James: On the Definition of Sharing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgEMYxC0S64

"Hmmmm...what does Fr. Marvin mean when he says "share?"

Since the day we arrived at the Red House, our brother James has been fascinated with sharing. For whatever reason, the concept intrigues him and he’s spent the past year philosophizing on the various nuances of what it means to “share.” It all started way back at the beginning of the year when Fr. Marvin asked him, “Why didn’t you share at Interlaken?” Interlaken was the location of our CCV orientation retreat and James’ mind went immediately to that box of popsicles he had been munching on that was left over in the freezer. 

“I would have shared! I didn’t think anybody wanted any popsicles!”

“No, not that. You didn’t share any affirmations after people gave their spiritual witness.”

"My prodigal son: don't you know how many physical objects
I have and am willing to share with you?"

Now this seemed like an inappropriate use of the term to our friend James. How can someone share a thought or a feeling like that? It’s not a physical object. There can be no hand to hand exchange of an affirmation. And thus sharing was defined by Mr. James LaGrutta as a verb that only takes a physical object.

But the clarification didn’t stop with the definition, because as physical objects (namely food) came into the house, James frequently asked for clarification as to whether or not they were to share. At first this would seem like a sort of obvious question. As Cap Corps Volunteers, we get a weekly food stipend with which we buy all of our food. Of course it’s to share! But we as well as James soon learned, it’s not quite as simple as that.

James and Lindsay competing in the doughnut race at
Family Festiva

You see, James has a second hobby besides delineating the metaphysical properties of what it means to share: he loves to eat. Now I too love to eat and so what follows is meant only as praise, but food just seems to disappear in James’ presence. For instance, early on during the year someone asked to pass a dish. There was a significant amount of food left, but unfortunately for that dish, it passed by James first and it all but disappeared.

Or at times, an unsuspecting CCV would come late in the evening with food for an event. “It will only be in here until tomorrow,” they think to themselves. “The odds of somebody craving cupcakes at 3 AM are slim, so they should be safe.” Perhaps this would be true for an ordinary person, but as we have seen, our brother James has an extraordinarily healthy appetite. Thus James, so often being the first discoverer of new food in the house, has taken to the habit of always asking, “Is this to share?”

We have learned a lot about sharing from James in the course of the last year. Most of all we are so grateful that he’s shared his time with us (even though that’s not in itself a physical object. Hmmmm…) Thank you for your constancy in suggesting and leading the rosary every morning on the car ride into CYFM. Thank you for your sense of humor. (No one else could keep us laughing at so many running jokes.) Thank you (thank you, thank you, thank you) for being another guy in the Red House. You’re not a physical object, but thank you for sharing yourself with us this year. 

Odunde, James!
http://www.storycrafters.com/Pages/odunday.mp3