R.I.P. Pat Tracy

I lost someone on Sunday.

Truthfully, we all lost someone on Sunday. Whether you ever met Pat Tracy or not, you share in our loss. And it is a loss that affects us on so many levels.

Those of us who grew up with him in Brooklyn, especially Little Flower, St. Vincent's, and St. Jerome's,knew him as the maestro of getting people to join together. And when Pat brought us together, we knew there would be fun. Circling us up to sing limericks, (Aye yie yie yie) or the Fidel Castro Halloween costume, goat and all, are memories that are now full of both smiles and tears.

But there was always something different about Tracy. He taught us all by example; about the sanctity, the beauty, and the joy that exists within your own soul - best seen when in the company of laughing people.

At the core of all that I write about is the concept of the Community of Excellence - all relying on the strengths of others to build their lives upon their own strengths; then offer those strengths to help the others. At the very core of this concept are the lessons I learned while standing in the glow of Pat's smile.

This blog looks for opportunities where that Community concept can offer some thoughts on how to address the questions and issues we are facing together. I have been neglecting the blog recently. Mostly from feeling overwhelmed by the rampant and severe antagonism to differences that beset us and scourge our world, especially our country. We are at a point in history when we need more and more people finding guidance in the concepts that Pat personified.

Now this loss has me feeling that I have been negligent too long. That I need to pitch in more, to try and play some small part to make up for the loss of this truly wonderful man, Patrick Tracy.

So I offer this. These words came to me while I wasn't sleeping at 3:40AM, September 18, 2017. I'm not sure how they connect to Pat. But it all seemed to belong together. They are words we all know, though I suspect that we all overlook the sanctity, the beauty, and the joy they represent:

One nation...
Under God...
Indivisible...
with Liberty...
and Justice for All.