Date: Fri, 1 Aug 2025 18:30:56 -0400
My daughter Rebekah, her husband Jason, and their 4 (!) teenage (!!)
daughters (!!!) spent most of this past week with us. There was only one
controversy. I slipped by saying that I was upset with Google for giving
into Trump's renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America. Rebekah's
contention was that "a lot of people wanted to do that" over the years,
which, while true, didn't make it right. I felt my blood pressure rise, and
apologized - not for what I said, but that I had disrupted four days of
relative peace on our last morning together. After all, I had worn my "Gulf
of Mexico" t-shirt on their second day there, and no one uttered a word.
The reason for the off-cycle visit (they normally go on furlough for
several months every 3 years, but are here for a month one year early) is
that my granddaughter Righteous (18) will be attending college in Wisconsin
(Ethnos 360 Bible Institute) at the end of the month, and they basically
wanted to visit everyone they knew in the States before dropping her off
and returning to Kenya. Having determined early on that I would encourage
my children to make their own decisions, I offered no opposition to Rebekah
attending a missionary school and then becoming a missionary in Africa,
proselytizing to Muslims in Garissa. Given that all four daughters have
grown up in Kenya as "MKs" (missionary kids), it seems plausible enough
that they would want to follow in their parents' footsteps to become
missionaries as well. Given that they were homeschooled by Rebekah, it's
not surprising that there was little science or math in their curriculum -
which is a pity, as they're all bright, well-spoken girls with boundless
potential. That said, I have no problem with their choices.
My main peeve is hearing not only that they all want to get married, but
that they have some definite ideas about how many children they want to
have. As if being a wife and mother is the only realistic option available.
My hope is that Righteous will benefit from being outside of her walled
compound, but I suspect her Bible college will have its own "walls." I also
worry that her first exposure to boys, whose hormones are likely to turn
Bible school into a quest for biblical knowledge, will be a harrowing
experience. On the plus side, her father Jason, a good ol' boy from
Virginia, will likely be on the first red-eye west if any boy gets the
wrong idea. Or even the right idea with the wrong girl. He's a big dude,
and a protective one at that.
I was back to work today for the first time all week. An email from the
President of WHOI stated gloomily that in light of the NSF's new "guidance"
to require an attestation from all grant recipients that they have no DEI
language in place and that the entire institution would be audited to
ensure compliance. NSF is WHOI's largest source of funding these days, but
the directive goes beyond this in stating that the entire campus will be
scrutinized for signs of gaiety or - far worse - transgression. The former
Chief DEI Officer (now Chief of Work Climate, or something like that) is an
out lesbian who has been tasked with walking the tightrope of compliance
with this Executive [dis]Order. I'm not gay, but I value working in an
environment where all are welcomed and valued. This is - in my opinion - a
huge step backwards.
Which is to say that I have 134 days (or less) left before retirement...
-- Paul David Mena -------------------- pauldavidmena_at_gmail.com
