Life
Forest Hills Journal
March 2, 2011
B3
Are being human and being holy a contradiction? Occasionally the American Catholic laywoman, Dorothy Day, is mentioned as a possible candidate for sainthood. I realize the uneasiness of many who are not Catholic about the whole issue of saints. However, I would like to use some factors of her life to speak about being holy. Dorothy Day was a Greenwich Village radical in the 1920s. In her early years she was a friend of leftists like John Reed and a drinking buddy to writers like John Dos Passos. By the age of 30, she had had an abortion, been divorced, and borne another lover’s child. Later, after converting to Catholicism, she changed drastically and dedicated her life to the poor – not as a nun but as a layperson. She built a string of hospitality houses for the homeless and hungry. She championed the rights if immigrants and farm laborers
through her newspaper “The Catholic Worker,” and founded the Catholic Worker Movement. Her commitment was so sinFather Lou cere that she Guntzelman practiced poverty her life. She Perspectives in was wary of adulation, advising friends not to “trivialize me by trying to make me a saint.” She died in 1980 at the age of 83. But what about her early life and sainthood being mentioned in the same breath? Judgmental people, and many pious Catholics, will sniff disapprovingly at her coming to be considered an exemplar of holiness. “She’s certainly not my idea of a saint,” many would say. To them
her past will overshadow her transformation and what she grew to become. We have a blurred image of what holiness means. Our idea usually includes degrees of antihumanness. We prefer saints be born as plastic people and remain so. When I was younger I remember hearing some saint’s childhood extolled with words similar to these: “She was so dedicated to God, that from the age of 10 she often chose to spend hours alone praying in church rather than join in the frivolous games of the other children.” If I heard of such a child doing that today I’d wonder about what unhealthiness, not holiness, lurked in that child’s life and why. Such a child would have as much transformation to accomplish as Dorothy Day. Holiness is wholeness, human wholeness.
And we never begin life with an accomplished wholeness spiritually or psychologically. We are embarrassed at being human. We regret not being God – as did the first humans depicted in Genesis. We abhor being imperfect, weak, humbled, having to struggle to become more than we are. It is especially difficult for a generation of achievers to accept the intrinsic weakness of human nature. Genuine human growth and holiness (wholeness) are spread over a lifetime. Some religiousappearing people may just to be good pretenders. George McCauley S.J. wrote beautifully of one of the most forgiving and empathetic moments for a human that occurred in the scriptures. It was the incident when the woman caught in adultery was brought to Jesus Christ for condemnation.
McCauley writes: “When Jesus defends the woman taken in adultery, he is also defending himself. He has identified with her shame and pain because he has learned that to be human is to be caught in a complex web of circumstances that constantly trip and trap us.” “He does not defend evil. But he defends evildoers against all the righteous fakes and phonies who fail to sympathize with our laborious ascent from primeval slime to glory on high. He sets kind standards for the pace of our transformation, so that he may always hold out hope.” That seems true for people like Dorothy Day and for people like you and me. Father Lou Guntzelman is a Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. Contact him at columns@community press.com or P.O. Box 428541, Cincinnati, OH 45242.
If a fire hits your home, check out restoration company If the unthinkable happens and your house catches on fire, the repairs can be extensive, lengthy and costly. That’s what a Delhi Township family faced last year after an electrical fire broke out in the children’s bedroom. They hired a restoration company to rebuild, but said their problems only got worse. Homeowner Gina Torbeck said the damage was so great everything had to be removed down to the studs. “We were told we’d be back in within three months. I wasn’t so sure three months was realistic, I was thinking five months – but 10 months is a little ridiculous,” she said. The home restoration company said the cost to rebuild would be about
$130,000 – and it has now received most of the money. But, after 10 months much remains to be done. In fact, Torbeck said her insurance company refused to pay anything more to the restoration company after the first of the year. “I don’t have bathrooms yet, there’s no showers, no tubs, the kitchen isn’t finished, the flooring is not finished. There’s no way we could be living here now,” she said. The company’s contract with Torbeck calls for it to get all necessary permits and inspections, so I asked her about that. “I called to get inspections for the electrical, plumbing and sewer,” Torbeck said. “I was told I could not schedule those because we do not have any active permits on the house. “There’s a pending per-
Howard Ain Hey Howard!
mit posted on the front window. It’s a form from Hamilton C o u n t y. But, when I called on it, they told me it was never finalized,”
she said. I called the restoration company and the owner told me the county had approved all the work. But, when I called, building department officials told me although permits were applied for they were never approved. The department even sent a list of required changes to get the permit approved, but officials said they never heard back from
the company. Now Torbeck is working with her insurance company to bring in new contractors to finish the house. She said she’s learned a valuable lesson: carefully check out a fire restoration company – and consult an attorney before signing any contract. The morning after a fire all you want to do is get a contractor to board up the property and nothing more. In addition, for any major reconstruction always get your own expert to regularly inspect the work. You can hire an ASHI Certified Home Inspector or a licensed, professional engineer depending on the type of work to be performed. But, by all means, make sure permits are taken out, posted on the job site, and
regular inspections are performed by the county. Howard Ain answers consumer complaints weekdays on WKRC-TV Local 12. Write to
him at 12 WKRC-TV, 1906 Highland Ave., Cincinnati 45219.
You’re invited to
Celebrate Life at Sutton Grove Retirement Schedule a tour with us and enjoy a complimentary lunch in our dining room.
BUSINESS UPDATE The Anderson Area Chamber of Commerce’s monthly meeting will be 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, March 3, at the Anderson Center, 7850 Five Mile Road. Guest speaker, Rob Bunting of the I-marketing Group, will deliver “The Czar’s Speech: Online Marketing – The Good, The Bad, The Ugly.” Members and prospective members are welcome. The meeting is free; lunch is $10. RSVP to the chamber office at 474-4802 or info@andersonareachamber.org.
After Hours networking
The Anderson Area Chamber of Commerce After Hours will be 5:30-7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 8, at T.G.I. Friday’s, 7480 Beechmont Ave. The event is open to the public. Admission is $5 and includes appetizers and cash bar. To RSVP or for more information, contact the chamber at 474-4802 or info@andersonareachamber.org.
Career moves
Peggy Rilling of Anderson Township has joined Comey & Shepherd Realtors as vice president of client services in the Relocation Services Division. Rilling has more than 20 years of relocation and real estate experience and cur-
Rilling
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rently holds an Ohio real e s t a t e license. She is a graduate of Northwestern University.
Nathan Long, Ed. D., of Mt. Washington has been named president of The Christ College of Nursing and Health Sciences by the college’s board of directors. He will oversee long-term Long planning for continued development and philanthropic support of the college; ensure the college maintains certifications, accreditations and an environment supportive of higher learning; oversee all operational aspects of the college, including capital and operating budgets; and oversee student retention, recruitment and alumni relationship programs. Long has been part of The Christ College since 2004, most recently serving as interim president upon the retirement of Teresa Goodwin, R.N. He earned a Bachelor of Music at the University of Kentucky and a master’s and Doctorate of Education from the University of Cincinnati.
New officers
Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Steve Martin swore in new officers of the Lawyers’ Club of Cincinnati at the Montgomery Inn Boathouse Feb. 17. The 2011 officers are President Chuck Strain, Vice-president Darrin Nye, Secretary Jodie Drees Gan-
ote and Treasurer C. Ransom Hudson. Strain is a DUI lawyer, a frequent lecturer on traffic law, ethics, and professionalism and a member of the National College for DUI Defense. He lives in Anderson Township with his wife.
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