Part 6 – The Outskirts of Birmingham

 
The first morning in an Alabama hotel room, I’m woken by the echoing sound of a woodpecker pecking away on a tree.  (What is it with these birds early in the morning?) After getting washed and dressed, I go to grab a bite to eat at the local I-Hop. At a small table on the opposite side of the dining area is a group of five older gentlemen going through a bible study. I make a mental note that it’s not 6:30 in the morning.  (Inside joke. My Wednesday morning bible study group meets at 6:30 in the morning.... ugh!... I'm NOT a morning person.) 

From there I drive a few miles down the highway and make my way to EWTN just outside of Birmingham. As throughout portions of my trip up to that point, a certain amount of anxiety had once again taken residence. Partly due to the fact that I’m in a new environment in a distant and remote location. Partly due to a certain unsettledness about the state of things in my life at the moment, I guess.  Part of it is also the nagging remains of my introverted past that creeps up every now and then.

I arrived at EWTN in time for the 9:30 mass at the Chapel.  A sloping A-frame structure, with a modestly-sized interior – enough pews for maybe 60 or 70 people. The chapel split in half with a reredos behind the altar, behind which another set of pews (once used for the Poor Clare nuns when they were in residence, and now used for the general public on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation). The ceiling constructed of curved slats of dark wood beams following the slope of the frame. Against the back of the church are large panels of windows - depicting angels playing musical instruments etched in frosted glass. Atop the reredos, behind the altar, is a monstrance containing the Blessed Sacrament. And, once I enter the chapel, the anxiety slowly begins to melt away.

After mass I walked the grounds and spent some time by an outdoor shrine in the shape of a covered-V with an altar, a crucifix, and stained glass windows in the two walls (the place is used on occasion for outdoor ceremonies and holy rosaries). Between this place and the chapel is a railing-enclosed grotto with small angel statues amongst the greenery, flowers and jagged rock formations. While here and in the little gift shop, I had the opportunity to meet and talk with several other pilgrims visiting from Indiana (members of the Legion of Mary) and Louisiana. We talked about where we all were from, the reasons for coming on pilgrimage, the state of the Church in general and of our parishes in particular. Genuinely wonderful people.

Later, I went through a tour of the impressive yet cramped facilities where they showed you all the inner workings of the network - uplinks, downlinks, production house, editing stations, control rooms, taping rooms, archives, monitors, international feeds, graphics, sets, backdrops. On site are 9 satellite dishes of various sizes (7 of which are currently in use) - all adorned with star-shaped lightning deflectors. And the studios where many of their programs are aired or taped.

The tour guide pointed out handwritten inscriptions atop the door jams of several of the building entrances. The inscription read 20+C+M+B+06. It’s a Polish blessing from the celebration of the Epiphany at the beginning of the year. It stands for the year 2006, and in between the year are the initials of the Three Wise Men or Magi who brought gifts to the Infant Jesus (each symbol separated by the sign of the cross). And I thought of Skip (a Pole - just like our late Pope John Paul II - who was a member of my parish and my Wednesday morning men’s bible study group, and who passed away suddenly late last year).

Afterwards, I stopped by a creek on the northern edge of the property, and paused for some quiet reflection and contemplation as the stream trickled over the layers of rock. And then... the rain came.

One quick note about the weather. It’s the south. It’s springtime. So when they say “there’s a 20% chance of rain” it doesn’t mean that’s the “odds” of it raining on a particular day. It means that for 20% of the day it will rain. Sometimes quite suddenly, and quite fiercely, with thunder & lightning never experienced before. Fast moving clouds the forever shift eastward at a high clip. And the landscape is very green, tons of tall trees in these deep, jagged crags and gorges of rocky canyons.

Before the beginning of the taping of the episode, and also halfway through the taping during the break, we in the audience were able to talk with Father and ask some questions. And I was lucky enough to be one of the people to ask a question on camera in the second half of the program.  (Episode#181) After the taping, I had the chance to shake his hand and tell him how much I’ve enjoyed watching his programs.

I headed back to the hotel where I was staying, several miles down the highway, and was able to watch that exact episode aired on EWTN later that evening. It was very surreal watching myself on TV asking a question I had just got done asking only two hours earlier.