In spite of the freedoms our founding fathers won for us,
their descendants, some at the cost of their own lives, in recent years that
which we considered sacred and virtually “cut in stone” seems to have eroded a
bit. One only has to consider the NSA, and their obtrusive monitoring of all
cellphone, email and social media communications.
Now there’s a whole new way to intrude into our
private lives.
Recently a Benedictine monk, Brother Joseph Byron, by
name, who works at a Rhode Island school, was sunbathing, and a pesky drone
managed to film him in pursuit of those lovely rays. (Did I mention that
Brother Joseph frequently climbs a two hundred foot high wind turbine, pops out
the trap door, spreads a blanket and lays down on the un-bordered roof of that
massive structure)?
Some media reports claimed that, upon noticing the
drone hovering in his personal space, the good priest sat up and “flipped off”
that robotic camera in the sky. (Not literally, as it was obviously beyond his
reach. We’re talking a one-fingered salute here).
However, I’ve seen the video, and there was none of
that. As his Irish compatriots might have mused, “None of that a’tall.” But when
I first heard the report of his supposed sacrilege, I was ready to look him up,
and give him a dose of Protestant sanctification. But apparently that won’t be
necessary. No, it seems my good brother is better than all that.
As the drone makes its pilgrimage to what for a few
recurring minutes, at least, becomes an ad-lib chapel in the sky, and a place
of sun and serenity, the priest ceases from examining his navel, or whatever
religious pursuit he is about, sits up, studies the identified flying object a
moment, and… waves. And as the air robot draws closer, the non-descript little
man throws both hands out in a “so what is all this all about” gesture, and
ultimately goes back to his pursuit of sun and solace.
While I have never thought of the average workaday
priest as a bastion of courage, this guy must possess a massive escroto to regularly
whip out a blanket, lie down on an unfenced platform in the sky, and risk the
possibility of
… falling asleep.
I hope he doesn’t sleep walk.
By William McDonald, PhD. Excerpt from "(Mc)Donald's Daily Diary" Vol. 5
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