cardboard

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Cardboard is really an amazing thing. Forgive as I reveal my ignorance here, but it seems that it is just three pieces of thick paper, with the center piece corrugated and clued in between the other two. Make some simple origami folds with overlapping lids, and suddenly you have the ability to contain everything you own. Once it is contained, you can put it in a bigger container on a truck and haul it anywhere. For a time, everything is hidden.

When we went to the moving company to pick up "boxes," they instead gave us what they call "cartons." I stand corrected. We got way too many wardrobe cartons, and got pretty creative with how we filled those. We supplemented with empty copy paper cartons and liquor cartons. We got here, with lots of help. 

We did a half pack for this move to Port Aransas. We asked the professionals to pack our more breakable items (crystal, tv, that ceramic pot I made in high school, etc.), and we packed clothes, books, tools, etc. We did our best to label the cartons so that we would immediately know what was hidden inside. I tried my best not to label things "MISC.", but I did. Oops. We will be unpacking for a few more weeks. Opening some cartons is like Christmas: "Oh yeah! I forgot about this." Opening other cartons is just boring.

The whole experience is sacramental. If sacraments are outward and visible signs of the inward and spiritual, then this has been sacramental.  Moving: packing, unpacking, considering, reconsidering, cleaning out, arranging, becoming frustrated, and discovering. These cartons represent this liminal time.

I am opening up a new life in a new place. I am sorting through my experiences at the Cathedral, seminary, St. Mary's, and St. Mark's.  And more than those: Camp Allen, Silsbee, San Marcos, Camp Capers. All of my life experiences in so many communities are becoming these cartons that I open, if only I've labeled them right. I am rediscovering (like Christmas) things about being a priest in a community, and remembering that some things are boring, but still important.

Our things are expressions of who we are. They are not who we are, but they can represent us to varying degrees. Right now, as I enter a new community, I've been choosing which cartons to open when. Which carton is right. Where was that experience. It will take a while to unpack everything, as it should. Opening all the cartons at once just leaves a huge mess. So, I'll be reading, peeking in, considering what is needed next. Cardboard is an amazing thing.

Comments

  1. Linda AstalaSeptember 11, 2012 at 2:44 PM

    Excellent, James+. I find that the older I've grown, the more I heed the advice to reduce, recycle, and repurpose. As I've opened my cartons, cardboard and metaphorical, I've found the need to keep a few things, repack others in different cartons, and put many in the carton labeled "discard." Of course, those expressions of who we are never really get discarded but God perhaps repurposes them. I still have some cartons to unpack, but I know nothing will have been, is, or will be wasted. You are fortunate to learn early on that this process can't be rushed. I look forward to your next wise post!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Father SnortSeptember 11, 2012 at 8:46 PM

    Thanks James - trying not to open everything at once in Bay City, and reading your story helped. Thanks for the reminder to see the sacraments all around me and to slow down enough to enjoy Jesus in this new adventure.

    ReplyDelete

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