Cardboard Box. Part 1 and 2

Cardboard box is finally complete! I am happy to announce. It took about 15 hours of work to make this and I hope you enjoy it!

I merged the first post with the second for easier reading.

[Part 1]
A box came in the mail. What was inside it, is irrelevant. What matters, is that this was a large box. This was a strong box. This box was stronger than any box I have ever seen. It was amazing. I took the box as my own.

The box was all I needed. I used it as a tool, and a toy.

It was great for a wagon. You could put stuff inside it and drag it around.

It was also good for making you nearly invisible. All you had to do, was sit under it while its upside down. You then look like an ordinary box! Its a great get away.

The pros of a strong, sturdy cardboard box where unending.

One day, I was outside on a windy day walking with my box when it got blown out of my hands. I panicked and ran after the box as fast as my feet could carry me. The wind was too fast. Would I lose my box? Is this the end?

It is the end. The box was headed straight for the pond. It would then get wet and be ruined if I could even get it from shore.

It hit the water, and stayed there. In the middle of the pond. It was now wet enough not to blow around. Its only a matter of seconds before it sinks to the bottom of the pond. THIS IS THE END.

Wait, its not sinking yet.

Amazing! It floats! it actually floats! Huzzah! The box will survive and the world will be right!

Unfortunately the wind stopped, and it is now stuck in the middle of the pond.

[Part 2]
After throwing rocks at it, I decided that I needed a better plan. I got some string, and tied it around a rock. I threw the rock, but it was too small and didn't make it to the box.
I reeled in the smaller rock, and replaced it with a bigger one.
Still too light.

I then tried using a big rock, but that was too heavy to throw.

The rock thing isn't working out too well.

Then, I had a brain breaking slamma-jeamma. I ran back to the house and found a fishing rod. I returned to the pond and cast out the line, attempting to snag the box with the hook and reel it in. I missed three times. The third time I reeled it in, something amazing happened. There was a fish on the hook! How did I catch a fish!? What a stupid creature.

I then had another problem. Along with having my precious box in the middle of the pond, there was a fish biting the hook. And I didn't know how to remove it.

My first idea was to shake it off.

But that didn't work.

Next, I tried to lure it off with fruit snacks i had in my pocket.

That didn't work.

I had to revert to begging the fish to let go of the hook.
When that didn't work, I was forced to revert to drastic measures.

I laid the fish on the ground and marched off to find the biggest rock I could carry.

After finding the perfect rock, I returned to the fist, with the rock in my hands and told the fish.

"Let go of the hook, or I will make you."

After waiting for 32 seconds, I lifted the rock high, gaped at the fish.

After nothing happened, I brought the rock down.

Still nothing. This is one tough fish. I continued to beat for a while. I then grabbed the pole, and yanked a few times, then the hook came out. Thank you Mr fishy.

I threw the hook out twice more before finally hitting my target. I pulled steadily until the box touched the shore.

I dragged the box onto dry land, and then had a great idea. I ran back inside, leaving the box there. Inside, I grabbed a backpack. I put inside a sandwich, water, Band aids, matches, and gum. I ran back to my beloved box, and pushed it into the water.

After it was in the water, I hoped in.

It didn't sink, and only took in minimal water. The boat floated towards the center of the pond, and it was awesome. Once it reached the center, it stopped.

I was in my box, on the pond, with food, water, and band aids.

AWESOME.

After getting over my giddiness, I decided that I was hungry. I opened up the backpack, and produced a PB&J sandwich. I began to munch on it until i gobbled it all up.

Problem. - Hands are sticky. Face is sticky.

I used my water to wash my hands and my face. Which made them nice and clean. The only problem was that I used up all of my clean water. I also figured out that I was extremely thirsty after that peanut buttery sandwich. This is also a problem.

I contemplated drinking water from the pond. But then I realized that there where fish in there. And the fish poo in that water. No way I'm drinking that stuff.

I needed to get to shore. I needed a paddle.

I tried using the water bottle,

but that didn't work.

I could swim it, but then i would have to get wet. And that's not normal water. That's poo water.

I was going through my options, and I didn't have many. I decided I needed to calm down and look through my resources. I set my backpack on the cardboard floor, and emptied the contents. Band aids, Little plastic sandwich bag, water bottle, gum.

None of those things could work as a paddle. I made sure nothing else was in my backpack, when I felt this hard thing at the bottom of the backpack. It was the plastic thing to keep the backpack lined right. This would do fine! I pulled it out, reached over the edge of the box and started to paddle. Paddle paddle paddle paddle........
I'm spinning in circles... Oh no. I'm stuck.

The paddling wasn't doing anything but spinning me in circles! How could this happen!?

I am going to die out here. DIE.

The sun was high in the air and I was burning up. With no clean water, I was surely going to die withing hours. Maybe even minuets.

All I could do was feel sorry for myself.

Trapped. Surrounded by poo water, and dying of thirst.

After what felt like forever, I stood up to see if there where any people that I could call for help.

Oh, I must have drifted off to the side.

At last! dry land! No more poo water, no more thirst.

I then grabbed the soggy box that kept me alive, and dragged it wagon style back to the house, and drank until I was full.

A (very) short essay.

As part of my application to the Diocese for Sponsorship in a Program of Priestly Formation (seminary), I had to write a short essay on what the priesthood means to me. Here it is for your reading:

What does the priesthood mean to me?

      I once had to teach a few small children about the Sacrament of Reconciliation. In the analogy I used, priests were represented by mechanics. Mechanics who were hand-picked by the Ultimate Mechanic to be His workers. A Mechanic can’t do anything without the proper tools, parts, and above all knowledge. In the analogy, the mechanics received all the tools, parts, and knowhow from the Ultimate Mechanic, God Himself!

      I want to focus on the meaning of the word Priest. In our society, the supernatural aspect of the word “Priest” has been dimmed by centuries of common use. A Priest, by definition, is someone who stands between the people and their God. Who intercedes and offers sacrifice on their behalf. He is a bridge between Heaven and Earth. The fact that a priest’s primary responsibility and privilege is to offer sacrifice to the Lord cannot be overemphasized!

      In the Old Testament, Yahweh’s priests (priests of the Old Covenant) offered Him burnt offerings of animals: bulls, rams, goats, sheep, and lambs. Their priesthood could be considered a one-way road; they offered things to God, but (though God did bless His people abundantly) there was no flow through them from God to His people.

      In the Priesthood of Jesus Christ (or, the Priesthood of the New and Everlasting Covenant), it is very truly a two-way highway. The priest still offers Sacrifice to the Father (now the word is capitalized because of the supreme dignity of the sacrifice our priests offer), but now God also uses them directly and definitively to pour out His gifts to his people. Through the Sacraments, we are blessed so abundantly. The power of the Holy Spirit is made available everyday to strengthen and support God’s Church.

      Because of his extraordinary calling, a priest must be an example of total commitment to God and His Kingdom. As Pope Benedict has said, “The priesthood is a transfer of ownership, a being taken out of the world and given to God.” By virtue of his gift of direct interaction (through the Sacraments) with Heaven, he must be (far beyond detachment from the temptations of this world) an Alter Christus. Imitating Christ in His example of true love, he must give his entire self (emphasis on entire) to God for his neighbor, first, for the sake of God, His Kingdom, and the priest’s salvation, and secondarily, as an example of Christian Life for the laity to follow.

      There are many other aspects of priesthood which are (obviously) important, but we must remember their first and most important task is to offer sacrifice to God. We must remember this before we even consider the others because all the others depend on this sacrifice. We are an ecclesia de Eucharistia! The Sacrifice that is offered again and again to the Father in a stream of unending love is the “source and summit of Christian Life,“ (CCC 1324). Without priests, there is no Eucharist, and without the Eucharist, there is no Church.

      The world needs God—not just any god but the God of Jesus Christ, the God who made Himself flesh and blood, who loved us to the point of dying for us, who rose and created within Himself room for man. This God must live in us and we in Him. This is our priestly call: only in this way can our action as priests bear fruit.
Pope Benedict XVI