My Dumpster Diver's Gift To A Catholic Priest

One time, when I was dumpster diving, I found five pocket sized Polish language Catholic prayer and religious study books that were at least fifty-years-old, but in excellent shape.

I then found out that St. Rita's Catholic Church, which was right down the street from where I lived at the time in Dundalk, Maryland, had a young Polish immigrant priest named Roman working there. I walked down to see him.

Father Roman told me that he did not get to bring any kinds of books or any religious type items at all out of his country with him, because the anti-religious communists still had control of, unfortunate, Poland back then and the commie rats would not let him leave his home country with more than what he could carry in one small suitcase, and no religious items at all.

He did not have to tell me much about the terrible way that communism stifles religious freedoms, I already knew the basics concerning life in Communist Poland. I have always been well aware of the repressive, torturing and murdering nature of communist bullcrap, "know thine enemies", and have hated them commies as deadly enemies my entire life. The Polish commies had made Roman's whole life as hard as they could. But they did not defeat his nor his family's religious feelings, beliefs and activities. It impressed me deeply to see him talk a little about how the communists had done their best to stop him and any other Polish citizens from becoming a priest.

It was a very emotional experience for each of us.

I am not religious myself, but fairly spiritual; it was a very spiritual experience when I gave those Polish language prayer books to Father Roman.

Could it be that we dumpster divers are sometimes being guided in our work directly by the hand of a higher power?

I don't know about all that, but it was at least a mighty fine coincidence that some d-diver saved something from a dumpster and delivered it to another person whom it became very important to.

Spiritually speaking, that was cool.

For further education from, and entertainment by, writings of a dumpster diver, check out my blog: Duckin' and Divin' Techniques of A Recycle Ranger.