A tale of two parties...

Last weekend I travelled from Kansas City to Seattle to see one of my favorite bands from college. Phish has come to be known as a “jam band.” Their songs, like the universe, don’t seem to have a beginning or ending. The music is fluid and often improvised. Consequently, the crowds tend toward the free spirited. Seattle is also a town that flies its freak flag with pride. Throw 20,000 Phisheads into Climate Pledge Arena on a Friday night and you have yourself a shot at transcendence, whether you partake in the Washington State legally assisted version or not. As the show entered its third and final hour it was remarkable how absent frowns were from the environment. 

The next morning I quickly returned home for a wedding of the son of a good friend of mine. The young couple grew up together in Kansas City, going to Catholic Schools and have since moved to Omaha to finish their respective medical degrees. The wedding was held at our cathedral downtown. When your children attend Catholic school in our town, these weddings are populated with old friends from big families. As weddings are sacraments in our faith, we believe the Holy Sprit is actually present to bind the couple...and it sure felt that way on Saturday. Two evenings in a row I was able to witness what has become rare today. Present moment happiness. 

"You see persons and things not as they are but as you are." - Anthony de Mello

It occurs to me the majority in attendance at each of these parties might consider the other party not a worthwhile endeavor. I didn’t see any obvious conservative Catholics bouncing around the room to Phish. Tattoos, piercings and patchouli were not witnessed at The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception either. And what a shame that is. Don’t let the algorithms tell you where you can find your holy spirit. As one famous hippie sang, “Once in a while you get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look at it right...”