seeing God in the Other

These days I am reading a book called “Thomas Merton’s Gethsemani Landscapes of Paradise”

These words by Thomas Merton struck me, His love of nature is like St. Francis of Assisi … He is a true Franciscan…

In the sacramental vision of reality, each bird, each frog---and Merton himself--- was continually created; moment to moment each creature was loved into being by a God who is intimately present to each speciesAnd each individual in that species. Merton understood that each creature reveals the immanence of God. Each creature is God coming to us. Each day is an experience of Advent. Making straight the way of the lord, building a highway in the desert is not for the purpose of going to God.We can’t “get to God” for God is too great, too transcendent, God must come to us. God has and God does. God is continually revealing God’s self in the world around us. God’s fullness is present in the person of Jesus, and in God’s overflowing love expressed in each creature. God is not Deus absconditus but Deus imtimus, a God who Saint Augustine said , is more intimate to me than I am to myself, a God longing to be discovered as the very Ground of my being.This is what I want to share with you today for a reflection my dear brother. And I would like to know what are your own true feelings on this that is written by the famous Contemplative Trappist monk Thomas Merton.

It is in this honest sharing with each other that we truly grow as brothers in service to others in the classroom or in our community as well as with our intimate friends. Would you agree with me on this?
your brother in Cochabamba, Bolivia.
Frank

leaving Chile

I took this photo of the window of the plane that looks out at the airport of Santiago, Chile. I was returning to Cochabamba, Bolivia. Little did I realize that there would be a strong earthquake in this country which did damage to the airport in Chile as well as in many cities especially Talcahuano and Concepcion.

So ends my memories of this beautiful country called Chile, where i had spent 25 years of my life.

Main Plaza in Santiago, Chile

Here is a photo of the main plaza in Santiago, Chile. You can see the Cathedral in the background.

The Cathedral of Santiago

Here is a photo of the Cathderal in Santigo, Chile.

Our Lady of Chile

In the small chapel in the Cathedral is Our Lady of Chile. She is the General of the military forces in Chile.

in the back yard of our Santiago house

The Maryknollers in Santiago, left to right, Dale Barron, myself, Fred Hegarity and Larry Schanberger. John Nitsch is missing from the photo.

Maryknoll house in Santiago, Chile

This is a photo of our Maryknoll house in Santiago, Chile We had other houses on the property but were sold due to small number of Maryknollers now living in Chile.

sunset over the Pacific

This sunset over the Pacific was taken from the Summer house of John Nitsch which is a couple of hours or less from Curico.

Catholic University in Curico

This is a photo of the front entrance of the Catholic University in Curico. The photo was taken last January 2010 and the University was closed for Summer vacation.

Bro. John Nitch and Frank Dolphin

Here I am in front of our Maryknoll Brothers house in Curico, Chile with Bro. John Nitsch who still lives there. This photo was taken when I was getting ready to return to Santiago, Chile.

In Curico, the majority of the workers are involved in harvesting the fruit for export to countries worldwide and also for grapes which produces excellent Chilean wines.

At this residence their were three of us at the beginnine, John Nitsch, Joseph Bruener and myself.

John and joe were involved in pastoral work and I was involved in setting up the English Department for the Catholic university. I was there until 1997 when I was assigned to work on Development for the Society of Maryknoll in Denver, Colorado

Port of Talcahuano

Here is a photo of the Port of Talcahuano with the seals and the fishing boats as well as the city in the background.
When I saw the city of Talcahuano this time last January. I had found that
there were not many changes since the time that I was there. 15 years in this area before going to the University Austral in Valdiviam which was several hours south of Talcahuano.

I was in Valdivia with Father Fred Allen for six years. This was at the request of the Bishop of Valdivia. We had our own house but before our own house we lived with the Franciscan Capuchin priests for about a year.

After six years in Valdivia I then went to Curico, Chile to teach at the Catholic University with the setting up of the English Department for workers of the Fruit and Wine industries in the area.

the dancers

Here is another photo of the dancers with the pigeons eating kernals of corn. Getting ready for the Fiestas Patrias in September when Bolivia celebrates 200 yeas of independence from Spain.

dancing in the main plaza July 5th, 2010

This morning to my surprise when I was walking through the main plaza of Cochabamba, I noticed that a lot of people were watching something that was going on. So out of courtesy I also checked and I saw that some filming was going on of these Bolivian dancers in the traditional dress of Cochabamba. So I took these pictures. I believe that filming is for this coming September .

monument to the workers at Huachipato

In the park out side our house and parish school and church was a monument to the workers who worked in the steel factory which was called Huachipato.
The majority of the people worked in the factory as well as at the nearby Navy base.

After the take over by the military, the Army. One of my Japanese friends came down to visit me. I first met Ken at Maryknoll when he and other Japanese people came from Japan for a visit and to study English.

He came down for a visit during this difficult time in Chile under the military rule of Pinochet.
I remember we had gone out for some sightseeing in the area and came back late to the parish house . The time was around 7 p.m. and it was the time of the curfew. The Navy police were nearby and picked us up and had us lay down face down in the truck. We were driven to the Police Station which was near by. We spent the night in the police station because no one would answer the phone until the following morning. Fortunately Ken didn't know any Spanish and I had to tell him to be quiet in English. He was not too happy about the situation.

Finally one of the priests came from the house to pick us up and we drove back which was less than a three minute ride. Afterwards, the navy personnel that picked us up apologized for picking us up. In fact the young navy man lived right across the street from the church.

It was a time also that the military would be present in the back of the church during Mass to listen what we foreigners "Americans" would have to say in the homily, if there would be something said against the military government. .

My Japanese friend ken then traveled to other parts of Southern Chile. I then saw him off by bus from Temuco for Argentina. He was also writing a diary about his trip throughout South America.

a tribute to Maryknoll missioners

This monument is in dedication to the Maryknoll Missioners, Priests, Brothers and Sisters who have worked in La Asuncion parish, elementary, high school and the House of Prayer
in Las Higueras. I was there for 15 years before going to Valdivia with Father Fred Allento be involved in teaching English as a Second language at the University Austral and also student ministry at the technical college as well.

Patty

Patty Gonzalez with her husband and daughter. Patty and her husband are at the University of Concepcion in Concepcion, Chile

tito jr

Tito Jr with his daughter and grandson at his parents house in Talcahuano..

Juan Carlos

Juan Carlos Gonzalez with a toast of Chilean wine. He is the father of two sons with his wife Patty.

july 4th at 64 Walnut streett

Today is July 4th in the United States. It is at this our family home on 64 Walnut Street that we had many cookout to celebrate this day, the day of Independence of the United States.
Mom would prepare steaks, potatoe salads and other tasty food for this day for the entire family to enjoy. We thank Mom and Dad for everything.

The Gonzalez Family

In the Maryknoll parish of La Asuncion, the parishioners thought that we Maryknollers priests , Brothers and Sisters would leave and go back to the United States during these difficult times in Chile.

In fact their was a sign by the Concepcion airpot, "Yankees Go Home"... but we never did.
The Chilean people were very kind to us an couldn't do enough for us. They try to make us feel at home during these difficult times..

The photo above is ot the Gonzalez family in Villa San Martin. The Mother Sra. Carmen would invite me over to her home many times and I became a son of the family. She and Tito her husband have four children, Juan Carlos, Patty, Tito Jr and Paola. They are all married and have their own families.

I visited them last January and they thought that I would never return to Chile. Actually i had the same thoughts in my mind that I would not return as well.
But I was taken by surprise at all the changes that have taken place within the country since I left there in 1986.

My own parents came down to see me in Talcahuano and this family was a wonderful host to them even though my parents didn't know a word of Spanish.

Salvador Allende

Here is a monument to Salvador Allende at the Presidntial Palace of the Moneda.
The overthrow of the government was during the time of President Nixon and the Secretary of State Kissinger.
The United States was afraid of the spread of Socialism or Communism throughout Latin America in 1973..

Moneda in Santiago, Chile

This picture of me at the Moneda in chile was taken by a visitor also to the Presidential palace of Chile last January 2010.
In September 11th, 1973, this was occupied by the Socialist President Salvadore Allende.
There were a lot of problems in the country with strikes and people were not contented.
Food was also scarce as well.

The Presiedential palace was bombed around 8 in the morning. I at the time of this event was at our parish La Asuncion in Talcahuano.
I was asked by Father Manuel Mejia to go and pick up our cook. who lived in Huanpencillo
which was our neighboring Maryknoll parish of San Miguel (St. Michael) Father Richarfd Smith was in charged of the parish at the time.

At this time I had a very nice black beard which was closely cut and some people thought I looked like the famous Russian author Alexander Solzhenitsyn. In fact the Director of the North America language school in Concepcion, Chile thought I was a spy for the United States Government which I was not. I was teaching English as a second language there as well as at our own school of La Asuncion and also for workers at the American factory called Amoco which made steel ball bearings.

Well anyway, getting back to this adventure on traveling on September 11th to pick up our house cook, after being stopped many times on the road. I had to get out put my hands on top of the truck and give them my name and identifiction number. Everyone carries a card with name and number for identificatioin, here in Bolivia as well. It is like a license or a Social security card.

When I finally reached the apartment of Maria, she told me that there was a military take over by the Army general Pinochet. She would not be returning with me.
So she went with me to our parish house of San Miguel. I was deeply shaken at the time and I spent sometime in the bathroom. As you can imagine I was a nervous wreck.

Finally Father Manuel Mejia came by another road to pick me up and to bring me back to the parish La Asuncion.
On the television and radio the new Military government which was a dictatorship gave a list of restrictions that had to be observed by everyone.

The military even came to our school and told all the teaching staff on what we could teach and not to teach. There was a complete change.

I remember being in Concepcion, the city next to Talcahuano and all types of items that were missiing showed up in trucks, meat, toilet paper, soap, cigarettes and many other items suddenly appeared. It was amazing how so much was kept out of existence. Creating a lot of problems for the people at the time with these ratiions of food and supplies.

However there was also a curfew as well which was retrictions of movment at night. You had to get special permission to travel at night by the military or the police. And a light had to be kept on in the car.

to be continued..

The Navy Port in Talcahuano, Chile

Here is a photo of the Chilean Navy port in Talcahuano, Chile, that I had taken this photo last January 2010.

It is one of the best harbors along the Chilean coast. Talcahuano is and important navy base. It has a large fishing industry, and fish are canned and exported. It also has extensive dry- dock facilities, metallurgical plants and petroleum refineries, and it handles the exporting of the agriculture products of the interior.

Anchored on Talcahuano harbor is the Peruvian warship "Huasca", whose capture decisively established Chilean naval supremacy during the war of the Pacific (1875).

A lot of children from the navy families attended the La Asuncion school in La Higueras.

This area was under tight control by the navy when the military take over of the Moneda, the palace of the President Allende on September 11, 1973 in Santiago, Chile with the bombing of the Moneda, early that morning.

A very sad day for Chile and a day that I presonally will never forget.

Can it be

can it be?

can it be?
have I for so longforgotten to feed myself?
yes.for nigh a year now
I was slowly starving.getting lost in busy days,tossing aside the hungerthat chewed away inside.
yet, I did not die.by some quiet miracle
I made it to this momentof truth:
I nearly starved to death.
it was not my bodythat I failed to feed.i
it was my spirit,left alone for dayswithout nourishment or care.
and then one day
I paused to look within,shocked at what I found:
so thin of faith,so weak in understanding,so needy of encouragement.
my starving spirit cried the truth:
I can! I will!
I mustbe fed!

main altar

This is the main altar of the La Asincion Church.
The Church, Rectory and School complex was built by Maryknoll.

La Asuncion Church

The parish church of La Asuncion. It was the main chapel although we did have some other amall chapels in the parish to accomodate the large numher of prishioners.
Above the door you can see a triangle which is the Holy Spirit. This triangle was made by me and it was about the main altar. It is a custom in Maryknoll to have the Holy Spirit over the altar.