Moit

Friday evening was a special time for all of us who had gathered to send off good Brother Daniel (soon to be Daniel Cardinal Strickland), dear friend and favorite rockstar candidate, who's been both a riot and a blessing. It's funny how time flies in the presence of great company - seems like only a while ago when I met him after sharing my personal testimony at a prayer meeting and then later reconnected through He Cares. Like everyone in our little group, Daniel has proved himself to be a professional kaladkarin - giving us heart attacks when he gleefully wandered off on his own in Kabayan (apparently I've yet to recover from the trauma -in the wee hours of Saturday, when everyone had "crashed" for the night, I jolted awake in a panic: "Where's Daniel?! He has to get home, Father Steve will kill me!!" It took some time for me to be brought back to earth and reminded that Father Steve had in fact been by just a little earlier to jam and Daniel had gone home with him. The agony. The humiliation.) His profession as a religious has never gotten in the way of his being such a good sport, which is probably why he fit in quite well as one of "us" - through infamous '80s music all-nighters, videoke I-Will-Survive challenges, frustrated rockstar makeovers, bargain shopping expeditions, and the more serious Thursday evenings of worshipping the Lord together and sharing the faith with each other as fellow travelers on the journey home. I, for one, will miss the kilometric conversations about conversion and Christ and life and loving Him in general - but I know that is just "so long for now" and not really goodbye. Just hope that none of our crazy adventures with Daniel will stand in the way of his papal nomination - not that we did anything over-the-top of course - but I'm sure even if the Vatican investigators stumble across them, they'll realize that the future Pope Daniel I is truly one cool dude (he's already practicing his papal wave this early on). So long, Moit...I'll miss you!