Damien

Today was just a normal day until just a couple of hours ago. Then it became a pretty good day. You see, I went to a place that combined many of my loves into a single package for nothing but an hour of my not so precious time. I went to watch Damien. For Free.

I realised when I came back to my apartment that I should just tell everyone that no, I did not watch The Omen. I would not make the same mistake twice. It was a horrible movie and left me sick to my stomach because it was just a pain to behold. No, no, I went to watch a one-man play about the life of Fr. Damien of Molokai.

I think many people already know the story of Fr. Damien or to be more accurate, Blessed Damien but for those who do not then here’s the News, in brief. Damien was born and raised in Belgium and I think from what I gathered in Leuven to be more exact. Why did I include that? Because it was the birthplace of one of the loves of my life that I did not partake in tonight. Those of you who know me well know who I’m talking about. For the rest, google it…

Anyway, from Belgium, he went to do missionary work in Hawaii and while doing his pastoral work here, he noticed that the lepers in the community were expelled and forced to live on another island called Molokai. When the lepers asked the bishop for a priest to be stationed on the island on a more permanent basis, Damien volunteered. He faced much persecution from all over especially from the Department of Health but he persevered and served there for 16 years until he passed away from Leprosy.

The show was awesome. The actor was so good that I actually let myself get so immersed in the story that I could feel the emotions that Damien would have gone through during those periods of his life. That was love number 1, Theatre and good acting.

Second love, it was a great story. It was a story about heroism and sacrifice. It was a gripping account of fighting not against a disease of the skin like leprosy but a disease of the heart, discrimination. It was a story one could easily get lost in and therefore, a great story. (Side note: I was thinking about history and how it could actually be easily and maybe a little oversimply defined as His Story. Just a thought…)

Third love, cookies. After the show, the Newman Centre and the Catholic Campus Ministry gave out free chocolate chip cookies and soft ones at that, the ones I really love. Yum… If they gave milk as well I’d be uber-happy but ah whatever.

And then, God. The show talked about God’s love and had very good quotes about His love for us. Here are a few…

“Sometimes God gives us flaws to keep us humble.”

“Just trust in His prodigious Love.”

“Sometimes, people get called but for a few very lucky ones, we receive a call within a call when God tells us more specifically what He needs us to do for Him.”

I think I remembered these ones specifically because they all touched some parts of my heart. Kinda the same for most of the quotes I remember. I like quotes because they just put everything so succinctly and make you think about think you never thought of thinking off before.

Anyway, remember I said it was a free performance. Well, it was a free performance that cost me ten bucks but it was the easiest ten bucks I’ve paid for anything since I’ve gotten here. The performance was free but anyone who wanted to donate to the Damien Centre was welcome to do so. In all honesty, I did not treat it like a donation but more of a fair payment for a good show.

Upon conversion, it cost me twice as much as watching the Omen but I had an infinitely better time and so the math made perfect sense. It was well worth it.