David the ten-year-old is, by the mercy of God, in confirmation classes. The bishop made an exception for a youngster in the community, then a bunch of others joined the class hoping to piggy-back on that exception, and the bishop has apparently let it ride.
His teacher is Emily Tonkowich, again by the mercy of God. She’s really good. And our parish priest, Fr. David Erickson, comes in to teach a session now and again. He’s a great, conservative priest with traditional morals. Why, just last week Fr. Dave gave a talk about the seven deadly sins for this the youngest confirmation class in recent parish history.
During the course of the talk, he apparently referred to Gilligan’s Island and got the kiddos all excited. In the heat of the moment, he volunteered, “Mrs. Tonkowich will play an episode of Gilligan’s Island for you next time!” Which left Mrs. Tonkowich wondering (a) where one finds an episode of Gilligan’s Island and (b) what will the parents think?
So as I picked up David from class this evening, my first question was: “So what were you supposed to learn from Gilligan’s Island? What was the lesson?”
David responded, “It was about the seven deadly sins. Each character represented one of the sins.”
Ah-hem. As a parent, I’m not thinking of Pride, Envy, Anger, Gluttony, Sloth, or Avarice, but I can’t ask it directly…. “So who did Gilligan represent?” “Gluttony, I think.” Ah-hem.
Think I’ll ask Fr. Erickson about this one.
