4
Editorial
The Message -- for Catholics of Southwestern Indiana
September 18, 1987
r
By PAUL
LEINGANG
Message Editor
Amateur mistakes and
reflections on ordinary times
I bought the wrong paper cups the other day.
If you have ever made such a mistake in your life,
you will recognize immediately what a burden it
places on your psyche.
We were preparing for a gathering of several
families at our house, with a range of guests from
infants to grandparents. Preparations for such an
occasion are more difficult when the host family is
relatively new to the area, without the accumula-
tions of stuff a long established family always
seems to have.
Buying the wrong paper cups was not the only
mistake I ever made in life. It was not even the on-
ly mistake I made that day. It was the most signifi-
cant mistake of the moment, maybe even the most
important new mistake of the week.
I bought the wrong containers full of soft
drinks, too -- plastic bottles instead of aluminum
cans. Not as significant as buying the wrong cups,
but pretty serious.
When you think about making mistakes
significant, important mistakes -- you may well
skip over the ordinary kind I am writing about. Ex-
cuse me for saying it, but if that is what you are
thinking, you are mistaken.
Significant, important mistakes do not have to
be running the wrong way in the football game,
using salt instead of sugar in the recipe, flying the
plane to the wrong airport, or arresting the victim
of a crime. Even taking the wrong exit on the
freeway and driving 37 miles to the next exit and
37 miles back to the correct interchange -- as
powerful a mistake as that may be -- does not
qualify as a truly significant and important
mistake.
Buying the wrong paper cups tops the list,
because I knew they were wrong when I bought
them. I would never have bought small, wax-
coated paper cups for use by several families. I
knew kids could crush them in a fraction of a se-
cond. I feared grown-ups would have to refill the
cups after a few swallows.
The printed design on the sides of the cups
matched the printed design on the paper plates we
planned to use, but that was not my reason for
making my significant, important mistake. My
mistake was made because of a significantly er-
roneous presumption. I presumed my wife would
want to have paper cups matching the paper
plates.
My mistake was the presumption. And not on-
ly the presumption, but the abandonment of all
thought of my own. With full knowledge that what
I was doing was buying the wrong thing, I bought
the wrong thing.
Buying the wrong cups, in the circumstances I
described, is not very different from all other
mistakes of prejudging people. Examples are easy,
and I am sure you can add to the list:
-- I know what the pope is going to say and I
disagree; I am just not going to listen.
-- I know that my child breaks things, and since
this thing is broken, I know who did it.
-- I know mom always liked you better than me.
Abandoning all thoughtful responsibility and
buying the wrong cups anyway is the same as a
thousand other mistakes on another list:
-- I know I am driving too fast, but they expect us
to be on time.
-- I know I should not have another drink, but the
bar is still open, so it is what is expected.
-- I know I should do my homework, but nobody
told me to.
It may be a mistake to try to wring any more
meaning out of the simple and ordinary event,
temporary stupidity of buying the wrong paper
cups. It would be a greater mistake to ignore it.
Ignoring mistakes is probably good enough for
the competition in "Mistake of the Month." It
takes a real pro to get into such a league, and I am
still an amateur.
Washington Letter
Nicaragua: Reagan, the pope and determiningpolicy
By LIZ SCHEVTCHUK
NC News Service
MIAMI (NC) -- When Presi-
dent Reagan and Pope John
Paul 1I met Sept. 10 at the Viz-
caya estate in Miami, one of the
things on the president's mind
was his opposition to
Nicaragua's Sandinista govern-
ment.
A Reagan administration of-
ficial, briefing reporters after
the meeting, said the president
used "discreet diplomatic
language" to appeal for the
pope's help in pressuring
Nicaragua to make democratic
reforms.
And in Washington,
Secretary of State George Shultz
was telling Congress the same
day that Reagan plans to ask for
another $270 million in new
military and other aid for the
contras fighting the Nicaraguan
government.
Though Reagan apparently
did not attempt to enlist the
pope in his campaign to con-
tinue funding the contras, his
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determination on the issue may
be unmatched -- unless one
looks at the determination from
the other side of the issue by the
U.S. bishops.
Just as Reagan has consistent-
ly sought military support for
the contras, the bishops have
rejected military aid, terming it
"immoral" and "illegal."
In a late summer legislative
alert to its diocesan constituen-
cy, the u.s. Catholic Con-
ference noted it "has repeatedly
opposed the ill-conceived
policy of waging undeclared
war against Nicaragua through
the funding, arming and train-
ing of the contra forces."
The USCC is the public
policy arm of the U.S. bishops.
"The policy has clearly
violated laws and treaty obliga-
tions -- and thus can be termed
illegal -- and fails on most
criteria required to justify arm-
ed aggression -- and can thus
be termed immoral," said the
USCC.
SUCH STRONG language is
not new. In 1985, the bishops,
represented by Archbishop
James A. Hickey of
Washington, told Congress that
"direct military aid to any force
attempting to overthrow a
government with which we are
not at war and with which we
maintain diplomatic relations is
illegal and in our judgment im-
moral and therefore cannot
merit our support."
Reagan, meanwhile, has
sounded just as emphatic over
the last several years.
"As you know, I am totally
committed to the democratic
resistance -- the freedom
fighters -- and their pursuit of
democracy in Nicaragua," he
said in a major policy address
Aug. 12.
Congress has gone both ways,
at one point forbidding such
assistance, only to turn around
later and authorize it.
Now, as business resumes in
September on both Capitol Hill
and at the White House after
summer recesses, the centre aid
issue is back again.
This time, however, the late
summer appearance of a Central
American peace plan adds new
questions to the old debate.
On Aug. 7, leaders of five
Central American nations, in-
cluding Nicaragua, agreed to a
peace plan that calls for an end
to U.S. aid to the contras, a
cease-fire by Nov. 7, and
democratic reforms by the
Nicaraguan Sandinista govern-
ment, which has been criticized•
by U,S. church officials and
others for human rights viola-
tions.
The contras likewise have
been criticized for human rights
violations.
Like their Central American
counterparts, the U.S. bishops
have called for "political,
negotiated settlements of the
conflicts" in Central America.
"Continued U.S. fueling of the
contra aggression frustrates and
may doom such efforts," the
USCC summer alert stated.
Meanwhile, the fiscal 1987
allocation of $100 million for
the contras is scheduled to run
out by the end of September.
Initially, the White House
had requested some $105
million in support for the con-
tras in fiscal 1988, which
begins Oct. 1. But in mid-
summer the Reagan administra-
tion announced it might seek as
much as $140 million, to be
provided over an 18-month
period.
Conservatives, however,
want the president to increase
the contra aid proposal to $310
million.
Reagan, who had earlier said
he welcomed the five-nation
Central American peace plan --
as long as it is "consistent with
our national interests and our
commitment to those fighting
for freedom in Nicaragua" --
promised to not abandon the
contras in another address two
days before meeting the pope in
Miami.
"If the recent peace agree-
ment does not work, let's
resolve that they will be able to
count on our continuing
assistance until Nicaragua is a
genuine democracy," he said
that day. "We will not accept a
mere semblance of democracy.
Let's be clear about one thing:
We will not abandon our
friends in Nicaragua."
Letter to the editor i
EWTN and local cable TV
To the editor:
All readers of the Message
should be informed about a
campaign in the Wabash
Cablevision area. All local
parishes have been working to
try to add EWTN to the list of
local cable TV programming.
Eternal Word Television Net-
work is available to the cable
company at no cost, so that it
can be offered to basic cable
subscribers at no extra cost.
EWTN's foundrass is Mother
Angelica, a Poor Clare nun from
Cleveland who built a
monastery to fulfill a vow she
made when a severe fall
threatened her with never being
able to walk again. Mother
Angelica walks with a brace
now, and the monastery has
been built at Birmingham, Ala.
She has also built a network of
quality television programming
available to cable viewers
nationwide.
Since Sept. 1, EWTN is a
24-hour a day source of infor-
mative and wholesome televi-
sion: Scripture Scholars, family
theater, teen music and more.
There is 'Mother Angelica
Live," a question and answer
program with telephone com-
mments from all over the
country.
The Pope's visit to the United
States is being covered live,
morning, afternoon and even-
ing, on EWTN -- significant
coverage of a religious event
with modern television satellite
technology.
Wabash Cablevision has just
expanded its basic cable ser-
vice, but EWTN was not made
available to the thousands of
Catholics in Knox, Daviess,
Lawrence and neighboring
counties. I hope and pray that
EWTN will be added, at the
next possible opportunity, by
Wabash Cablevision and by
every cable company in Indiana
and in the nation.
God bless us with EWTN
viewing.
Patricia Traylor,
Vincennes, IN
