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What if…
UPDATE:
I am bumping this back to the top.
I was just watching some news coverage of the fires burning in California.
A woman interviewed, said they were given 5 minutes warning before being evacuated.
She said: "I have no more pictures of my son as a baby any more. They’re just memories now."
Several people who live… or lived… in that area have written to say that this entry was actually somewhat useful to them.
Lord, what a horrible and wonderful thought.
Back to the original entry.
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I am looking around at my things.
I have literally thousands of books.
I have various amazing ecclesiastical objet.
Photographs.
Small souveniers.
CDs. DVDs.
Lots of electronic stuff.
Art.
If you had to leave where you are in, say, 12 hours, what would you take? [Make it a few minutes…]
Realistically,
What would you take?
12 hours… [Make it a few minutes…]
You can take only what you can carry.
They are coming for you.
Block by block.
I.D. checks.
Are you Catholic?
Think about weather… transport… distances… ... ... .... hostility.
What would you take?
You might be very pious in this moment. But…
On your way out the gaping door… do you grab something? A photo? A nicknak?
Your … baseball bat?
Your… volume of Shakespeare’s Sonnets?
You have seen films of carts with lamps, and chairs.
Clarify your thinking.
Something v. rare and important… Hmmm…
Yes, Les oeuvres de Cardinal Pie de Poitier would be one thing, anyway.
Viva Cristo Rey !
Comment by Fr. Paul McDonald — 7 October 2007 @ 11:46 pmNo… really…
Comment by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf — 7 October 2007 @ 11:51 pmTwo things only: my rosary (it was my father’s, and the crucifix opens to reveal a tiny relic of the True Cross) and a small relic of the Little Flower in a locket that could be hung on a little chain around one’s neck.
Comment by Tadhg Seamus — 8 October 2007 @ 12:20 amMy four children, and wife, three rifles and pistol, ammunition, water, food….
... and… my Douay-Rheims pocket bible, and my missal.
I would take those things in THAT order.
I can count the rosary on my fingers.
Comment by Papabile — 8 October 2007 @ 12:39 amI assume here we are talking about pure religious persecution and this is a “to the hills”.
You take what you need to rebuild. You take only what can be carried. You use part of your 12 hours to hide stuff that you can come back for, or somebody else could get.
**Load as much of your electronic documents onto a 4MB flash drive that has an OS installed on it so you can boot from a public computer without storing data on that computer. Your hard drive must then be physically destroyed. The best way is to stick the HD in the microwave and let the electric arcs destroy the magnetic surface. Also be sure to destroy all address books that are posted on the Internet.
Stuff for rebuilding the faith.
1. The Christian Faith in the Doctrinal Documents of the Catholic Church, Dupuis
2. Church history book.
3. My small crucifix.
4. book on philosophy
5. Pocket Ref by Thomas J. Glover (depends on what exactly is happening – it is not needed if society is still going to be around and we are not going to hide in the hills for a really long time).
6. Small Lauds and Vespers prayer book for myself.
Monetary Goods.
Depends on what is happening.
1. Get as much money in cash as possible.
Or
2.Load up on trade goods (salt, spices, small but useful parts and tools (hardened nails hammer etc))
Cloths
Take only what is durable and has a tight weave. Don’t take much, take what can be abused and washed over and over.
Food.
Take part of the 12 hours to make rather dense bread that wont spoil.
Cheese.
Anything that has seeds, take the seeds. Take a potato or two and an onion for growing.
Bag of rice (small)
Bag of potato flakes. (small)
Jar of butternut (protein)
Etc.
*Some heavy rope.
*Matches
*Knives (pocket and hunting)
*Canteen and mess kit.
*Pens and Paper
Whatever else can be crammed in of utility.
Load everything in and on to a framed backpack with light tent.
Make plans on where to meet with the others that are running.
Basicaly I want to be carrying what I could do a good jog or brisk walk with.
Head for the hills!
Comment by Lurker #59 — 8 October 2007 @ 12:59 amthat was supposed to be peanut butter….how does spell check switch it to butternut????
Comment by Lurker #59 — 8 October 2007 @ 1:06 amMy faith.
Comment by John Fernandez — 8 October 2007 @ 1:15 amSpeaking as a musician, I’d take with me the Graduale Romanum…..and the Bach B Minor Mass, the greatest piece ever written.
Comment by Michael E. Lawrence — 8 October 2007 @ 1:16 amThe thing about the carts with lamps and so on is that folk used to have a lot less stuff. It would all fit onto a cart.
Comment by berenike — 8 October 2007 @ 1:28 amA bible and the Summa Theologica. And a rosary. And Dr Ott’s “Catholic Dogma”.
Legal documents – my birth certificate and passport.
A few practicalities – a torch, some soap, toilet paper, and my waterproof jacket.
Comment by Felix — 8 October 2007 @ 2:21 amI wonder what would bring this to mind? It’s always near the front of mind, but I thought I was the only “paranoid” one.
I have a “bugout bag” which contains the physical necessities of life in the woods. Food for a couple of days, water for 72 hours (South East TN has plenty of water), cook gear, tarp, space blanket, cutting tools, rope, money (different kinds), copies of documents, maps, and a compact .22 rifle with ammo (AR-5 survival rifle). It’s all in a hiking backpack. On top of that, I would add some books. Bible, Missal, Breviary, I don’t know what else. I guess it depends on the situation.
If I wasn’t coming back, I would bring my 1 volume Lord of the Rings and the Catechism. My computer stuff? Thermite it. It would be of no use to me in the hills and would likely be gone or in the wrong hands when I got back.
The remainder of the time would be for burying things (which should really already be done away from the house) and getting out of town.
Comment by Brian — 8 October 2007 @ 3:49 amI wonder what would bring this to mind? It’s always near the front of mind, but I thought I was the only “paranoid” one.
I have a “bugout bag” which contains the physical necessities of life in the woods. Food for a couple of days, water for 72 hours (South East TN has plenty of water), cook gear, tarp, space blanket, cutting tools, rope, money (different kinds), copies of documents, maps, and a compact .22 rifle with ammo (AR-7 survival rifle). It’s all in a hiking backpack. On top of that, I would add some books. Bible, Missal, Breviary, I don’t know what else. I guess it depends on the situation.
If I wasn’t coming back, I would bring my 1 volume Lord of the Rings and the Catechism. My computer stuff? Thermite it. It would be of no use to me in the hills and would likely be gone or in the wrong hands when I got back.
The remainder of the time would be for burying things (which should really already be done away from the house) and getting out of town.
Comment by Brian — 8 October 2007 @ 3:51 amSorry for the double post.
Comment by Brian — 8 October 2007 @ 3:57 amI remember reading somewhere, that after many years in prison, St. John of the Cross burned one of his sole possessions; a letter from St. Therese that he had managed to bring with him. His reason: he was becoming too attached to it.
Comment by Irulats — 8 October 2007 @ 6:24 amI assume you mean an situation of flee or be fed to the lions – not an unlikely one in parts of the world, and maybe someday in the USA. I’d take 2nd my Breviary and 1st my small Ignatius Press Bible.
Comment by Sid Cundiff — 8 October 2007 @ 7:17 amMy backpack, clothing, the best knife I could find, my medicine, and my tiny copy of the Imitation of Christ.
Comment by Matthew Kennel — 8 October 2007 @ 7:41 amI assume the object is to survive physically. If so, in the following order: (1) trusty 22 magnum rifle and ammo, with which to bag occasional deer; (2) hunting knife; (3) leatherman tool; (4) collapsible fishing rod; (5) cash; (6) matches; (7) flashlight; (8) boy scout survival handbook; (9) change of sox and underwear; and (10) rosary.
Comment by Jim — 8 October 2007 @ 7:49 amI wear a full religious habit and all my the photos on my legal documents are of me in the habit so no point in going into civvys and besides, there’s nothing like that in the monastery. So, things would be useless, including the breviary.
I’d double my habit clothing on me, take my legal documents, put as many hosts from the tabernacle in a pyx and hide it on myself… and wait. I wouldn’t bother about money.
Comment by Dominican — 8 October 2007 @ 7:59 amFr Z.,
Do you know something we dont?
;-)
Comment by RichR — 8 October 2007 @ 8:05 amBeen there, sort of, twice. We evacuated from our home in New Orleans for Hurricane Ivan in 2004, which was a helpful dress rehearsal for our evacuation before Hurricane Katrina in 2005. In both cases we packed the car with just a few day’s worth of clothes, computers (which have most of our photo collection stored), camera, iPod, Garmin hand-held GPS, food, water, three-D cell MagLite flashlight, which can serve as a club, several prized books, including James Cardinal Gibbons’ “The Faith of Our Fathers”, and children’s books, games, and DVDs to entertain the two kids on the drive and afterwards.
Having Katrina turned what we thought might be a few day’s evacuation to a several-month sojourn in Texas has altered our evacuation check list a bit. I now own two WWII rifles (M1 Garand and Carbine), where before Katrina I didn’t own a firearm, and they would certainly accompany us. My Katrina (which means, from the Greek word ‘catharsis’ – renewal, cleansing, purification) experience has contributed to a renewal of my faith. So, now I would include my D-R Bible (with Cardinal Gibbons’ imprimatur), Rosary beads, Baronius 1962 Roman Missal, and a crucifix.
Comment by Rouxfus — 8 October 2007 @ 8:10 amI’d take my chalice.
Comment by Fr Fryar — 8 October 2007 @ 8:18 amWhat would I bring? Here’s my post of August 30, 2005 (the day after Katrina) checking in with friends at an on line forum:
“Thanks from the bottom of my heart for your prayers and concern. I am safe, as are all my family. We all evacuated Sunday. I brought icons, a gun, family pictures, my cat and dog, and the clothes on my back. Not much more. I expect my home and office to be flooded, as of this morning, and don’t know when I’ll be allowed to return.
“I have been inconvenienced, to say the least, but am not suffering like many innocents who’re in the midst of it now. Please remember them in your prayers.
“I am grateful to all of you. Please forgive me if I’ve overlooked anyone.”
Only thing different is, next time I’d take more clothes. Plus my wife of course, whom I met as a result of the storm (by God’s grace and the busy assistance of the Archangel Raphael) including her wedding wing, whose diamonds—family heirlooms—rode out the storm in a jeweler’s safe under 28 feet of the Gulf of Mexico.
Comment by Romulus — 8 October 2007 @ 8:28 amIf my two sons agreed to come with me I’d head for the most rural place that still has a priest to say Mass. I’d take camping gear, food, hunting rifle, spare clothing, Bible, breviary, rosary, and St. Benedict’s crucifix. Maybe one or two other books.
Comment by Janet — 8 October 2007 @ 8:51 amIf alone, I’d not try to leave town since survival chances would be minimal. Instead I’d park myself in my parish’s adoration chapel and wait….
I assume “My kids” is not the sort of answer you’re after? OK, then, if you’re interested in just stuff, I’d take both of my kids’ baby books. I’d also take diapers, medications, water and whatever food was not perishable. We have lots and lots of cheerios, for example. I guess I should take the sunblock and bug repellent. I’d take a camera to document whatever terrible thing was happening.
In other words, I’d take everything I usually take whenever I leave the house! ;-) (Well, except the baby books…and thank you for reminding me I need to catch up! I quit my 4 year old’s book when she was 1 and my 14 months old’s book only goes until about his first 5 months.)
I am afraid to hit the submit button because I just know that as soon as I click it, I’ll think of a few other things I didn’t think of already.
Comment by Elizabeth V — 8 October 2007 @ 9:20 amEasy. Take as much cash as I could, my passport, and my Spanish phrase book. Drive to the border (not too far), where they’re always happy to take U.S. money (ID checks, phooey; the border is always open, if you know what I mean); get a flight to a country not doing the persecution thing. No rosary, no breviary, nothing that could identify me as a Catholic. They’re just things, and while I wouldn’t deny my faith, I wouldn’t volunteer for martyrdom, either, not while I have a family.
Leave the children with beloved but not-Christian husband, who would sue for divorce (as prearranged) for abandonment and child abuse (i.e. having had the children baptized & catechized), thus keeping them safe—they would follow as soon as feasible.
The whole grab-the-guns and head for the hills thing really is a no-go for us; we’d stand the same chance as a couple of domesticated basset hounds trying to learn to run with the dingoes. If it comes to the complete collapse of civilization, we’d just park ourselves on the Ikea couch, open up some Bluebell, and watch the whole thing on CNN.
Comment by o.h. — 8 October 2007 @ 9:21 amNot my treasured copy of Lewis & Short, that’s for sure. Why? Anyone who has a copy knows why. (“You can take only what you can carry.“)
Comment by Henry Edwards — 8 October 2007 @ 9:24 amJanet,
Comment by S — 8 October 2007 @ 9:29 amThat is exactly what I was thinking! Head to the Adoration chapel and pray for guidance for one hour of that 12! I tend to panic, so I cannot even think of what to take, even after reading all those sensible posts. Having read some accounts of those who survived terrible persecution, it seems to me that what you need the most is already inside of you…or not.
My Wife and my 1962 Missal. My 30-30 Winchester and ammo and my wife tells me I have to take the cat,Jack.
Comment by danphunter1 — 8 October 2007 @ 9:44 amAnd of course our Rosary Beads and our Divine Office.
God Almighty will take care of the rest.
Have you had a vision, Father?
God bless you.
Wow! You’ve real