April 6 William of Eskill b. 1125 d. 1203 c. 1224

Thommy and John

good morning
i love you

i'm always curious how it got decided which place became the object of the person's OF? William was born in St Germaine and spent a goodly part of his training and formation in Paris. if i were to be identified, i would hope it'd be William of New York (city). and i have spent so very little of my life living there; yet, i have spent my entire life identifying myself with NYC, an irish catholic boy from new york city. and you? [yeh, i know, at 17 and 19 it may be early yet. how would you want that decision made for you - since we don't get to name ourselve for history, that's what our legacy does, our family, friends afterwards in remembrance; or if we rise above the mass of the ordinary, maybe a biographer or a historian....]

1148 William became a Canon of Ssint Denis. Willilam adopted a more austere and regular life with enthusiasm. [my mantra is death by exercise, that's how much i am enthusiastic about exercise. i do love to write though. i do love to think and pray. the fasting part is not my forte - look at my waistline to prove that. still, it's past time for this william to become if not enthusiastic at least postive about a touch of austerity and a dab of regularity as well as some exercise.... ora pro me. et tu?]

William's reputation for canonical discipline and holiness spread to great distances. one advantage in living at a cross roads of commerce and academia - once seen or engaged, then the word spreads easily along the common channels....

The bishop of Roskilde sent his messanger [Saxo, an historian] to William to ask him to restore the discipline in the monastic houses of his diocese. There are several William saints as abbots; abbots who led reform. not unlike my career in healthcare. hospitals are analagous to monasteries - small communities within themselves whose members can drift from their iedeals and the purpose for their institution's existence. and before you realize what's happened, well, the place and the people have run amuk. restoring discipline and returning to the original mission is what this tigger does. and the example of so many saints who did simialr things within their vocation has helped me ground my efforts in fainth which also gives me the hope that this time, the upteenth time, we will succeed again.

William accepted this delicate task of renewal. and it is a hard struggle to lead people to change a comfortable and rewarding life style, a reinforcing modus operandi. but William succeeded at one monastery after the other. The difficulties, the challenges, the barriers to success - for William then and this William now as it will be/is for you - the oppostion of powerful people who have a vested interest in the status quo and oppose doing what's right and doing it the right way. there are also always interior trials - a crisis of confidence; the absence of the next good idea; a period without hope; the temptations to just quit and say it's just not worth my pain to solve this problem. there's also the accommodation to the new place and the different people - a prophet is not welcome in his own country so we go and work in 'foreign' places - where the climate, physical as well as psychological, is radically different: i'm a new yorker, and tuscaloosa, birmingham, detroit, new orleans, nashville, winston salem, et al. have been challenges of place and people very different from me....

For thirty years, William was abbot over these monasteries and accomplished renowned reformation. not, of course, without cost to him - e.g., having crossed some powerful people along the way, William had to lead denmark for a period until things cooled down. throughout it all he sustained the support of the bishop - - for any reformation, short term or long term, it's necessary to have the support of the significant stake holders, if not, it's a futile effort. reformation means you're going to anger and offend lots of people - by preaching reform you're also telling people that what they've been doing is wrong, bad, etc. not a message anyone wants to hear.

try out some of William's efforts in your own development because you too will be called on to lead based on not so much what you accomplish along the way but how you do so ....

i love you
dad