Aberdeen Heights
Moments define a life By Greg Schmidt, Chaplain FEBRUARY 2022
Welcome to the Browmans David and Jane Browman recently joined our Aberdeen Heights family. The couple learned a long time ago that there’s always more than what’s on the surface. David’s work as a groundbreaking archeologist took his family to many interesting places, primarily in the highaltitude areas of South Jane and David Browman American countries Peru and Bolivia. As a doctoral student, and later as a professor, he studied the behaviors of communities that domesticated and raised alpacas. “No one had worked there before,” David said. “I was told not to be disappointed after my first season, that I might only find a few sites. We ended up with 315 sites.” The prevailing belief at the time was that residents of the area were hunter/gatherers who followed migration patterns but didn’t set up permanent settlements. David’s work revealed that even at such high altitudes, the residents were pastoral, putting down roots to farm and practice animal husbandry. “I hadn’t gone in there thinking I was looking at pastoral people,” David said. “I was thinking what kind of camp or evidence of hunting would I find. I came back and convinced my professor that they were really farmers. I contradicted my professor, and I was young enough for that to put a feather in my cap.” David published a number of works, including “Pastoral Nomadism in the
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NOTE: Each month, we feature a column from one of PMMA’s community chaplains in honor of our faith-based roots. This month, we’re featuring Greg Schmidt, chaplain for Heart & Soul Hospice in Wichita and Newton Presbyterian Manor. Have you noticed that every Hallmark movie follows the same basic algorithm? Here’s how it goes: A princess-damsel presents with some sort of professional or social dilemma. In walks a socially awkward, wannabe prince-hero who demonstrates the desire to provide support or answers. His advances are, of course, rebuffed. A second “Captain Obvious” prince-snob rises to the challenge, but in his rush to care for the princess, manifests an arrogant, superior, you-know-you-need-me spirit. While at first the princess foolishly longs for the attention of Captain Obvious, ever so slowly over the course of the movie she falls in love with Mr. Wannabe’s cute little nerdy self. They finally kiss (it never happens until the end). The rocket’s red glare engulfs the sky. And they live happily ever after in Mayberry. Or is that Whoville? My response to Hallmark’s oversimplification is best stated by Remy, the Disney character in the movie “Ratatouille” who said, “The only thing predictable about life is its unpredictability.” Real life is not simple. Or predictable. It has to be understood over the course of years,
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