Page 2 - MidWeek - March 8, 2023

2 MIDWEEK MARCH 8, 2023
Judging, Searching, Finding
“Man is not what he thinks he is, he is what he hides.” — André Malraux
Some of the monks sus- pected — were sure — that one of their
YGaylord: A UH Hero
ou often don’t know where you will find inspi-
cohorts was entertaining a woman in his hut.
ration — it just happens. And when inspiration
These fourth-century Christian spiritual fathers, as- cetics who retired to the des- ert to face their inner demons and seek their God, lived in “groupings,” with each per- son in his own hut (but they were apparently quite aware of what went on in each oth- er’s huts). Acting on their suspicions, some decided to confront their errant broth- er. To lend authority to the undertaking, they asked the highly respected Abba Am- monas to come along. The elder tried to decline, but the younger monks insisted. Fa- ther Ammonas finally agreed to accompany them, but only as a supervisor.
I love this story (adapted from Benedicta Ward’s trans- lation and telling in The Say- ings of the Desert Fathers) because it condemns neither the woman nor the searchers nor the errant monk. It allows for human weakness but en- courages awareness of what one is doing with one’s life, a first-class referent before judging others — and for discovering one’s self.
Rosemary Jermann does freelance editing after over 30 years of learning, teach- ing, translating and editing at Saint Louis University. She is honored to be editing for “Chasing the Light.”
Chasing The Light is pro- duced by Lynne Johnson and Robin Stephens Rohr.
does occur, it can be wonderful, perhaps even life-changing, if not life-affirming. Sometimes you don’t realize it for years; sometimes, you know it on the spot.
And so it was for me, as a young father, when I first saw Gaylord Carreira doing his thing at University of Hawai‘i football games 35 years ago. Sportswriter Stephen Tsai called Gaylord “an inspiration to the UH football team and its fans” in his fitting Honolulu Star-Advertiser tribute last week. Gaylord recently passed away, but not before leaving his mark on a legion of fans, UH footballers and one very impressionable young father.
The story of a woman hiding in a clay jar inspires because it condemns no one, yet encourages all to be aware of their own actions.
I worked at KHNL and KFVE, the proud home of UH sports for 27 years, during the time Gaylord delighted fans in person and on TV with his glorious routine of charging out onto the field from the UH sidelines after each UH kickoff to “simply” retrieve the football tee. Gaylord, a crowd-pleaser, would then somersault with tee in hand as he came off the pitch, culminating in a kneeling stance with three full circle, Pete Townshend-esque arm circles, while the crowd, in sync, all yelled, “woomp-woomp- woomp!”
Now, the suspect did in-
ty water jar. (It was rather tall; you need to store a lot of water when you live in the desert.) He had barely replaced the lid when the group barged in. Father Am- monas briefly surveyed the room, went directly to, and sat on, the water jar. From that perch, he supervised the
KELLEY
search — which turned up no one. Deflated, the group of searchers departed, with grumbling reluctance. Now, Father Ammonas stood up, turned to his host and said gently, “Brother, be aware of what you do.” Then he bowed and quietly took his leave.
I told my kids watching that one should seek to find joy in life, find one’s passions, make a difference if pos- sible, and here was Gaylord doing so for the masses every week on UH football Saturdays. The fact that Gaylord had Down Syndrome reminded me to remind my kids that no one should dictate what you can or cannot do with any kind of so-called disability, no matter the size. And we all need reminding.
deed have a woman in his cell, and when he saw the group approaching, he asked her to hide in the nearly emp-
New Century Schoolbook bold (scaled H 73.6)
with Rosemary Jermann
I saw Gaylord numerous times over the years at UH events and we always greeted each other with a simple (but solid) high five. What I didn’t know then was that he was a great athlete in his own right who won numerous Special Olympic medals, could shoot free throws with the best of ’em, and apparently also bowled people over with his 10-pin prowess.
According to a relative cited in Tsai’s article, Gay- lord’s parents simply wouldn’t allow Gaylord to not get involved, to not follow his passion for and with his be- loved Rainbow Warriors — for many, many years. That smile and passion inspired and taught my kids, tens of thousands of onlookers — and me.
Aloha, Gaylord. Woomp-woomp-woomp! Think about it.
john@thinkaboutithawaii.com