmaking tradition that Endangered Species and Other cate the spirit of the Catholic Worker to peo­ lively breakfast at their hotel. Little did we stretched back to Albrecht Dilrer.... He was Fables with a Twist, by Fritz Eichenberg. ple who, perhaps, could not read the arti­ realize that the whole morning had flown by a voracious and intelligent reader, and a bril­ Stemmer House, Owings, MD, 1979. cles." Fritz went on to tell Robert, "Dorothy when Fritz simply stood up, invited us to the liant writer-qualities not always found in Fritz Eichenberg: Works of Mercy, stood for everything I thought would make next booth for lunch, and off we went! visual artists.... His personality incorporated · edited by Robert EIJsberg. Orbis Books, this world a better place. She cared for the The last four years of Fritz's life were, for a deep streak of pessimism, and sometimes NY, 1992. underdog, the oppressed, the poor, the ones him, another trial by fire. Eventually his own anger, about the failure of the world to come The Wood and the Graver, by Fritz who were easily discarded .... I never knew, Parkinson's disease left him nearly para­ to grips with problems that needlessly sapped Eichenberg. Clarkson N. Potter, Inc., thirty years ago, that my humble work for lyzed-first unable to work, then barely able our resources and our energies through polit­ New York, 1977. + The Catholic Worker would become almost to speak. His loving wife, Toni, cared for him iCal and military conflicts. Page Eight THE CATIIOLIC WORKER October-November, 2000

of the Christian communion. And so, in some sage on the Passion, concludes that "Suffer­ mystical sense, The Long Loneliness of ing thus becomes the highest form of action." A Spiritual Bouquet Dorothy Day continues the short, "Night­ The two poles of passion and action magne­ Flowering Cactus". of the Little Flower, to tize each other. (Continued from page 1) the Cross. Dorothy was drawn by "the little allude again to the poem of Thomas Merton. If it still be objected that Therese was not common birth on French soil and the com­ way" of Therese, essentially, a spirituality of And, maybe Thomas Merton, let us say, con­ at the barricades, we would reply with the mon losses of their mothers when they were the qrdinary, and found in it the applied the­ tinued the life of the Taoist sage, Chuang mystical notion of nonlocality. Nonlocality toddlers, creating some secret affinity. But, I ology of the house of hospitality. This was Tzu. Maybe they all derive from and point enabled Therese and Thomas Merton to be think Michael Mott, author of the monu­ incarnational, as against armchair, Chris­ to the same source, the Great Compassion. everywhere. A classical affirmation of the mys­ mental The Seven Mountains of Thomas tianity, and Therese embodied it well before And, therefore, the Redemption, or, if you tery is in the sixty-eighth and, I think, cli­ Merton, struck the right note in suggesting the Catholic Worker; for example, in her tire­ want, co-redemption, is passed around. mactic chapter of The Cloud of Unknowing: that there was something in Therese that less and compassionate care for elderly and . "'Nowhere' is where I want you. Why, when Thomas Merton needed: affectivity. Unlike infirm nuns. The Beach and the Bowery you are 'nowhere' physica11y, you are 'every­ Therese, he had not known a close and suir Dorothy's crowning of the Little Flower In support of the mystical convergence where' spiritually." Gethsemani, in the wilder­ portive family, and.he was marked by a deeir was in Therese, her only life of a saint, pub­ of Dorothy and Therese, let me propose that ness of Kentucky, was "nowhere." But Thomas seated hunger for love. As a bohemian, he lished in 1960. If the autobiography did not the saint of the Bowery was a mystic, and Merton could make it a mysterious presence could adulterate love, and as an author, he constitute a very original contribution to the reclusive Carmelite, uncaiinily the activist virtually everywhere. When the Little Flower could intellectualize love, but neither.was Theresean studies, it did come from the We can complete their portraits in that order. pressed the flesh of the dying old nun of love incarnate. Therese, I submit, was. hands of Dorothy, and it was a valentine. Dorothy I would see as a mystic of "the lit­ Lisieux, she was, in some sense, pressing the After early reticence, including reserva­ Maybe even more significantly, the title tle way." She was not, of course, like the flesh of a dying outcast of Calcutta. Because, tions about a translation of Therese's The Dorothy gave her spiritual notebooks derives grand Teresa, Teresa of Avila, experiencing first, she was pressing the flesh of Christ We Story of a Soul, Thomas Merton read from what may be' the grittiest saying of the transverberations in Greenwich Village. We are of a cloth in this Mystical Body. As if in con­ Therese in the original; Henri Gheon's splen­ saint "All is grace." All is grace for the Little know nothing of visitations from angels, but firmation of nonlocality, Therese has been did The Secret of the Little Flower com­ Flower, including at the horrific end of her Peter Maurin, encouraged by Holy Writ, named co-patroness of missions. pleted the conversion. Thomas Merton life, the.descent into hell. observed that, by taking in the stranger, we described himself as "knocked out by it com­ This is to suggest that we shake off factici- may, without knowing it, be "entertaining The Solution is Love pletely." In her, he found the magic child­ . ty, the stuff of academic knowledge, and venture angels." Yet, to be fair to the challenge, there The case for the other extremity, the sev­ hbod he had himself missed; and Therese the depths, the stuff of communion. Dorothy · was the ''Beach E}cperience" of Staten Island, ered quietist, can be suggested by Aldous was the puella aeterna, the archetypal child. Day was admittedly haunted by God-as, per­ 1925. This seems an aesthetic fusion of the Huxley's Grey Eminence. Set in the critical This "mighty child," he marveled, was incom­ haps, any saint is-and maybe by more than Trinity, the greatest of Christian mysteries, period of Western mysticism, the seventeenth prehensible by such accounts as the Book of God. ''Pious pap," for example, may be protest­ and that which is most manifest, nature. It is century, the work argues the incompatibility of Job, The Dark Night of the Soul, or SOren ing too much. We do know that Dorothy recounted in the fine collection of the late mysticism and political action. Of course, pol­ Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling. One observed that she was born the year of William D. Miller, All Is Grace: The itics can contaminate--0r worse, as the case of might say that this "mighty child" was god­ Therese's death, 1897. Not content to leave Spirituality of Dorothy Day: Thomas More suggests. The young Thomas mother of the man. well enough alone, I could not but also notice "I was 'born again' by the word of the spir­ More struggled mightily between, to employ I detect the scent of the Little Flower in that Dorothy was born on November 8, forty it, contemplating the beauty of the sea and his contemporary: coin, the vita activa and vita Thomas Merton's poem "Night-Flowering days after the death of Therese on September shore, wind and waves, the tides .... All gave contemplativa. He resolved upon the vita Cactus." Therese stands not for the dulcifi­ 30. This is well within range of the forty-nine day testimony of a Creator, a Father Almighty, mixta-which issued in the scaffold. Western cation of Thomas Merton, but his passage bardo, or interim, of The Tibetan Book of the made known to us through His Son. Jesus mystics have some roots in martyrdom I have into the new man. He, ·it should go without Dead The flowers, spiritual flowers; can come always seemed to have preferred following advanced elsewhere that Thomas More was saying, became qmch more than some "hip" any time. Behind every saint, it has been said, the seashore or the banks of some river." mystic, and I find it fascinating that the very title monk, while the Little Flower, from her side, is another saint, and let me suggest, half-seri­ What really matters in mysticism is not the of his famous work, a cornerstone of modern anomalous though it might seem, can be ously and half-whlmsica11y, that this may apply height of the experience so much as the political action, the Utopia, was inspired, I deemed an anticipation of "flower power." in an extraordinary way for our two saints. length of its beneficent effects. Dorothy's think, by the medieval mystical classic, The Or, perhaps, what it ought to have been. The was very iong, as The Long Loneliness Cloud of Unknowing: Again, "'Nowhere' is intuitive Therese was posse8sed of just that attests. Indeed, most of her life can be char­ where I want you ...."The blood of the martyrs, immediacy, impetuosity (e.g., she spoke up at acterized as religious experience-diffused, running recently to Bishop Juan Gerardi of her audience with Leo XIII, though she was and, therefore, less dramatic. Moreover, as a Guatemala, may be another way of raising flow­ strictly instructed to the contrary), and moral student of St. John of the Cross, I cannot ers. The life of Mahatma Gandhi and the purity that the "sixties," at its best, sought, but read All Is Grace without the realization "engaged Buddhism" of Thomas Merton's - as often as not mimicked and easily squan­ that it is informed by the spirit of the Mystical ''brother," Thich Nhat Hanh, also come easily dered, if not betrayed. Late Thomas Merton Doctor. For example, "Faith is like walking to mind. Such witnesses, along with Dorothy himself lamented its "fake creativity." from darkness into light and being blinded by Day, confirm that, in principle, the mystical it" is an expression of a key motifof The Dark and political action are not incompatible. To The Tao of Dorothy Night of the Soul. Dorothy was imbued with the contrary, it may be the mystical anchor When we turn a generation back from the spirituality of St John of the Cross by such that principles politics, ultimately. Thomas Merton to Dorothy Day, spiritual means as the retreats of Fr. John Hugo and To my mind, none of our trinity, nor the consanguinity is even more obvious. Dorothy others. And the Mystical Doctor, we can add, Catholic faith itself, makes sense apart from indeed raised up from stones "children to is the common doctor of all three of our figures. mysticism. And, I believe that this is why I Abraham"-a text dear to her as well as to Before retiring the matter of Dorothy as Thomas Merton, in his last decade, was dis­ f-;: Thomas Merton-and Thomas Merton him­ mystic, her spirit of radical detachment calls turbed by more than a scent of "anti-mysti­ self acknowledged her role in his spiritual for observation and illumination. Detach­ cism," a tenn enlisted from a study on the maternity. He wrote her, in 1965, that "if there ment, of course, is not a conspicuous value in spiritual tragedy of the seventeenth century. were no Catholic Worker and other such an ego-driven consumer society. But, if one Thomas Merton could accommodate with forms of witness, I would never have joined intends to be whole, renunciation is the essen­ titles like Conjectures of a Guilty the Catholic Church." But, given the bohemi­ tial counter-weight to denunciation. Other­ Bystander-rather ironically, I think, since anism of the early Dorothy Day Oike the wise, the moral claims of prophesy are he was hardly just a bystander. But Thomas early Thomas Merton), might we not ask if reduced to the partisan vituperation of poli­ Merton, a self-described "fourteenth-century Dorothy, too, is explicable by such formidable tics. Just as kings, as Plato would have it, man," was rooted, and, therefore, free from texts as the Book of Job, The Dark Night need to be philosophers, prophets need the captivity to fashion. of the Soul, or Fear and Trembling? Or by, counter-vailing mystical; and mysticism needs Ultimately, true radicals like Thomas again perchance, the specter of the Little some public sense. Although Thomas Merton Merton and Dorothy Day cannot be viewed Flower-that is, simplicity itself? was an exemplary blend of mysticism and as either "liberal" or "conservative." They What are the roots of such a woman, as the moralization, piety and prophetic witness, it were whole, and such partisan labels tend Buddhists might say, the face before she was is to the more speculative case of his spiritual to feed the polarizing monster of the media. born? Is it conceivable that the Brooklyn-born midwife, Therese, that we must return. Whatever the first fragrance of our spiri­ Dorothy Day is an efflorescence of some­ tual bouquet, its roots are profoundly politi­ Here, There, and Everywhere thing promised by the Little Flower-as it cal. We began with the two loves of St. were, raising up her own stones to Abraham? The Little Flower was activist as Dorothy Augustine, filtered through a trinity, a con­ · Let us build the fascinating relationship of was mystic. That is, she was an activist of spiracy of loves. Augustine, in The City of such apparently disparate·women upon foun­ "the little way." Her way was not always that God, bequeathed us our classic formulation dations of rock. The young Dorothy, appar­ little, for her special vocation eventuated as of community: a people bound by common ently even more than Thomas Merton, was, Frilz Eichenberg the act of suffering. Her years in the convent love. But the sixties "counter-culture" was at first, dismissive of Therese. This was in can appear anticlimatic, being largely without bound more by a common aversion. This 1928, shortly after her baptism, when The This odd observation is offered as only of consolation for the new "bride of Christ." aversion was seething over subdued special Story of a Soul was sweeping the Catholic symbolic value. Its sense is more moral than Still, she managed her "alms of smiling." The interests, and once the aversion was world the way The Seven Storey Mountain metaphysical. It would underscore the last t:Wo years were all but intolerable: removed, the inherent disintegration was would a generation later. The veteran of Incarnation as a permanent reality, not, in Stricken with tuberculosis, gangrene set in, inevitable. Not so the true "city of God," free Union Square, however, rejected it as "pious any conventional sense, reincarnation. Rein­ and, throughout, she was denied the palliative of the idols of the market and enfolded in pap." But, Therese eventually wore the some­ carnation, as I understand it, comes primar­ of morphine. She witnessed where she was. Love eternal. But the ephemeral counter-cul­ times flinty Dorothy down, the way Taoists ily via a metaphor from nature, a circular I find it powerfully symbolic that, when ture, a phenomenon as old as history, is speak of water having its way with rock. By metaphor. This is Pauline, and I find it more her friend Lucy abandoned the Carmel at undone for being attached where it should be the time of Dorothy Day's own landmark mystical. The "good news" of Paul is, as he Lisieux, Therese got up from her sickbed­ detached, and detached where it should be autobiography, The Long Loneliness, pub­ affirms, "I rejoice in my sufferings for your shortly, deathbed-..and marched around it attached. And, I guess it will have to go that lished in 1952, Therese is revealed as one of sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lack­ as an act of compassion. Here was engage­ way until flower children of the future, truly her spiritual masters, in the company of St ing in the afflictions of Christ for the sake ment and transcendence. The great master sensitive to fragrance, encounter, and mutu­ Francis and the Mystical Doctor, St John of of His Body" (Col. 1:24), the Mystical Body Friedrich von Hugel, in a rather famous pas- ally enrich, a spiritual bouquet. +