What goes around...
Moore, Francis E
THE LAST WORD WHAT GOES AROUND... Francis E. Moore In my Random House computer dictionary, there are ninety-one definitions of the word turn. The closest to my story is No. 70, "a single...
...I think that your dog is killing my cat...
...The grounds are further protected with a fierce dog who barks threateningly even at someone with the nerve to pass by on the same side of the street...
...I bought into the demise of confession in those little dark boxes...
...Immediately the dog awoke from a doze, barked, and charged the wall...
...For years I have pushed for changing the liturgy to make it more meaningful to the congregation...
...Shortly thereafter the turn rotated, and box after box of cards came tumbling out...
...While they were working, their cat, Murray, leapt onto the convent wall for a stroll...
...I'm sure that there is a fine Latin name for the device, but I will call it the turn...
...70, "a single revolution, as of a wheel...
...If cloistered nuns are allowed to chuckle, I'll bet that story went the rounds...
...Some stories about the turn are worth only a chuckle...
...Helen heard the commotion and ran across the street where she confronted the turn and rang the bell...
...In the shoebox was the dead cat...
...Please rise in revolt if the Vatican tries to do away with the turn...
...But I insist that we hold the line on changing the turn...
...As you read further, you may find that definition No...
...Other stories have a more sinister turn: My friends, who for this story will be called John and Helen, live in the Boston area directly across the street from a convent of cloistered nuns...
...Please wait a moment...
...It seems that the nun thought my wife wanted a hundred boxes of cards...
...Helen said, "God be with you, too, Sister...
...The "turn" I am referring to is the device in cloistered monasteries and convents that shields the visitor from the monk or nun, but permits one to pass notes or small objects in and out...
...One fine summer day, my friend John and two of his boys were fixing the porch roof of their house that faces the convent...
...The solid brick wall of the convent is high and studded with shards of glass to discourage unwanted visitors...
...May I help you...
...I like some, but not all, of the Protestant hymns we started singing...
...Wrong move...
...Eventually my wife returned all but ten boxes, the hundred cards that she wanted...
...Back to my main point...
...It had suffered a turn, "an attack of illness or the like...
...I welcomed the use of English in the Mass...
...She heard an "Oh," then heard much shuffling behind the barrier...
...The voice said, "Yes, I believe that is true...
...She viewed the selection in the lobby, rang the bell, and asked for a hundred cards...
...I had a little trouble with "modern dance" in the aisles, but generally I am impressed with the improvements...
...I hope the following stories reveal why...
...John says that the attack was so fierce that, for a moment, he thought the dog would scale the wall, the street, and even the porch roof...
...It seems that John XXIII's aggiornamento is truly dead here...
...Francis E. "Gene" Moore, the father of eight, is a retired chemical engineer from Attleboro, Massachusetts...
...The following conversation took place: A voice said, "God be with you...
...I reveled in the use of guitars...
...Murray, who John thought was a little developmentally handicapped, but whom Helen loved, instead of leaping safely to the street, jumped into the convent yard in an attempt to escape...
...One year my wife went there for some cards...
...Then, after about four minutes, the turn rotated and delivered a shoe box to Helen...
...Stories like this need to continue to be told...
...Instantly there broke out cat squeals, more barking, and general pandemonium...
...85 is closer to the truth: "an attack of illness or the like...
...As more and more changes come about in the church, I, for one, hope that we retain the turn...
...There are some things that we should not change...
...Not too far from our home in Massachusetts is a Cistercian monastery that specializes in preserves and Christmas cards...
Vol. 122 • October 1995 • No. 17
