What is a venial sin? What is the Immaculate Conception? What are the Ten Commandments? What are the seven mortal sins?
As a young child, I had to memorize answers to Catholic Catechism questions before I could make my first holy communion. One of the greatest benefits I gained from my early Catholic education was the ability to memorize. I spouted off those answers quickly and matter-of-factly as my father patiently sat in his big green fake-leather chair, asking the questions. He never went to church – except for mother’s day, Christmas and Easter. Yet he sat patiently, testing me on my catechism questions.
I remember my father as undemonstrative. I don’t remember being hugged or hearing him say, “I love you.” But I understood years later. He showed his love in different ways. For example, listening to me spout off doctrine he didn’t believe. The one answer I parroted, but could never ever understand, and never dared to ask a nun or priest about, was the one that basically told me my father would go to hell because he didn’t believe. No way. He had the patience of Job. He was a good man. And he was my dad.
huge white pelican
rules of gravity be damned –
soars in autumn skies
The White Pelicans migrate every fall to Florida. With a 9′ wingspan, they are one of the largest birds in North America. And they soar.
Amaya hosts dVerse today, the virtual pub for poets. She asks us to considerthe 7 deadly sins, and/or the 7 virtues. We may consider our relationship to them — or how they affected us at some point in our lives. I’ve written a haibun: 2 or 3 tight paragraphs of prose (must be true), followed by a traditional haiku.
Missing my dad….
lillian the home poet 
Excellent tribute. 😎🥀
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Thank you! 🙂
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I love the title, Lill, the white pelican is gorgeous, and what a wonderful tribute to your dad!
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Thank you, Kim. Ah yes…the title…..kind of like, “you’re in my thoughts, dad.” ❤
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In a way, I also wrote about my dad. This is such a lovely tribute to a great father. I had the same experience with the nuns in my school, ha ~ Love your haibun – you chose an amazing animal- the pelican soaring in the sky.
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Thank you, Grace. Finally getting to all my commenting and reading this morning and later today 🙂
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Lillian, this is making me tear up. Your devotion, not to your Catechism or to the taboo teaching about hell and unbelievers, but to your dad and to God’s love, it really shines. The detail about the fake leather chair paralleled with the memorization of something not flowing from the heart stood out. I’m so glad you learned to read between the lines and to see that love doesn’t always look like what we think it should.
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What an absolutely wonderful response to read this morning. Thank you! It is truly appreciated.
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Beautiful tribute to your father. We all go through times of questioning and doubt. I guess what’s important is where we come out! Love the white bird!
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Excellent insight in your comment here. Glad you enjoyed the haibun!
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Terrific haibun response to a complex prompt. How wonderful as you look back, you have the wisdom to color your memories with love. The haibun is killer.
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Thank you, Glenn. “wisdom to color your memories with love” — now that is a wonderful statement and ideal. 🙂
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Nice line: “rules of gravity be damned” Given your description of your father, I can’t see any way he went to hell either.
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🙂
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This is a lovely tribute to your father!
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Thank you, Jo. He was a quiet and special man! 🙂
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This is a wonderful piece and it’s got a wonderful sense of familial bond in it that gives the whole piece warmth.
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Thank you, Carol. Your words capture what I intended…..
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The things we pick out from our memories that replace the standard, expected rules of conduct bind us just as deeply if not more. One of mine is 3:00 am with my dad on Thanksgiving morning helping prepare the turkey. A memory that I carry more than any other. Thank you for sharing this. And I love the pelican! Saw them in Florida 5 years ago and they were so much fun to watch!
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…Glenn made the comment that it is wonderful to color our memories with love….seems to me you’ve done that with your father as well ❤
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I love your write. You have said it well. I love your Father, who wanted the best for you, even if he didn’t believe. I love the pelican, a wonderful beautiful bird. Makes me think of home.
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Thank you, Annell. He was a very special man. I think as young children we just take our parents for granted….we go through those teenage years when we think they’ve become old-fashioned…and then we grow and have families of our own and we treasure their stability and their love. I think when they’re gone….we reflect back and remember so much more and with so much more insight. 🙂
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Never assume anyone went to Hell, God knows the perfect timing to shower us with His grace, as Catholic we are also taught never to judge the soul of anyone. The nuns are obligated to warn us but never to judge us. I love your writing.
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Thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed my haibun.
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I was sitting in a chair once going over some Mormon doctrine with my son about our rather complex view of the gathering of Israel, Bible was open in my lap, feet were propped up, chair was way to comfortable, when I realized I had half fallen asleep and had started mumbling incoherently about ketchup and mustard, I started awake to see my 11 year old looking at me with a quizzical bemused expression. My Gosh what a laugh we had. He is 23 now and whenever we are hearing someone drone on in doctrine a tad too esoteric we can nudge each other and mention ketchup and mustard and smile. We are in heaven, and I think your dad is too, from the moment he sat down in that green chair to teach you. Nice!
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Thank you, Lona. For your wonderful comment and sharing here. I truly appreciate it! 🙂
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Wonderful tribute to your dad.
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Thank you. He was a special man — in all his quiet ways.
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Hi Lillian.. as far as the 7 Cardinal Sins and Virtues
Discussed today on 7.18/18 as i Love the Ring of
Those Numbers i find that Peace Dies without
Passion so i come Bearing Both Gifts
of Rocky in Virtue but Passion
More Specifically today
as Sith for
our Shadow
Parts as far as Does
God Wear Clothes or Does
God Just Hang Around with
Other Dogs and Wait for a Master
of Love in Kind to Provide all one will eat
Kibbles and Bits for it is True OuR Cat Yellow
Boy stays Attached to Wife Katrina for Predictable
Subsistence always comes and a Warm Lap of Kindness
too. hmm.. so what about
Lust we most all feel and
sense that
there is no need
to talk about it just
don’t ask don’t tale
as that is always the
Way of Clothed Human
Lust still.. for what i have come
to find yes God is both Literally
And Metaphorically and yes Dog
And Cat too Love for the Best paRT
oF LiFE that both comes and goes.. there
is not even anything i need to know and feel
and sense but Do Love as God now.. and it is
True some folks
See a bigger
Love And Give
And Share A Bigger
Love and some folks
Hide Love under tight
Wraps of Clothes so in this
way it is True God wears clothes too..
Your Father Brought you Love and that too is all that counts..
Moreover my FriEnd the never ending paRT of YouR Father
NoW who Still Continues to exist in your HeART expreSSinG forevernow
as SPiRiT as that Love Lives Eternally now outside the Bounds of Science
And even Infinity for Science has no real idea how this Love stays Eternally
now or even what our Conscious Being Fully is too in this way this God that
is Love
is MaGiC
Beyond
all Rabbits
coming out
of Top Hats now
for this is Love is Beyond
all Measure this Love We Co-Create now..
heHe.. never judge a Sith by His and or Her
Cover for that’s a First Passion uP To LoVE..
And the
Peace
of Mastering
the Passions within
But Enjoying them to
the point where the Peace oF LoVE STiLL SPRiNGS
ActuALLy LiVinG WiTHiN (GoDSuMMeRLoVES) as i metaphorse this too..:)
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Oh my, Katie. Thank you so very much for your words here. I always enjoy your dropping by.
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SMiLes Lillian you are an exceptional
Kind and welcoming
Human.. i Love to
Find Home Town
Folks this
Way
Around the
Globe.. i
Appreciate you..:)
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Wonderful tribute. Yes, raised as a Catholic, I too had difficulties with practice and beliefs. Evidently still do.
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Thank you, Sascha. I think there is a natural questioning that comes as we grow older….and a wondering as well.
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